Saving Capitalism, by Robert Reich: on Tax Reform

Chuck Grassley: Took $150M stock options to save Starbucks $82M in taxes

One such game has been to hand out stock "performance awards" on the basis of nothing more than an upward drift in the value of the stock market as a whole, over which CEOs presumably played no role other than watch as their company's stock price rose along with that of almost every other company.

George W. Bush: Cut estate tax from 55% to 40%, and raised cutoff

Barack Obama rolled back some of these cuts, but many remained. Before George W. Bush was president, the estate tax applied to assets in excess of $2 million per couple, at a rate of 55 percent. By 2014, it applied only to assets in excess of $10 million per couple, at a 40 percent rate.

Meanwhile, the tax rate paid by America's wealthy on their capital gains--the major source of income for the non-working rich--dropped from 33 percent in the late 1980s to 23.8 percent.

Howard Schultz: Took $150M stock options to save Starbucks $82M in taxes

One such game has been to hand out stock "performance awards" on the basis of nothing more than an upward drift in the value of the stock market as a whole, over which CEOs presumably played no role other than watch as their company's stock price rose along with that of almost every other company.

Robert Reich: CEO pay is tax deductible, unlike corporate investments

One justification is that CEOs and top executives are worth their soaring pay because the stock market has also soared during these years. But, the stock market surge has had a great deal to do with changes in the rules that have favored big companies and major banks--platforms and networks (and declining market power for average workers, who no longer have strong unions negotiating on their behalf).