Need examples of how the rich use government more

[NewJeffCT]

A long time ago (maybe in 2004), somebody had posted a pretty good listing of how the wealthy use government services far more extensively than the poor & middle class. However, I could not find the list here, and my googling has been fruitless this morning.

I need this to respond to a person that was all huffy about how the rich pay more in taxes. I wanted to say that was correct, but the rich also use far more in the way of government services than the rest of us as well. They also put far greater strain on our infrastructure as well.

My initial thoughts were things like use of the FTC & SEC, as well as the UCC... interstate commerce, etc. However, I think I'm lacking in some major areas and am drawing a blank.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[mdmc]

1. It took about twenty days to convict a black man of murder in

Newburgh, NY. How long will Ken Lay's trial last? How long did OJ Simpson's trial last.

The rich always have due process, the poor seldom do. the courts are one way.

[MountainLaurel]

2. In my area, public libraries

Because most of the public libraries are only open one or two nights each week and not on Sunday at all (and this is a metro system of more than 20 branches plus one central library), the ability to use the library is really limited for people who work during the day or who have more than one job. So, many of the users are either retired people, stay-at-home parents or their foreign nannies, or those who can work from home (who tend to be white-collar, upper-level folks). In other areas, transportation might be a major problem: If your library isn't on a bus line or there is no public transportation, potential users who do not have cars cannot visit your library.

[populistdriven]

3. The Farm Subsidy Program Mostly Goes to Pay the Rich to do Nothing

http://www.ewg.org/farm/

[lpbk2713]

4. Buildings, highways, schools, etc are most often named after

wealthy and powerful individuals by wealthy and powerful individuals. Very rarely are they named for individuals who have made a lifetime of doing humanitarian deeds.

[populistdriven]

5. responsiblewealth.org has resources on their site

Responsible Wealth is a national network of businesspeople, investors and affluent Americans who are concerned about deepening economic inequality and are working for widespread prosperity.
http://www.responsiblewealth.org/tax_fairness/index.html

[populistdriven]

6. progress.org has a corporate welfare resource page

http://www.progress.org/banneker/cw.html

you should have your freeper take their 'quiz'
http://www.progress.org/banneker/igt/cw/

[NewJeffCT]

16. Thanks

I appreciate it.

[populistdriven]

7. 455 billion in tax loopholes for the Rich in 1996

The Hidden Entitlements, released in May of 1996, describes the tax loopholes for the rich and corporations that are hidden in the tax code. Each of the entitlement programs contributing to the $455 billion in tax loopholes for 1996 is described in detail, with detailed cost estimates for the next seven years for each program
http://www.ctj.org/html/hemenu.htm

[populistdriven]

8. top 8 corporate welfare recipients and their layoffs in same period

http://www.corporations.org/welfare/
The more corporate welfare received, the more layoffs...

This is a list of the 8 corporate welfare recipients that were listed in the first article of the Inquirer series, comparing corporate welfare received to the number of people layed off in that time (1990-1994).

Welfare recieved Employment
GM $110,600,000 -104,000
IBM 58,000,000 -100,000
AT&T 35,000,000 -1,077 * #
GE 25,400,000 -80,000
Amoco 23,600,000 -8,300 *
DuPont 15,200,000 -29,961
Motorola 15,100,000 +9,600 *
Citicorp 9,600,000 -15,700

* exceptions to the trend
# AT&T layed off 40,000 people shortly after this accounting

[populistdriven]

9. CATO institute on how to save $400 billion over the next five years

by cutting corporate welfare

You might want to point out that CATO is a CONSERVATIVE think tank

http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb105-9.html

[populistdriven]

10. Definitely send them to zfacts.com

http://zfacts.com/

their graph using the whitehouse's own data shows how it is the Republicans not the Dems that bankupted America

[converted_democrat]

11. Look at the recent Energy Bill..

They give lots of tax dollars to companies for "research" for new and better products.. They do the research with our tax money, and then get to keep the methods, end result product, and profits for themselves..

[HughBeaumont]

12. Give him/her the book "Perfectly Legal"

It will explain everything about how the wealthy truly have a yellow-page-sized tome of advantages on us when it comes to qualifying for government services.

[havocmom]

13. There are few poor business owners using Interstate Hwy system

to transport goods to retail outlets. Hell, there are very few poor people using the roads any more than absolutely necessary - they can't afford the fuel!

There are few poor yacht owners needing the Coast Guard to keep them informed of weather/sea conditions 24/7/365. Even fewer poor requiring the Coast Guard to rescue them if they disregard the weather/conditions because they're special and take their yachts out on days they shouldn't.

There are few poor people using the airports (with all the federal funded supported infrastructure, services and personnel) for business travel and vacations.

There are few poor people requiring the services of the US Military to protect and expand their economic empires.

There are few poor sitting in the board rooms of the mega-corps which gain profits from government policies and the costs those policies incur. There are few poor cashing dividend checks from such companies.

There are few poor taking the courts' time and resources with lots of law suits.

There are few poor land developers putting up housing developments which cause all sorts of costs to local governments with the added burden of roads, schools, water and sewer treatment and piping systems.



given some time and coffee, I will prolly come up with more throughout the day. I get so bloody tired of people not appreciating all that federal monies do FOR THEM while they blame the poor and working classes for being a drain on our society. Somebody have a current pie-chart showing federal expenditures? Am thinking the lions share does not go to HHS.

[Bigmack]

14. The whole status quo...

.. protects the rich.

Without the police, the courts, the various regulators... the whole weight of government, those people in their big houses with their big bucks would have to deal with the peasants with pitchforks and torches from taking everything away.

A little dramatic, perhaps, but true. The whole apparatus of government is designed to protect those who have, and designed less and less to protect those who don't.

[Brewman_Jax]

15. "How rich bastards like me rip off taxpayers for millions of dollars"

by John Stossel, the Faux News wannabe himself

http://www.reason.com/0403/fe.js.confessions.shtml

From the article: Ronald Reagan memorably complained about "welfare queens," but he never told us that the biggest welfare queens are the already wealthy. Their lobbyists fawn over politicians, giving them little bits of money -- campaign contributions, plane trips, dinners, golf outings -- in exchange for huge chunks of taxpayers’ money. Millionaires who own your favorite sports teams get subsidies, as do millionaire farmers, corporations, and well-connected plutocrats of every variety. Even successful, wealthy TV journalists.

That’s right, I got some of your money too.

[NewJeffCT]

17. thanks

good one...