I Remember When

[Editorial]

We used to ride our bikes down to the center of town… to the 5 ¢ & Dime, or to the Dairy Queen and buy an ice cream cone for 10 ¢. Then was a quarter! OMG!!!! Now it is $2.30.

Gas was 23¢ now $2.90!

We complained back then about the price constantly going up.

But back then our salaries kept up with inflation and they paid a living wage. My father worked, my mother was the “Homemaker” we were right out of the  Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet show. On the street the neighbors had a 2 boats, a RV, and my parents had a cottage. My father worked, my mother was the “Homemaker” we were right out of the  Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet show. On the street the neighbors had a 2 boats, a RV, and my parents had a cottage.

So what is different between now and then?

Well I see a number of major differences, first there were unions. Second college was affordable, your summer job could pay for a year away at college. Third, the top tax bracket was between 70 and 90 percent, and there were estate taxes (The Republicans called it a death tax, I called it an anti-dynasty tax.)

But I saw something else change… greed. The average “Rate of return on investments” was about 7 – 8% in the 1960s, but in 2020 it was around 15 – 16%!  Also the top tax brackets dropped down into the 30 percentage range.

That profit went directly in to the billionaires pockets… not ours!

My thoughts on what to be done:

• First, bring back the 70 to 90 percent tax brackets.
• Second, tax all income the same. Making money in the stock maket is tax less than ordinary income… all money should be taxed the same.
• Third, bring back the estate tax to break up dynasties.
• Fourth, everyone pays the full six percent on income for Social Securities, no caps!

I write a lot of times the Republicans want to bring us back to the 1950s but it seems like they only want to bring back the "ism" and "phobia", but not the taxes and unions.

Do you know when we were in the same situation as we are in now?

The 1890s... Mark Twain called it the "Gilded Age" or the age of the "Robber Barons." To end it in rode the "Trust Busters" on their mighty stallions! President Benjamin Harrison with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and President Theodore Roosevelt used it to break up the monopiles like Standard Oil. (The political cartoons are from the 1890s)

We now need to use the act to break up the monopiles, just look at the meat industries... just four companies control 85% of the market!

Hello? Mr. Sherman, can we bring you out of retirement?

[/Editorial]