Even in 1974, the problem was the 1%.
Them That’s Got – Taxes In America 1974 – Past Daily Reference Room
Taxes, one of the few sure things in life. And there always been a very vocal complaint about our Tax system – how, over the years it has become increasingly disproportionate and mired in red tape.
But lest you think this is a situation that’s only happened in recent years, here is a radio documentary from 1974 which proves it has always been this way, or some variation on it.
In 1974 we still had the imbalance – the highest income earners had the biggest tax breaks, and the lower income earners always picked up the slack. And even political influence via lobbies and influence peddling was commonplace in 1974 – the stakes are much, much higher now.
But instead of simplifying the entire process, eliminating certain deductions and making the playing field a bit more even, it’s gone further to the extreme.
And listening to this episode of the NBC Radio series Second Sunday from April 14, 1974, entitled The Great American Tax Ripoff, it’s only gotten more complicated, less fair and considerably less balanced. And, in 1974 the problem was the amount of influence the 1% had over Capitol Hill. How corporations paid little, if any tax and employed the services of lobbies to sway political influence.
It’s interesting, because most all the companies mentioned in this program are either no longer in business or have been swallowed up by other companies and have positioned themselves under the category “too big to fail”. The conglomerate got into high gear in the 1980s, it was still relatively small potatoes in the 1970s. But the issues were still there – taking advantage of massive tax cuts and tax credits, while the average earner, the average American, got stuck with a larger and larger portion of the tax burden.
So – is it going to change? If you look at the climate in 1974 and compare it to what’s going on in 2019, the answer would be no. But then, you have to ask yourself – this imbalance in our economy is something that cannot be sustained if it continues on like this, what and when will it change and how will it change? Sadly – I’m not able to grab documentaries from the future to give you an idea of how it all went – we can only guess.
But in the meantime, here is a reminder that it’s been a long-term problem that is in dire need of a fix. And this is what the problem sounded like in 1974.
