Perfectly Legal The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich and Cheat Everybody Else

by Johnston, David Cay

• ISBN13: 9781591840190
• ISBN10: 1591840198
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-12-29
• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover

Summary

The rapidly widening gulf between the super rich and everyone else is an American tragedy. Pundits have raged about it, but until now, no one has explained exactly how it happened, why it's not a normal part of capitalism, or how much damage it's really causing -- not just to the poor, but to 99 percent of all Americans. Whether your family makes $30,000 or $300,000 a year, you are being robbed because the IRS and other institutions have been systematically corrupted -- under both Republican and Democratic administrations -- to serve the needs of people who make millions.

Author Biography

David Cay Johnston won a Pulitzer Prize and shared in another for his investigative reporting in The New York Times, for which he has written since 1995. Prior to that he wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Los Angeles Times, the Detroit Free Press, and the San Jose Mercury News. Johnston is a frequent guest on NPR's Fresh Air.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Prologue	p. 1
Taxes--They're Not for Everyone	p. 5
A Nickel an Hour More	p. 20
The Rich Get Fabulously Richer	p. 30
Big Payday	p. 45
Plane Perks	p. 59
When the Old Man Is Dead and Buried	p. 71
The Stealth Tax	p. 92
How Social Security Taxes Subsidize the Rich	p. 117
Preying on the Working Poor	p. 129
Handcuffing the Tax Police	p. 145
Mr. Rossotti's Customers	p. 157
For Want of a Keystroke	p. 169
Mr. Kellogg's Favorite Loophole	p. 186
Mass Market Tax Evasion	p. 194
Getting off the Hook	p. 207
Profiting off Taxes	p. 217
Profits Trump Patriotism	p. 229
Letters to Switzerland	p. 251
Gimme Shelter	p. 262
Only the Rich Deserve a Comfortable Retirement	p. 274
Is Reform Possible?	p. 292
Conclusions	p. 305
Notes	p. 319
Index	p. 329
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