The 1% Stole the American Dream and cashed it in Offshore Banks

http://www.alternet.org/economy/how-americas-wealthy-stole-american-dream-and-cashed-it-offshore-bank?akid=12699.294211.ltLy5F&rd=1&src=newsletter1030543&t=3

Expect government services to further decline while the rich evade paying their taxes.
America is the most unequal country in the developed world. We also pay the lowest taxes among all developed nations. Is there a connection?
Runaway inequality and declining taxes are linked together through a set of economic policies called the "Better Business Climate" model which came to America around 1980. (By then Margaret Thatcher had already put her version to work in England.)

Economy

How America's Wealthy Stole the American Dream and Cashed It at an Offshore Bank

Expect government services to further decline while the rich evade paying their taxes.

By Les Leopold / AlterNet

January 14, 2015

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America is the most unequal country in the developed world. We also pay the lowest taxes among all developed nations. Is there a connection?
Runaway inequality and declining taxes are linked together through a set of economic policies called the "Better Business Climate" model which came to America around 1980. (By then Margaret Thatcher had already put her version to work in England.)
After the turbulent 1970s, which featured oil boycotts, high unemployment and even higher inflation rates, the policy establishment was hungry for a new simple plan that promised renewed prosperity. The Better Business Climate model had two key components: cutting taxes on corporations and the super-rich, and reducing regulations, especially on Wall Street. This potent combination was to encourage the rich to invest, which in turn would lead to more jobs and increasing incomes for all. A massive boom would then ensue to make all boats rise. But as we painfully learned, tax cuts and the unleashing of Wall Street led to luxurious yachts for the few and leaky rowboats for the rest of us.
Mind-altering tax cuts
The massive tax cuts which followed changed the way we perceive government and how we think about taxes. Since everyone hates to pay taxes, a model that claimed tax cuts would actually be good for the economy was enormously seductive.
However, it is easy to forget that before the Better Business Climate model slashed taxes, there was a national consensus that the super-rich and corporations should carry a disproportionate share of the tax burden. It was generally understood that if the wealthy had too much money they might be tempted to gamble it on Wall Street, creating bubbles that would take down the economy as happened during the 1929 stockmarket crash which led to the Great Depression.
Money from the wealthy would be used to fight WWII, the Cold War and build the American Dream. Through high taxes on the largest corporations and on the wealthiest Americans, we could pay for a new national highway system, provide nearly free public higher education, build affordable housing, support full employment and pay for the largest military establishment in the history of the world.