Consider the following information on how badly and decisively the Rich and corporations have taken an economy that SHARED THE WEALTH, 1947-1973, to 2024, where the lower 90% of hard working Americans have been ROBBED BLIND by the Rich and corporations:
1] From “Tax The Rich,” by Morris Pearl and Erica Payne, page 166:
“A study by Princeton professor Martin Gilens [August, 2012] shows that between the 1980s and the
2010s, policies supported by the rich ended up being passed into law between 60% and 70% of the time.
Similarly, policies supported by businesses and special-interest lobbies ended up being passed into law
between 60% and 70% of the time. In contrast, policies supported by a majority of voters ended up being
passed into law only about 30% of the time, and every single time one of those policies became law, it
also had the support of either business lobbies, the rich, or both. According to the study, not a single
policy supported by the majority of voters but opposed b y the rich and the business community ended
up being passed into law.”
[NOT A SINGLE POLICY OPPOSED BY THE RICH AND BUSINESS BECAME LAW !!!!!!!! NOT ONE]
2] From “The Scheme. How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court,” by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse with Jennifer Mueller, Appendix A:
”The following chart expands upon the analysis first presented in Senator Whitehouse’s April 2019
article for the American Constitution Society, “A Right-Wing Rout: What the ‘Roberts Five’ Decisions
Tell Us About the Integrity of Today’s Supreme Court.” It has been updated to reflect eighty cases that
were decided by a 5-4 opinion by the Roberts Five [Justices Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Thomas, and
Scalia or Gorsuch], each of which served one of the following conservative interests: [1] controlling
the political process to benefit conservative interests; [2[ protecting corporations from liability and
letting polluters pollute; [3] restricting civil rights and condoning discrimination; and [4] advancing
a far-right social agenda.”..
”Where appropriate, the appendix also identifies the judicial principles these conservative justices
generally espouse, but which they arguably disregarded in these cases to achieve a desired outcome,
including: [1]. stare decisis; [2]. judicial restraint; [3[. originalism; [4]. textualism; and [5]. aversion to
fact finding.” [PRINCIPLES DISREGARDED TO ACHIEVE A DESIRED OUTCOME !!!]
Refer to chapter l4 “The 80 [aka The Prize]’}. which discuses those 80 5-4 votes: ”And we found a staggering pattern: in every one of those seventy-three cases, 730, the conservative big-money interests won. Every. Single. Time…..
the most dangerous victories actually tilt the political or legal or regulatory fields in favor of the donor interests in ways that will enable streams of future victories. Indisputably, the big, dark-money special interests have gotten what they paid for..” Re-read this section, multiple times, this is a RIGGED. “court.” American “democracy” is being lost,
one Roberts “court” decision at a time. - a PATTERN. of 2005 – 2023. The rich and corporations have bought decisions favorable to them. This is why some courageous commentators are now, in print, describing the
Roberts “court’ as CORRUPT, some saying the Roberts “court” is. THE. SINGLE. BIGGEST. THREAT TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.
3] Consider, and compare March-April, 2011 Mother Jones, and, January-February, 2024 Mother Jones articles on wealth and income in America. The 2011 “Plutocracy now” article concentrates on income. The bottom 90% “average income per family was $31,244; the top 10% income was $164,647; the top 1%. income was $1,137,684; the top o.01% income was $27,342,212. The richest 10% controlled 73.1% of American’s net worth – 34.6% by the top 1% alone.
The 2011 article had a “Your Loss, Their Gain” chart which showed the bottom 90% had ALL lost income to the top 1%. It also had an article “Plutonomics” which mentioned “In a 2006 memo to Citigroup’s wealthy clients, lead “strategist” Ajay Kapur declared, “Our thesis is that the rich are the dominant drivers of demand” in the U.S. and other “plutonomies. How does a country become a plutonomy? One essential factor, he wrote, is “favorable treatment by market-friendly governments [to allow] the rich to prosper.”
The 2024 article of the special edition of Mother Jones – “American Oligarchy”. [the entire magazine !!!!!], contains a chart “Mind the Gap,” discussing “Average real wealth per U.S. adult..” The 50-90% [middle class] adult has $401,900; the top 10% adult has $3.8 million; the top 1% adult has $19.1 million; the top 0.01 % adult has $533.8 million. The U.S. has more billionaires than any other nation – #2 China has about 1/3 as many; nations 2-6 together have slightly more billionaires.
4] Research the U.S. national debt. You’ll find the American national debt for ALL of 1789 – 1980 was LESS than $1 trillion. Reagan and Bush I added $3.4 trillion; Bush II added [an incomplete] $6.1 trillion. Obama added @.4 trillion – largely to recover from the effects of the Bush II-caused 2007-09 Great Recession. [data as of 10/28/2011] Then there is the immoral, KNOWN TO BE DESTRUCTIVE 2017 Trump tax cut – which is 25% of current debt [and counting!!!]
As of 2/7/2010, the Congressional Budget Office projected th national debt would be more than $15 trillion by 2020. those projections “are based on assumptions that include the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts and lower war expectations.” This DID NOT HAPPEN.
A “Journal of Economic Perspectives” for winter, 2007, article by Thomas Picketty and Emmanuel Saez. “How Progressive is the U.S. Federal Tax System?,” shows “average federal tax rates for top income groups, 1970-2004, dropping for ALL. The top 0.01% rate drops about over 50% – from about 75% to slightly over 30%; the top 0.1% rate drops about 50% [ from about 63-64% to slightly over 30%; the top 1% rate drops from about 49% to about 31%.
5]. Do YOUR own FACTUAL, mainstream-based, UNSPUN. research – Census Bureau, IRS, CBO, GAO UNSPUN numbers for 1945 – 2024. As the articles discussed above will show YOU – the CLEAR. OVERALL. PATTERN. is massive bias in favor of the rich and corporations. The. documented. MASSIVE shift of middle class income to the top 1-5% has had devastating, destructive effects on American society, economy, society.
All this, plus much, much more – is WHY the Far Right Threat to American Democracy exists. This will not change- unless. YOU, your friends, neighbors, relatives. do more than protest. Unless YOU. vote the mouthpieces for the rich and corporations out of office. - THIIS. WILL. CONTINUE. This is. THE. ISSUE, THE. CAUSE. for the distress of a majority of Americans.
If. YOU. continue to vote based on “culture war” issues – the rich and the corporations they control - will continue to. LAUGH. AT. YOU. ALL. THE. WAY. TO. THE BANK !!!!!!!!!!!!!
With Justice For All 