The Occupy Los Angeles movement is growing in size and support. But what is it that they are protesting?
Is there truth to the claim that U.S. jobs are disappearing because it's easier for corporations to outsource than pay taxes?
The answer is apparently in the numbers. California-based corporations pay 35 percent in federal taxes and another 8.8 percent in state taxes. Combined, it equals 43.8 percent -- the highest in the world.
Critics argue it's the major reason why companies like General Electric moved jet engine construction to Brazil and Apple Inc. and Google Inc. invest heavily overseas.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, the Congressional Budget Office and the Center for Tax Policy, the top 10 percent of wage earners pay 70 percent of all federal income tax. Forty-six percent pay no federal income tax, with many receiving a refund.
Among the most significant tax loopholes for the wealthy is the deduction for giving to charities. The Obama Administration is seeking to reduce that deduction, an effort criticized during a Senate hearing this week by groups such as the United Way.
There have also been reports that one percent of the nation's population owns 99 percent of its wealth. Not true, according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. He estimates that they control 25 percent of the income, and 40 percent of the nation's wealth.
These statistics are at the crux of the Occupy LA protest at City Hall. They find injustice in reports that income rates for the upper one percent are going up steadily, while income rates for the middle class continue to go down.
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