Not surprised. My ex works for BlackRock. He makes a high 6 figure income and he got all the stimulus checks. Meanwhile people who needed them didn’t always receive them.
That Bezos got a means-tested benefit like the CTC is a good example of why the CTC should be universal and combined with taxes, where those taxes include wealth taxes.
I stopped purchasing from Amazon on January 21st. I encourage others to do same if you can. There are lots of other places to shop, and I have a lot less trash.
The capitalist system that made these f**** billionaires rich, they want it all. They will not be happy till they have all the wealth, and the rest of us have nothing.
The Earned Income Tax Credit (which is one of the most closely scrutinized credits) requires that investment income from taxable accounts (dividends, interest, cap gains) to be below a certain threshold. It was around $3,000 a few years ago. So, they have mechanisms to filter out wealthier people.
They have a deal with chase. A credit card that gives you points to use on Amazon. And MANY online vendors give you an option to pay through Amazon (tied to that chase card) vs with a different credit card for the same price.
Such an upsetting read: "the people with the greatest possible ability to pay—people with resources exceeding entire countries—react with snarling outrage at the prospect of paying anything at all."
Billionaires are diseased. They are cancerous to a healthy society. It takes a sick, sick individual to hoard wealth in excesses of 333,000 x $1million. To then use that ill gotten wealth to corrupt and manipulate is vile and psychotic. It’s time to end the billionaire class once and for all.
I've been saying for a while that I think all of this is headed toward class warfare. Bernie and AOC are turning out crowds that are pissed about the billionaire class destroying our democracy. Fighting oligarchy is becoming more mainstream by the day.
We need to carry all the momentum into the streets and cause disruptions to civil life and the economy. Our collective power in the streets, creates bargaining power for AOC and Bernie.
This is what upsets me most about people who try to say problems aren't rooted in billionaires, and we should live and let live. These people spend a fortune actively attacking the interests of regular people every day!
But it mostly shows why people are saying Luigi is worse than Brian Thompson. If you spread your killing out over thousands and using a pen, then it's not "murder".
When I was a kid, I remember my grandpa telling me, "There are no ethical billionaires, kid—and you better watch out for the ones who say they're populists" (Ross Perot was running for president). I didn't really believe it back then. Grandpa was more right than he could've known.
Anyone who's done research with IRS statistics of income data knows that the data in the bottom brackets is more than just poor people, it is polluted with lots of rich people who have managed to get their taxes down near (or below) zero with tricks like this.
Or maybe there's another reason the lowest tax brackets have such high average capital gains income and investment interest expense deductions. Maybe, who knows.
To summarise how the ultra-rich work;
They put their taxable income mostly into untaxable stocks.
Then they take out massive loans against these stocks. This puts them into negative equity, thus entitling them to tax rebates, which they use to pay off the loans.
The ultra-rich are not just avoiding paying tax, they are taking money OUT of the tax pot.
The richest people on Earth are taking YOUR money.
Think on that.
Mathematical analysis shows that without redistribution, wealth becomes increasingly more concentrated, and inequality grows until almost all assets are held by an extremely small percent of people. History shows this analysis is accurate.
As I wrote in my 2014 book, many Founding Fathers warned that great wealth always threatens free society - mainly Franklin, Paine, and Jefferson, but many others shared their analysis of where aristocracy comes from. I dropped that chapter in my blog where everyone can read it for free.
Why are people getting a tax credit for having children in the first place?? Children are a choice, not a hardship that randomly occurs to someone. Carry the cost of that choice yourself or choose something else. Let’s contribute communally to people’s needs of misfortune, not their poor choices.
It’s a hardship that they chose for themselves tho. If someone gets sick or injured, we should help, but we shouldn’t have to help pay for the hardships that they chose to have in their lives.
This would be a more convincing argument if sex education, abortion, and birth control were widespread and of a high quality in the US. They aren't on either account.
Beyond this, unfortunately kids cannot take care of themselves, and we as a society should not punish children for what we deem to be the mistakes of their parents. A more robust safety net would make these sorts of tax credits redundant, but the nee for support is there either way.
That sounds like a formula for having a population held as emotional hostages by other people’s kids. We need to nip that shit, it’s become a thing people think they deserve just because they exist.
Sorry if my tone is a little hostile, this topic is sore spot for me.
Abortion, and birth control were cheap and available until very recently (yes, we need that back), and they STILL didn’t seem to have a problem with sticking their hands in other people’s pockets rather than simply not having a kid. It’s disgusting.
"Jeff Bezos verdiente in einem Jahr so wenig traditionelles Einkommen, dass er den Kinderfreibetrag beantragte und erhielt, der damals bei einem Haushaltseinkommen von über 150.000 Dollar auslief."
They are that good. These billionaires should be made Saints by the Evangelical Baptist churches to elevate them above consternation. My understanding now is all born again are Saints. They have been above the law we should give them their due. Stable of young women are the norm already.
Comments
If you can afford a couple more bucks to buy local, or not buy at all, do it.
Otherwise they will burn down the world with their insatiable greed.
Elected Officials in Both Parties:
If they can get real stuff from their "unrealized" gains, they are, in fact, realized. Tax them.
https://jacobin.com/2025/03/bernie-aoc-rallies-organizing-protests
But it mostly shows why people are saying Luigi is worse than Brian Thompson. If you spread your killing out over thousands and using a pen, then it's not "murder".
#EatTheRich
They put their taxable income mostly into untaxable stocks.
Then they take out massive loans against these stocks. This puts them into negative equity, thus entitling them to tax rebates, which they use to pay off the loans.
The richest people on Earth are taking YOUR money.
Think on that.
Mathematical analysis shows that without redistribution, wealth becomes increasingly more concentrated, and inequality grows until almost all assets are held by an extremely small percent of people. History shows this analysis is accurate.
https://youtu.be/5RpPTRcz1no?feature=shared
Sorry if my tone is a little hostile, this topic is sore spot for me.
Ultra wealthy should NOT be above the law