The ratification of an Amendment to the United States Constitution, the paramount of democracy in this country, requires 34 of the 50 states to approve. The House and Senate must each approve the amendment by a two-thirds majority, 67 out of 100 Senators and 290 out of 435 Representatives. Given these facts it would be easy to assume that our elected representatives would understand the nature of a majority opinion. The political term for a majority of 2/3 proportion is referred to as a Supermajority. Within the last week, recent opinion polls have showed a near Supermajority in favor of President Obama's proposal, the Buffet Rule. Mr. President's idea would set a tax rate for the wealthy at roughly 30%.In 2011 President Obama paid a rate of 20% while the Republican posterboy / international billionaire paid a meager 13%. Certainly we can all nod at the show of humility on the part of our President.
Today a proposal by Senate Democrat's to open the debate in regards to a Buffet Rule was shot down by a 51-45 vote. The idea that the President's bold proposal, named after the world renowned billionaire who assisted in the development of the initiative, was not even given minutes for open debate is a startling revelation of our nation's Democracy. Especially when you take into account the fact that the average American household pays a 14% tax rate. The truth is now evident that much of the current body of the United States Senate, 67 persons to be exact, are more concerned with protecting the economic interests of the elite. The tired idea that capital is best served in the hands of the wealthy, so that they may "trickle down" the rewards for the rest of society, has once more engorged itself upon the naivete of the American voter.
Since the ascension of President Obama to The Throne, the Republican party and its various political/religious extensions, have done everything in their power to prevent the economic prosperity of this nation. Richard Land one of the top Republican religious conservatives of the Southern Baptist Convention has not ceased his assault upon the character of our nations President and in turn America itself. Land accused Democrats, African American community leaders, and the President of attempting to "gin up" the electorate. Land felt the Presidents open address in support of Trayvon Martin's grieving parents was a slight in the face of our nations "race relations." At around the same time, Republican Representative Allen West of South Florida declared roughly 80 members of congress to be Communists. West was alluding to the Progressive wing of the Democratic party, who wish to curtail the economic orgy that the wealthy of the world enjoy here in the states. Land and West's antiquated rhetoric is a simple reminder of a very powerful force within the American social fabric. They are the paramount of the Tea Party's alleged "populist wave" that has divided this nation in a manner on par with the Iran-Contra scandal, the Watergate crimes, and the Southern Secession from the Union prior to the Civil War.
Here is the Bernie Sanders Ten, top corporations who pay little or no taxes. Note how relevant the idea of Corporate Personhood is to the entire tax debate.
The Bernie Sanders Ten
1) Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.
2) Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion.
3) Over the past five years, while General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from the IRS.
4) Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009.
5) Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year.
6) Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, it received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction.
7) Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.
8) Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.
9) ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2007 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.
10) Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent.
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