Taxes

Redress Grievance supports a progressive tax scheme that is fair for all Americans. Our basic philosophy is that hard work should pay and be taxed fairly and investment money earning money in the market should always be taxed more heavily. We believe corporate profits and capital gains should be taxed most heavily after the first $400,000 is earned and the 99% who earn less should be graduated to pay in fair proportion to their income.

If 95% of Americans who qualify for 100% of the welfare dollars in the country have to pay the most (or all) of the tax to support that welfare, why is it that 5% of the country can earn capital gains on the profits those welfare dollars are spent on without having to pay a substantial tax themselves to support the welfare they’re freely profiting from, on the back of the hard labor of the 95% who pay the most or all for it?

Redress Grievance will stop this from happening.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. 

An Open Letter To the United States Congress,

Redress Grievance proposes a ≥ 0% Federal Value Added Tax enacted and enforced as the 28th constitutional amendment in order to repay the National Debt.

We propose the following wording,

“Section 1

Congress shall have power to lay and collect a ≥ 0% consumption tax on all goods and services and products sold in any territorial jurisdiction of the United States, to include in any of the Several States, among natural and corporate persons alike, solely for repayment of any national debt

Section 2

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation”

It is suggested that Congress find that "to do business in the United States, in any of the States, with any natural or corporate person alike, is to support the United States repayment of its national debt."

Respectfully yours,

James A. Blatt

 On June 8, 2021 it was reported by CNBC news outlet that Bezos, Buffett, Bloomberg, Musk, Icahn and Soros pay a tiny fraction of their wealth in income taxes, according to secret IRS files leaked to the American media outlet ProPublica.

In 2007, the now world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, "did not pay a penny in federal income taxes," and he also avoided any federal income tax liability in 2011, the breaking report from ProPublica states. It also states that “In 2007, Amazon's stock more than doubled, increasing Bezos' personal wealth by $3.8 billion…

"In contrast, the median U.S. household in recent years earned around $70,000 annually and paid 14% of that in federal taxes. Couples in the highest income tax rate bracket paid a rate of 37% on earnings higher than $628,300," the ProPublica report states.

Collectively, the 25 richest American's true federal income tax rate bracket is 3.4%, per ProPublica, on staggering wealth. This is due to a complicated system of tax avoidance and mitigation strategies available only to the ultra wealthy centered around securities based lending, whereby the mega-wealthy collateralize their appreciable assets against low interest loans to banks and pay less to the bank in interest than they would pay to the federal government in tax, over the 30 year life of their loan. Loans are not considered income, because they need to be repaid.

They report income, not earned income.

Billionaires borrow by pledging their stock and property holdings in sufficient value to cover the cost of the loan, collateralizing and repaying either by untaxable wealth transfers to the bank or out of their adjusted gross income.

This allows unreal amounts of wealth to be accumulated in the hands of the very, very, very few, natural persons and corporations alike, either entirely or nearly entirely tax free.

Redress Grievance believes any appreciable wealth transfer should count as taxable income, and interest paid on securities based lending should not be deductible. Redress Grievance is admittedly not the sharpest economist, but asserts it is manifest this system is inherently unfair for it would take "14.3 million ordinary American wage earners put together ... to equal the worth of the 25 richest Americans" in 2018, while the former pay a collective $143 billion on that same amount of appreciable wealth for each (on their personal income and gains) the latter paid a mere $1.9 billion total in tax, ceteris paribus, for the fiscal year 2018, per ProPublica.

It is Redress Grievance's hypothesis billionaires may have a personal income of $1 billion per year and pay an effective 0% or nearly 0% federal tax rate on it.

This illustration makes painfully apparent Redress Grievance's position on taxes needs to be brought to Congress' attention for immediate reform.

Redress Grievance also has the leaked classified report from Rockefeller Plaza concerning United States food stamp benefits. According to Jon Rockefeller, United States Food stamp benefits can be sustained at COVID levels in perpetuity without detriment to the food stamp trusts. Rockefeller cannot envisage the day the food stamp trusts are hurt by sustaining the increased benefit level provided during COVID “forever”.

UPDATE 8/27/2021:

As reported by PA State Representative Jeanne McNeill,

"Feds to Increase SNAP Benefits

Starting in October, average benefits for food stamps — officially known as the SNAP program — will rise more than 25% above pre-pandemic levels. The increased assistance will be available indefinitely to all 42 million SNAP beneficiaries.

According to a report on NPR.org, the average monthly per-person benefits will rise from $121 to $157. This is the largest single increase in the program's history." 

Respectfully yours,

James A. Blatt