Trickle down economics not working for 99%

The merits of trickle down economics were roundly debunked in an editorial "Five misconceptions about economic fairness" by David Morris.

Consider that since 1980 the average annual income of the bottom 90 percent of Americans has increased a minuscule 1 percent, while during that same time period the income of the top one percent has doubled!

The United States of America, long know as the land of opportunity, has become a place where  a poor person is less likely to become rich than in most other industrialized countries

Photo from Occupy Minnesota protest

Despite the rhetoric of the far right, redistributing income to the 99 percent is actually much more likely to work its way into the economy than keeping it in the hands of the wealthy, who are much more likely to hold onto those dollars. A dollar in tax cuts on capital gains results only in 38 cents of economic growth, while that same dollar in unemployment benefits fuels the economy at a rate of $1.63.

Lastly, Mr. Morris, who works with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, points out that taxing the rich could indeed significantly help to reduce our national deficit.  If only the richest 400 families paid the statutory rate of 39 percent of their income (to be reenacted next year) an additional $500 billion would be raised over 10 years.