Fasting To Stop Republicans Pulling A Fast One and 5 Statistics Worth Digesting on Tax Day 20110

by Blogbot

More than 30,000 people are fasting to stop the Republicans pulling a fast one, with budget proposals that would cut funds for vital programs and services, while giving corporations and the super wealthy even more tax relief than they already enjoy.

The protest is being organized by the progressive political action group MoveOn, Sojourners editor Jim Wallis, and the Service Employees International Union. Musician, activist, and stalwart MoveOn supporter Moby, made this video to explain what it’s all about:

“These proposals give huge tax cuts to millionaires and corporations, and they cut funding to veterans, the elderly, children, and women’s health programs,” explains Moby. “The republicans are advocating a ‘redistribution of wealth’, actually, from the poor to the rich. They’re like anti-Robin Hoods. I find the republican budget proposal to be egregiously immoral, which is why I’m doing what I can to support MoveOn and the fast. And no, I don’t think that the CEO’s of big defense corporations are quaking in their boots at the thought of 50,000 Americans fasting in protest, but sometimes you have to just have to do what’s right. And I believe that protesting the republican budget proposals is imperative.”

5 Statistics Worth Digesting on Tax Day 2011

1. Since 1976 the average income for the bottom 90% of Americans has plummeted, while the average income for the top 1% has skyrocketed. (see chart above – MoveOn)

2. “A huge share of the nation’s economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.” (Mother Jones)

3. “400 obscenely wealthy individuals….now have more cash, stock, and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined.” (Michael Moore, America Is NOT Broke)

4. “The super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago…” (Huffington Post) and “some of the country’s most profitable corporations are getting away with paying little to nothing in taxes.” (Think Progress)

5. “Hedge fund gamblers earn the same in one hour as a middle-class household makes in over 47 years… The top 25 hedge fund earners took in $22.07 billion in 2010. Thanks to a generous tax loophole these billionaires will pay a top tax rate of 15 percent instead of 35 percent. Closing that loophole on just those 25 individuals – just 25 guys who wouldn’t miss a penny of it — would raise $4.4 billion, which is enough to rehire 126,000 laid-off teachers.” (Alternet)