It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
reply to post by VoidHawk
I bet it wont be long before the loyal trolls get in here and tell us why we should ignore this.
it might just make them see sense.
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.
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.
reply to post by FatherStacks
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 neo96
Franchise operators operate on small margins, and wage increases is the difference between firing people, and closing their doors for good.
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.
reply to post by neo96
That makes no sense to me.
reply to post by ErgoTheMirror
It's designed to extract in both directions from the middle class. Both issues need to be honestly addressed.
You are conflating two separate issues.
The employee should not be put in abject poverty because of the greed of these large parent corporations
Instead of seeing these megacorporations make a tiny bit less in profit...you'd rather have people starve
This thread is nothing of the sort.
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.
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.
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.
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.
deadcalm
reply to post by neo96
That makes no sense to me.
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.....???
That's a classic example of a straw man argument: the topic of discussion is welfare benefits, not wages.