Charles Koch, once said "I want my fair share - and
that's all of it."
Research by Paul Piff and his colleagues has demonstrated
that the accumulation of wealth leads to a sense of entitlement and qualities
of narcissism. The Chronicle of Philanthropy confirmed that Americans with
annual earnings under $100,000 increased their post-recession giving by 4.5
percent. Americans who earned over $200,000 reduced their giving by 4.6 percent
over the same time period. Wealthy people tend to give to colleges, art
museums, and opera houses very generously. Food banks depend more on lower
income Americans.
$30 trillion has been
taken since the recession, most of
it financial gains, almost all of it by the richest 1%, one-hundred
thousand of whom made an estimated $18
million each in three years, and most of whom are so rich that they can let
their portfolios sit nearly tax-free until they die, at which point an almost
non-existent estate tax ensures nearly
tax-free fortunes for their fortunate sons and daughters (only about one out of a thousand estates are taxed).
A collection of contrived laws and policies effectively
protect the wealthy:
---Capital Gains: Pay less for just owning stocks
---Carried Interest: The astonishing claim that hedge fund
profits are not regular income
---Payroll Tax: Multi-millionaires pay a tiny percentage
compared to middle-income earners
---Roth IRAs: A tax
loophole for the 20% of Americans who own
95 percent of the financial wealth
---Derivatives: Risky financial instruments are the first to
be paid off in a bank collapse
---Bankruptcies: Businesses can get out of debt by declaring
themselves insolvent, students can't.
One out of every five American children lives in poverty, and for black children
under the age of six it's nearly one out
of TWO. Almost half of food stamp
recipients are children.
According to The
Nation, there are now more homeless people in New York City than at any time
since the 1970s, and the number of homeless schoolchildren is at an all-time
high. 2.5 million children experience homelessness annually.
Worldwide, 76 million
children are living in poverty in the developed world, and hundreds of millions
more in the developing world.
Three-quarters of Americans approaching retirement in 2010
had an average of less than $30,000 to
support them in their retirement years.
Over 200 recent
studies have confirmed a link between financial stress and sickness. In
just 20 years America's ranking among developed countries dropped on nearly every major health measure.
The working class agree with Koch. We demand our fair share and that is all of the wealth that WE collectively produce but which he and his fellow thieves robs us of. We want the lot. Everything.
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