How the Rich Get Richer

[Malicious Intent]

IN 1985, THE FORBES 400 were worth $221 billion combined. Today, they’re worth $1.13 trillion—more than the GDP of Canada.

THERE’VE BEEN FEW new additions to the Forbes 400. The median household income has also stagnated—at around $44,000.

AMONG THE FORBES 400 who gave to a 2004 presidential campaign, 72% gave to Bush.

IN 2005, there were 9 million American millionaires, a 62% increase since 2002.

IN 2005, 25.7 million Americans received food stamps, a 49% increase since 2000.

ONLY ESTATES worth more than $1.5 million are taxed. That’s less than 1% of all estates. Still, repealing the estate tax will cost the government at least $55 billion a year.

ONLY 3% OF STUDENTS at the top 146 colleges come from families in the bottom income quartile; only 10% come from the bottom half.

BUSH’S TAX CUTS GIVE a 2-child family earning $1 million an extra $86,722—or Harvard tuition, room, board, and an iMac G5 for both kids.

A 2-CHILD family earning $50,000 gets $2,050—or 1/5 the cost of public college for one kid.

THIS YEAR, Donald Trump will earn $1.5 million an hour to speak at Learning Annex seminars.

ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION, the federal minimum wage has fallen 42% since its peak in 1968.

IF THE $5.15 HOURLY minimum wage had risen at the same rate as CEO compensation since 1990, it would now stand at $23.03.

A MINIMUM WAGE employee who works 40 hours a week for 51 weeks a year goes home with $10,506 before taxes.

SUCH A WORKER would take 7,000 years to earn Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s yearly compensation.

ELLISON RECENTLY posed in Vanity Fair with his $300 million, 454-foot yacht, which he noted is “really only the size of a very large house.”

Keep reading: http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/20..._privilege.html

[DudeAsInCool]

Ive been studying these kind of statistics for years, beginning with Ferdinand Lundberg's The Rich & the Super Rich--it goes in to detail how 1% control basically everything...

[slum_goddess]

yup, that fucking 1%... *musing* 'a nuclear sub could really take them out.' (paraphrasing smirkey)

Bilderberg, anyone?

(not to anyone here but) don't ANYone EVER tell me that we're all created equal, have equal say in shit, blah blah blah.

[Malicious Intent]

So do we try and climb the ladder into the higher percentages, or find wealth in other ways?

[method77]

I belong to that 1%

[DudeAsInCool]

I belong to that 1%

Are you a millionaire?

[method77]

I'm a billionaire bitch!

[DudeAsInCool]

I'm a billionaire bitch!

All Americans are Trillioniares, whore!

[slum_goddess]

so method's really a bitch...intristin'

[method77]

oops forgot to add the "," in there