How to “Stop the Violence”: March Up the Steps of the Traders Who Pay No Sales Tax
(COMMON DREAMS) Paul Buchheim, September 20, 2016 — The rallies in Chicago and around the country evoke passion and sympathy from most of us, but just a shrug of the shoulders from those ultimately responsible for the carnage on our streets. These are the leaders of finance who use our infrastructure, technology, security, law, location, and especially our people to make billions in profits while paying almost nothing in return.
Especially the securities traders. An impoverished mother pays up to 10% in sales tax when she buys shoes for her kids, but the customers of companies with a quadrillion dollars in sales pay ZERO SALES TAX. Quadrillion sounds like gazillion, but it’s a real number — a thousand trillion, about four times the value of all the world’s wealth.
The protesting mothers are angry at the people who are killing their children. Much of that anger should be directed at the financial districts of New York and Chicago.
The Shame of Chicago
With a quadrillion dollars in sales and the collection of transfer fees, contract fees, brokerage fees, Globex fees, clearing fees, and surcharges, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange achieved a profit margin (54%) higher than any of the top 100 companiesin the nation from 2008 to 2010, and in recent years it’s risen to nearly 60%.
Despite being the most profitable big firm, CME complained that its taxes were too high, and they demanded and received an $85 million tax break from the State of Illinois.
Meanwhile, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has cut funding for funerals, AIDS programs, “Meals on Wheels” for seniors, and programs for at-risk youth.