Economic Rules Favor Corporations

I wish it wasn't true, but I do believe our government favors corporations over people. This is mainly due to the Republicans, who have somehow convinced too many people (and many elected officials) that whatever is good for corporations is good for everyone. It is not true, but that seems to be the the attitude of those in Congress -- so much so that many (if not most) of our laws are written by corporate lobbyists.

Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in a tilting of the economic playing field in America to the benefit of corporate America. Through deregulation, the weakening of unions, enormous subsidies, and tax law favorable to letting corporations avoid paying taxes, the corporations now enjoy advantages that ordinary citizens can only dream about. And these advantages have allowed corporations to easily rebound from the recession and make even greater profits -- while the citizens on Main Street remain mired in the recession (with stagnant wages, huge unemployment, and less government help for hurting Americans).

This is vividly illustrated by the following facts:

* From 2009 to 2011, an amazing 88% of the increase in national income went to corporate profits, while only 1% went to increased worker wages (and hourly wages went down, meaning that those workers on average had to work more hours for that tiny increase).

* Corporations are paying taxes at a rate that hit a 40 year low in 2011.

* Corporate profits made up 14.2% of national income in the fourth quarter of 2012. That's a larger percentage than at any time since 1950.

* The portion of national income that went to employees was 61.7%, the lowest percentage since 1966.

* Corporate profits have risen at an annualized rate of 20.1% since the end of 2008, while disposable income has risen a meager 1.4%.

And the corporations and their Republican flunkies still tell us that corporations need more help from the federal government (in the form of even lower taxes and more subsidies). They say that would allow corporations to begin hiring again -- even though corporations are already sitting on more than a trillion dollars and not creating jobs (plus billions, if not trillions, more sitting in off-shore accounts in other countries to avoid paying taxes).

The concept of economic fairness seems to have been lost by our current members of Congress. And the White House is not much better, because they keep nominating Wall Street big-wigs to be in charge of our economic system.

All of this must change for the economic good of this country. The health of our economy does not rest solely with how well the corporations (and Wall Street bankers) are doing. Our economy is healthiest when the mass of American citizens are doing well, and have money to spend. That is what boosts the economy and creates demand -- and that is what's good for everyone, including both small and large businesses.