The “We’re Broke” Lie

Don’t fall for the “we’re broke” or “there’s no money” lie.

If we are so broke that “we need to make budget cuts”, then why are corporate profits at an all-time high? Take a look at this grap from the Economic Policy Institute:

If corporate profits have competely recovered, why are we still claiming that "we're broke?"

…and what do corporate profits have to do with national and state budgets, you ask? Well, because all of our budget shortfalls can be traced to one cause: the super rich are choosing greed over the health of our country’s economy. If big corporations only contributed what is fair to our communities’ budgets, we would not have to make budget cuts after budget cuts on a number of critical public services. Putting it quite simply: corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes to our communities. What’s worse, some are not even paying one penny at all! If I pay my taxes, why are corporations not paying theirs?

That’s a good question. Check out this great video from the makers of the “The Story of Stuff“.

This video actually makes it crystal clear why environmentalist and other advocacy groups should be getting more involved with the Occupy Wall Street “We are the 99%” movement.