Fortune 100 Companies Have Received a Whopping $1.2 Trillion in Corporate Welfare Recently

Happy Friday ATS!

I want to draw your attention to this article I just came across. It details...just as the title implies...how the American government took the Americans people's hard earned tax dollars....and transferred them straight to banks and corporations. Welfare on a truly epic scale.

I find this interesting for a number of reasons. I have seen a number of ATS members complaining about people on welfare, food stamps..ect. as being a drain on their tax dollars....cries of socialism abound, and as usually ends up happening...the poor somehow end up to blame. Well that stops now!

One prime example of this is the current debate over raising minimum wage to $15 per hour....a living wage. I have seen members hotly defend corporations and businesses and their right to pay people far less than a living wage.

All of this while, unbeknownst to you...the taxpayer...your government has given out 1.2 TRILLION in handouts to corporations, banks....and not surprisingly....defence contractors. This figure doesn't include the 780 BILLION dollar bailout to the big banks at the hight of the banking crisis....a crisis that was cause by THEM. Even in the face of massive fraud that cost tens of millions of Americans their homes.

From the article...

Most of us are aware that the government gives mountains of cash to powerful corporations in the form of tax breaks, grants, loans and subsidies--what some have called "corporate welfare." However, little has been revealed about exactly how much money Washington is forking over to mega businesses.

UNTIL NOW

A new venture called Open the Books, based in Illinois, was founded with a mission to bring transparency to how the federal budget is spent. And what they found is shocking: between 2000 and 2012, the top Fortune 100 companies received $1.2 trillion from the government. That doesn't include all the billions of dollars doled out to housing, auto and banking enterprises in 2008-2009, nor does it include ethanol subsidies to agribusiness or tax breaks for wind turbine makers.

Shocking indeed. If you want to see which banks and corporations got your money....

HERE

Just for example...

After military contractors, $21.8 billion was granted out to corporate recipients in the form of direct subsidies; literally transfers of cash from the pockets of Americans to major corporations. The biggest winners were General Electric (GE) ($380 million), followed by General Motors (GM) ($370 million), Boeing (BA) ($264 million), ADM ($174 million) and United Technologies ($160 million).

So, here we have Fortune 100 companies, among the richest in the world...being handed 10's even 100's of billions of your tax dollars. Just for any who do not know what a Fortune 100 company is...

An annual list of the 100 largest public and privately-held companies in the United States. The ranking is compiled using gross revenue figures, and is published by Fortune magazine.

The Fortune 100 list is more exclusive than both the Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 lists, both of which rank more companies.

In light of this revelation I think that it's safe to say that the poor are NOT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM. Once again folks have been fooled into pointing their ire totally in the wrong direction.

Conversely, the government is cutting social programs like SNAP....no doubt because it takes away from the money of yours that they could be shovelling to private corporations and defence contractors.

The 2009 Recovery Act’s temporary boost to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits is scheduled to end on November 1, 2013, resulting in a benefit cut for nearly every SNAP household.[2] For families of three, the cut will be $29 a month — a total of $319 for November 2013 through September 2014, the remaining months of fiscal year 2014.[3] That’s a serious loss, especially in light of the very low amount of basic SNAP benefits. Without the Recovery Act’s boost, SNAP benefits will average less than $1.40 per person per meal in 2014. (See Table 2 for estimates of the size of the SNAP cut in each state in fiscal year 2014.) Nationally, the total cut is estimated to be $5 billion in fiscal year 2014.

Source

So hungry citizens will have to make do with $1.40 PER MEAL, so that these corporate and banking entities can continue to RAPE THE WEALTH OF A NATION.

So the next time you start to get hot under the collar about your tax dollars being wasted supporting the poor, maybe you should look at where the biggest drain on your economy is.

I just want to leave you all with this additional gem....

The Fed's $16 Trillion Bailouts Under-Reported

The audit of the Fed’s emergency lending programs was scarcely reported by mainstream media – albeit the results are undoubtedly newsworthy. It is the first audit of the Fed in United States history since its beginnings in 1913. The findings verify that over $16 trillion was allocated to corporations and banks internationally, purportedly for “financial assistance” during and after the 2008 fiscal crisis.

Forbes Article....HERE

Whoa!!! $16 TRILLION....to international banks and corporations no less.

So the next time you're tempted to blame the poor....perhaps you could consider the information posted above....and place the blame squarely where it belongs.....on your corporate and bank owned GOVERNMENT.

That is all.

Have a great weekend!!

reply to post by deadcalm

So the next time you're tempted to blame the poor....perhaps you could consider the information posted above....and place the blame squarely where it belongs.....on your corporate and bank owned GOVERNMENT.

True.

Too bad those living in or just above poverty don't have extremely wealthy lobbyists working for them to influence Govt decisions like the companies.

reply to post by deadcalm


Meanwhile we listen to two political parties whom were designed to be polar opposites tell us everything they are trying to do is for our benefit and safety!!!

I just wish they would have told us when they changed the definition of "Public Servant" and ushered in a new era of high tech slavery!

I bet it wont be long before the loyal trolls get in here and tell us why we should ignore this.

S&F OP, people need it stuck in their face, it might just make them see sense.

I bet it wont be long before the loyal trolls get in here and tell us why we should ignore this.

reply to post by VoidHawk


I say....LET THEM COME. These are the facts...like it or not. Besides...I think people are getting better at spotting shills. The harder they try to steer the debate...the more transparent their manipulation becomes.

it might just make them see sense.

All we can do is keep trying...we can't just give up. Thats unacceptable.

Thank You for taking the time!

VoidHawk
I bet it wont be long before the loyal trolls get in here and tell us why we should ignore this.

S&F OP, people need it stuck in their face, it might just make them see sense.

You said it. I can't wait for someone to try and justify why Walmart should receive federal benefits, but assistance for the people working at that same damned company is somehow a waste. It's inconceivable to me why people get up in arms over a hungry person getting a meal, or a struggling family gets some help making ends meet, but dishing out trillions to GE, General Motors, Bank of America, etc. is somehow ok. The hipocracy and B.S. runs a mile deep.

Almost twice as much money is spent on corporate subsidies than social welfare.

One prime example of this is the current debate over raising minimum wage to $15 per hour....a living wage. I have seen members hotly defend corporations and businesses and their right to pay people far less than a living wage.

Well here you go.

Explaining the EPIC STUPIDITY of the living wage bullsnip.

1. People need to have more money so they can go out, and buy more stuff from the bloody evil corporations!.

That really makes sense to some people ?

That can't get any more asinine. More so when they cry about the 'free market' where the market dictates pay. NOT THE GD STATE.

2. Since small business owners are the largest employers in this country. Who are mostly franchise operators.

Understand what that means.

Franchise operators operate on small margins, and wage increases is the difference between firing people, and closing their doors for good.

Since the employers that are small business owners are ALREADY paying for employees social security contributions, and medicare contributions. They are being matched by the employer.

Then the employers are paying for their employees unemployment insurance, their worksmans comp insurance.

Rasing the wage means INCREASED of all of the above.

Employers are always the last to get paid.

After the employees.
After their fixed costs.
After their variable costs.

But hey who gives a GD.

Lets create another corporate demagoguery thread.

And if people wonder why there is high employment, and outsourcing the 'living wage' CRAP is one of the biggest reasons why.


IF people wanted a real SOLUTION fix the money in this country as in FIAT currency, and cut taxes.

But this 'living wage' crap is bullsnip.

The more value the dollar has the more it can buy.

Guess some people want to put lipstick on a pig, and think they really have done anything of real substance.

I can't wait for someone to try and justify why Walmart should receive federal benefits, but assistance for the people working at that same damned company is somehow a waste

reply to post by FatherStacks


It is also important to note that the 6 heirs to the Walton (Walmart) fortune....have more wealth between them than almost HALF THE US POPULATION COMBINED.

This type of massive wealth inequality...if it continues....will destroy the US.

Source

Thanks for contributing!

reply to post by neo96

The simplest response I've ever seen is: "Why not just raise it to $50 an hour?"

That tends to get the wheels turning finally.

To the OP: You are correct that this is a HUGE problem. Where you fall is this is not a binary situation.

It's designed to extract in both directions from the middle class. Both issues need to be honestly addressed.

Crony Capitalism + Forced Socialism is a two pronged approach used at the same time to destroy the nation from within.

reply to post by ErgoTheMirror


The simplest response is?

Why ?

Take from the franchise operator giving the employee more money, and it ends up at the bigger guys pocket.

That makes no sense to me.

Since they are going out, and spending that money on more corporate products.

It is corporate fascism just with a slightly hipper rap.

reply to post by neo96

You misunderstand... I agree with you. That's the simplest response to give to someone stating "Give them a living wage!"

Challenge them to explain why raising minimum wage to $50 isn't viable then.

Franchise operators operate on small margins, and wage increases is the difference between firing people, and closing their doors for good.

reply to post by neo96


I was wondering when you'd show up.

You are conflating two separate issues. It is not the fault of the employee that the fanchisee can't get a fair shake from it's parent corporation. If the Franchisee has a problem with this....it should be taken up with the parent company. If an equitable solution can't be found...the franchisee closes it's doors or sells.

The employee should not be put in abject poverty because of the greed of these large parent corporations....some of which, ran away with a big chunk of your hard earned money. I notice you have nothing to say about that.

Instead of seeing these megacorporations make a tiny bit less in profit...you'd rather have people starve....which also has a huge cost to society ie...crime rate, violent crime, incarceration rates....these are bound to increase as more of your money get given away to banks and corporations....and more and more people can't afford the basic necessities.

Lets create another corporate demagoguery thread.

This thread is nothing of the sort.

You do realize that this is your money that is being given away to corporations and banks....don't you? You have no problem with that?

Think of it this way....what kind of effect would it have had if they had given that 1.2 trillion to small businesses instead of the Top 100 Fortune companies?? They could have...but didn't. I'll bet that would have allowed them to do all sorts of things....like raising the minimum wage for instance.

Maybe you should ask yourself why considering...as you said they are the largest employers in the country.

And if people wonder why there is high employment, and outsourcing the 'living wage' CRAP is one of the biggest reasons why.

Once again you make my point. These same megacorps that are sucking the blood out of you (tax $$) are among the same companies that are shipping your jobs overseas...never to return.

How's that for a thanks for the 1.2 TRILLION??

So I say again...you've got far bigger fish to fry than people looking to make enough money to feed, clothe themselves, and put a roof over the heads of them and their families.

Thanks for the input!

That makes no sense to me.

reply to post by neo96


Maybe you can tell me how it makes any sense to be giving 1.2 TRILLION of your tax dollars to the top 100 most wealthy banks and corporations in the US??? Not to mention 16 TRILLION to foreign banks and corporations.....???

It's designed to extract in both directions from the middle class. Both issues need to be honestly addressed.

reply to post by ErgoTheMirror


Not sure where you have been...but the middle class has all but been decimated....by design. You are once again falling into the false trap of trying to direct your fire in the wrong direction. I`d say tackle the biggest problems first...they are far more pressing....FAR MORE.

Honestly...that needs to be addressed. Don't forget...this 1.2 trillion didn't go to small outfits...it went to some of the WEALTHIEST CORPS and BANKS in the USA.

reply to post by neo96


That's a classic example of a straw man argument: the topic of discussion is welfare benefits, not wages. If the government is handing out tax money, who is in more need of it: a Fortune 100 company or a single parent recently out of work trying to care for two children? If you're outraged about the money spent on social welfare, you should be even more so when it comes to corporate welfare since far more of your taxes is wasted on it.

reply to post by deadcalm

You are conflating two separate issues.

Nope.

People need more money so they can go buy more stuff.

That is what it is.

The employee should not be put in abject poverty because of the greed of these large parent corporations

Whatever

Instead of seeing these megacorporations make a tiny bit less in profit...you'd rather have people starve

Nice hyperbole there.

This thread is nothing of the sort.

Yeah it is

See this demogogic bubble post:

The employee should not be put in abject poverty because of the greed of these large parent corporations....some of which, ran away with a big chunk of your hard earned money. I notice you have nothing to say about that.

And here:

Instead of seeing these megacorporations make a tiny bit less in profit...you'd rather have people starve....which also has a huge cost to society ie...crime rate, violent crime, incarceration rates....these are bound to increase as more of your money get given away to banks and corporations....and more and more people can't afford the basic necessities.

All I see is them evil corporations are evil dogma.

You do realize that this is your money that is being given away to corporations and banks....don't you? You have no problem with that?

I do which is why I am a vocal critic of the welfare industrial complex.

Such as the big 3 ss,,medicare,medicaid, and 'living wage' crap.

Oh and them evil bankers get their money from the federal reserve.

Think of it this way.

No I would rather think of it as wanting to hear at least one original thought instead of recycled dogma Americans have heard for over 100 years.

You know the stuff that created the federal reserve, and then 'end of monopolies' that pretty much only made the US government the only monopoly that is legally allowed.

Not even going to bother with the rest.

Nothing new there.

Same old dogma different day different thread.

If people wonder why there is 'income inequality' well first off the need to end the endless dogma that is strangling interest rates that people for over 50 years use to use to increase their standard of living.

deadcalm
Not sure where you have been...but the middle class has all but been decimated....by design.

ErgoTheMirror
It's designed to extract in both directions from the middle class. Both issues need to be honestly addressed.

I've been right here in the middle with you. Slow down.

deadcalm
You are once again falling into the false trap of trying to direct your fire in the wrong direction. I`d say tackle the biggest problems first...they are far more pressing....FAR MORE.

The problem is larger than this issue. Stop looking at ONE prong of the fork... look at WHO is holding the fork and WHAT they are trying to accomplish with it.

Leaving the same people with one of the prongs still results in us being roasted over a spit.

These are two sides of the same exact coin... and the attention must be placed directly on who is flipping the coin... not who is betting on heads (crony capitalists) and who is betting on tails (forced socialists).

deadcalm

That makes no sense to me.

reply to post by neo96

 

Maybe you can tell me how it makes any sense to be giving 1.2 TRILLION of your tax dollars to the top 100 most wealthy banks and corporations in the US??? Not to mention 16 TRILLION to foreign banks and corporations.....???

Bullsnip

www.usdebtclock.org...

Household assets 83 TRILLION

Current federal spending on the big 3 2.2 trillions the amount that is owed to them is $128 trillion.

Yadda yadda yadda.

Evil banks ad infinitum!

reply to post by FatherStacks

That's a classic example of a straw man argument: the topic of discussion is welfare benefits, not wages.

Sorry its not.

Going after bankers, and business is what is created the 'welfare state'.

After 70+ years of the war on poverty.

What is the GD score ?

More people broke.

More people working part time.

More people out of work.

More people dependent upon government for their existence.

And the living wage CRAP is another does of stupid only getting more stupid.

reply to post by deadcalm

Nice thread.Those that have too much keep giving themselves more money while effectively blaming those that don't have enough for their hidden actions .
Einstein quote says you can't expect the people that caused the problems to fix them.




PEACE IS FREE.