The unemployment rate is actually higher than 10%. The official unemployment rate has been fudged since the 80's and nobody changed it back to the old way of calculating it. A tid bit I found out in an economics class - this figure is calculated on individuals that work 1 hour or more a week.
True unemployment rate already at 20% - Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money Employment and Unemployment The Real US Unemployment Rate Hits a 68-Year High
We had a 90% Federal Income Tax Bracket at one point. This was probably at what was the best economic time for Americans overall.
Top US Marginal Income Tax Rates, 1913--2003 (TruthAndPolitics.org)
What has happened since then is that the Income Tax burden has been shifted away from Corporations and the Wealthiest. The tax burden has increased for both lower income and middle income. It has especially increased for the middle class. That is why you are feeling such a big tax bite. During the Reagan and Bush II eras taxes were reduced for the wealthiest. When taxes needed to be increased it was mainly on mid level incomes.
AFP: At least 7,500 seek tax amnesty on offshore accounts: US
Don't forget about people with illegal tax havens to avoid paying taxes.
Amnesty Deadline Extended for Offshore Account Holders - DealBook Blog - NYTimes.com
I know people keep coming up with "smaller government" But we have to do something about large corporations first. The amount of control some of these large corporations wield scares me much more than our government. I see a trend of corporations being treated the way citizens should be treated and citizens being treated the way these corporations should be treated.
We can support social programs. The taxes need to be raised on the wealthiest. Lower incomes and middle incomes need to have lower tax rates. Most of all the Government needs to go after tax evaders and hit them hard. I was told in a couple of classes on taxation that the withholding taxes were the ones the IRS had to go after the most for not being paid. What that means is that employers reduce their employee's paychecks but don't turn around and turn it in to the IRS. We need to make cuts in the things that benefit the wealthy and yes that means we have to cut down on some of those juicy Pentagon contracts that are really nothing more than pay back for nice campaign contributions. We also need to do something about the outsourcing of government services. I have already said that when Daley outsourced parking meters to a private company the meter rates more than doubled. The same holds true for Medicare Advantage. These things would be a lot cheaper if the costs of CEO salaries and profits were not included.
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Reply With QuoteOriginally Posted by NIGHTB1022
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Re: Unemployed People Working for Free - What? 
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