April 16, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Video: Sen. Bernie Sanders Says U.S. Moving To Oligarchic Government
Speaking on the Senate floor on Monday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that the United States is moving away from democracy and toward an oligarchy. Sanders said, “the United States is departing from its democratic tradition, which has always included a strong and growing middle class, and is moving rapidly into an oligarchic form of government in which almost all wealth and power reside in the hands of the very richest people in our society, the top one percent.”
Senator Sanders was speaking in support for the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012, also known as the “Buffett Rule“. This proposed tax legislation would impose a minimum 30% tax rate on individuals earning $1 million or more a year.
Sanders:
It is absurd that at a time when our country has a $15 trillion national debt and enormous unmet needs, the wealthiest people in this country have an effective tax rate that is lower than many middle-class workers. It makes no sense that the richest 400 people in our country, who earned an average of more than $270 million each in 2008 pay an effective tax rate of just 18 percent, which is less than many small businessmen, nurses, teachers, police officers, etc. That is wrong from a moral perspective, it is also very bad economic policy.
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