The Albuquerque Tribune carried the following stories in its late edition Tuesday, April 6:
1. Most American corporations paid no income tax between 1996 and 2000, the GAO reported.
2. Murdoch said he’ll re-incorporate News Corporation in the US.
3. Bank of America said it will cut 12,500 jobs following its merger with FleetBoston Financial.
4. American workers’ share of the increase in national income since November 2001 is the lowest on record. For the first time ever, corporate profits got a larger share of the growth. The money from increased productivity was used to "boost profits, lower prices or increase CEO compensation." (This from a report by the Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University, quoted by Bob Herbert of the NY Times.)
What a fascinating picture of the US economy! Too bad, though, that the Tribune did not have one more story – Allan Sloan’s Newsweek cover on the Bush tax policy.
Sloan writes "...if Bush gets what he wants, the income tax will be a misnomer – it will really be a salary tax.
Almost all income taxes would come from paychecks …meanwhile taxpayers receiving dividends, interest and capital gains…would have a much lighter burden than salary earners – or maybe none at all."
Get the picture?