Hillbilly Report:: United States Of America. We're Number One. Or Are We?

by: Hillbilly
Mon Oct 11, 2010 at 04:54:15 AM EDT

The United states of America is # 1 in the following areas:

Defense spending.
Teen birth rate.
Obesity.
Expenditure per capita for Health Care.
Expenditure for Health Care Percent of GDP.
Adults prosecuted per capita.
Prisoners Per capita.

Then there are some thing we're not #1 at:

When it comes to government mandatory minimum vacation time we're at zero mandatory days we're right there with China.
When it comes to government mandated Paid maternity leave--Zero days.
#55--Presidential elections registered voter turnout.
#65--Hospital beds per 1,000 people.
#52--Physicians per 1,000 people.
#16--Internet Broadband access per capita.
#15--Internet Broadband subscribers per capita.
#13--Internet Users per capita.
#5--Primary teacher starting salary.
#15--Reading literacy.
#18--Mathematical literacy.
#15--Teachers Percent Of Work force.
#14--Grade 12 advanced math students.

Rightardia has tracked international indexes for the past two years and it rare that the US even makes the top 10. Check out some of these articles on the status of the US:

International Living 2010 Quality of Life Index
US is third in international overweight index
Is the US the greatest county in the world?

Mediaite: Cenus finds huge wealth gap between rich and poor
US fares badly in Happy Planet Index: 114 of 143 nations
International Tax revenue as percentage of GDP
US ranked 18th in Corruption Index
China Daily: US becomes top country brand under Obama
PolitiFact: Romney says Americans pay more and die sooner

Our staffers laughed when conservative Senatorial candidate Marco Rubio said the US is the greatest country in the world in a recent political ad. What are we first in Marco: political BS?

College cost, according to my European friends, is free or or very little, in most of Western Europe. So if you have college debt just consider that a tax. You can also consider your child care expenses a tax, because the folks in Western Europe get that service at little or no cost. Oh, by the way your cost for Health Care is thousands of dollars a year more than Canada's and our European friends and you can consider that a tax too!

So if you want your taxes cut, college tuition, Health Care and child care taxes you might want to rethink what a tax really is, but don't get your hopes up too high because the rich folks in Washington DC aren't ready to free up the money they're giving to the corporations and spending on defense just to cut your college tuition, Health Care and child care expenses, or should I say taxes.

source: http://www.hillbillyreport.org/diary/2092/united-states-of-america-were-number-one-or-are-we-plus-redefining-taxes

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The Good Ol' Days or the best of times

The best of times

Yes, I remember them well being a Baby Boomer.  After World War 2 there was a tremendous building boom in the US because returning vets used their VA benefits to buy homes. My parents brought their first home in a Huber Community in southern Ohio that sprawled for four or five square miles.

Many also used their veteran's benefits to go to college. College enrollment also boomed.

During this era the Income Tax rate on the most affluent Americans was 90 per cent. FDR used income Tax and the Estate tax to pay for the war and help returning vets restart their lives. At this time only one in 30 Americans was considered wealthy.

Neighborhood schools were embraced by parents and it was considered patriotic to support tax changes to increase schools millages.  I can never  recall a tax amendment that benefited the school system that was defeated.

At that time the power company, the water utility and trash pickup were public and were very low cost.

If you worked for a fair to meddling corporation, you could look forward to a company pension and medical care when you retired. It was the best of times.

The worst of times 

Americans have been sometimes called sheeple because they really are unaware of how much things have really changed.

At this time there is a building collapse that  was caused by decades of Republican deregulation and the Bush Ownership Society. The repeal of the Glass-Steagal Act (1933) and an SEC rule change in 2004 that allowed banks to reduce reserves were the two main culprits.

Colleges are under assault by conservatives for being liberal and many neighborhood schools are being closed due tax shortfalls. Teachers are also being laid off. In Florida there is a supreme irony: Republicans wanted bonuses for the best teachers. These teachers, who make more than the average teachers, are the ones who are being laid off.

Many of these tax problems cause by over zealous Republicans who made tax cuts that would not fully fund government activities. The deficit doubled under the Bush presidency. Bush used the Republican Trojan horse, Supply Side economics. to cut taxes for the most affluent Americans and he was also the only president stated a a war without raising taxes.

After eight years the US deficit was doubled. Bush also suspended the Estate Tax. The income tax rate for top earning Americans in 2009 is now 35 per cent. That is a 55 per cent drop since the Eisenhower era. But wait there's more: Bush dropped the capital gains tax to 15 per cent. Millionaires and billionaires make most of their money with capital gains so the most fortunate Americans actually have a lower tax rate than the average American.

The income tax rate for top earning Americans in 2009 is now 35 per cent. That is a 55 per cent drop since the Eisenhower era. But wait there's more: Bush dropped the capital gains tax to 15 per cent. Millionaires and billionaires make most of their money with capital gains so the most fortunate Americans actually have a lower tax rate than the average American.

Most of the utilities have been privatized and some of these power companies request rate hikes whenever oil prices rise. Oddly, the don't request rates drops when the price of crude drops.

Very few Americans get private pensions anymore because corporations cast them out before they hit retirement age. The Supreme Court has stated that corporations do not have to provide private medical care once a retiree is eligible for Medicare.

The Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is also an interesting phenomena. Congress established the IRAs as a savings program not as a retirement program. Many corporations now only offer the IRA as their 'pension program.' Many corporate IRAs have hidden fees that the IRA fund manger doesn't have to disclose.  Many Americans who became unemployed recently discovered their IRAs had been looted by Mini-Madoffs.

If a corporation doesn't offer matching funds or other financial incentives, their IRA program is valueless.You may be better off settitng up an IRA with a bank.

There you have it. Since the New Deal, many American have lost their homes, the neighborhood school has been weakened or closed, college costs have accelerated,  your utilities now take a bigger bite from you paycheck because of privatization, and most Americans will never see a corporate pension or corporate medical benefits.  Still confused about public health?

This is the legacy of the Republican party and some conservative Democrats who should have known better.

It is the worst of times!

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