The nonstop tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans
It's not just the wealthiest Americans. In order to placate the poor and middle class modest tax giveaways are thrown at them every time as well.
40 years ago we did not have the child tax credit, the dependent credit, student loan interest deduction, overtime deduction, social security exemption, HSA deduction, FSA deduction, section 125 plans to deduct health insurance, college tuition credit, etc.
But over time as corporations pushed the cost of health insurance, retirement onto the backs of the employees Congress decided to hand out these giveaways to the bottom 99% to make it slightly less expensive while avoiding the issue of how the greed of wall street was strangling American society.
The sheer number of people outside the 1% that gets a $500 tax break is what is dooming our economy.
In order to restore fiscal stability the entire system needs to be revised and it will cause horrible pain and Congress is too afraid to do it. The reality is that restoring a 90% tax rate on billionaires will not solve the problem.
While productivity has soared over the past 50 years, very little of that benefit has gone to the bottom 90% with wages barely keeping pace with inflation. All of the benefit flows up to the top.
Wall Street has built an economic system in America that is a house of cards. Half of Americans over 40 have NO RETIREMENT SAVINGS and Wall Street and the GOP is pushing to kill social security through half assed measures like ----- Scott requiring it to be "re-authorized" every five years (which will inject chaos into retirement planning for the middle class) to a "bi-partisan" group of do nothings in Congress suggesting retirement age be raised to 70 to 75.
The day is coming where social security will no longer be able to pay 100% of the benefits promised to the workers. What will that play out like? You think America is going to be fine when benefits to seniors (who are already starving on social security now) are cut by a 1/3? They certainly aren't going to lift the salary cap on social security taxes on millionaires. Neither party has the stones to do that.
My guess is they will do "emergency funding" financed through debt to keep kicking the can down the road. That is what they do best. But then the social security benefits will be tied to Congress being functional and just look at the mess Trump has caused in just over a year.
Dark days are ahead for America thanks to the greed of the 1%.
The pitchforks are coming.