Tax Time April 15, 2009: for whom the bell tolls?

Today is April 15, Tax Day. By now most people in the United States probably have their 2009 taxes done since they are due at midight tonight. (In case you had any doubts, I am not “most people;” I’ll get around to my taxes when I’m good and ready! Besides, I know I’m getting some of my taxes back!)

In 2002, I wrote  Taxes–3:15 Exp 2002 (post 4/14/08; ARTLIFE 4/03; between sleeps 2006) text here; this means it was a poem from the 3:15 experiment; the “Taxes” broadside was published in ArtLife (pictured at left) and the “Taxes” poem was published in Between Sleeps: the 315 Experiment from 1993-2005 (En Theos Press 2006).

Even though I’m getting some tax  money back, I am still paying into the system, a system that I want to believe is fair, and where we all share the burden to provide public services which we all need like education, fire and public safety and which we enjoy and appreciate like parks and recreation, cultural affairs, museums, and events in our communities.

But US corps don’t pay what I think is their fair share of taxes. And some people make obscene amounts–from our tax money! You can imagine my frustration and outrage when I read this email from my union:

In 2008, CEOs and other executives responsible for our current financial crisis pocketed millions of dollars from bonuses and golden parachutes, while our government spent billions of our dollars bailing out their companies.

Vikram S. Pandit, CEO of Citigroup Inc., received more than $38 million in total compensation in 2008, the same year his company took $50 billion in U.S. taxpayer money.

To shed light on executive pay, the AFL-CIO released Executive PayWatch 2009 earlier today. In this report, we learn that CEO perks alone grew in 2008 to an average of $336,248—or nine times the median salary of a full-time worker.

This comprehensive report includes much more information, including:

• Detailed CEO compensation data for some of the country’s largest companies.
• Tools that allow you to compare your pay to the CEOs.
• Close-up case studies focusing on 10 executive compensation practices that define a broken system that leaves the American taxpayer holding the bag.
• The anatomy of a double standard: Executives enjoy job and retirement security while fighting the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to form unions and bargain for basic security.
• Action for you to take to put balance back into our economy.
• Boot the CEO, a satisfying online game.

Outrageous executive pay is a symptom of a disease that has infected our entire economic system. It is a disease of greed and corruption made worse by the Bush administration’s obsession with further deregulating Wall Street and ideological aversion to oversight and accountability in our financial system.

Check out Executive PayWatch 2009 today and pass it around.

Some last thoughts from Art Predator: According to the an April 2008 edition of Parade Magazine, while businesses complain that US corporate tax rates are the second highest in the developed world, when loopholes etc are factored in, United States corporations pay the third lowest rate in the world when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product.

And play the game–boot the CEO!! Get some of your tax season aggressions out! It’s fun and good for you!