Due to completely messed up U.S. tax policies, some even got a rebate check. Only small businesses pay taxes. Big companies often pay nothing at all.
Look at a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice ( http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2015/04/fifteen_of_many_reasons_why_we_need_corporate_tax_reform.php#.VSbihhPF8QY ), a Washington, D.C. group. It finds that some of nation's most famous brands have paid remarkably little to the government over the last five years. In fact, many actually enjoyed a negative tax rate: They received a nice rebate check from the U.S. Treasury.
The 15 giants highlighted by CTJ were chosen to represent a wide range of industries among Fortune 500 companies. They include CBS, Mattel, Prudential, and the California utility PG&E. Together, they paid no federal income tax in 2014, despite profits totaling $23 billion. CTJ's point is that these companies are not anomalies, they are examples.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by tftp on Wednesday April 15 2015, @03:05AM
If you have enough people to succeed at a violent revolution, you probably have enough people to just vote.
Actually, violent revolutions require far less than the majority. The latest example is Ukraine; population is about 50 million, but 10,000 well organized protesters were able to force the weak government to resign. That's only 0.02%. Even if you count supporters in other cities and claim 100,000 - it is still only 0.2% ... that's exactly why violent revolts are so popular - they can be done by a small group.
(Score: 2) by Leebert on Wednesday April 15 2015, @03:18PM
A fair point, and I suppose on consideration there are some notable counter examples in history.
I'm not entirely convinced my position is wrong in the general case, but I'll concede that it's not absolute. In any case, certainly a position that warrants more fleshing out.