Billionaire Victimology is the Worst

[unhappycamper]

http://www.juancole.com/2014/02/billionaire-victimology-worst.html



Billionaire Victimology is the Worst
By Juan Cole | Feb. 4, 2014
(By Robert Freeman)

The Tom Perkins “billionaires-as-victims” charade couldn’t be more surreal. It goes without saying that his comparing the 1% to victims of Hitler’s genocide is tasteless. That it is oblivious is obvious. And that Perkins himself suffers from paranoid delusions must be suspected.

But there are deeper reasons for plumbing the pathology of Perkins’ rant. As background, let’s recall some basic facts.

Over the past 30-odd years, since Reagan, a vast share of the nation’s income and wealth has been transferred from the poor, working, and middle classes to the very wealthy. Twenty five years ago, the top 1% of income earners pulled in 12% of the nation’s income, today they get twice that, 25%. And the rate of transfer is accelerating.

In the ten years between 1996 and 2006 67% of all the growth in the entire U.S. economy went to the top 1% of income earners. Between 2009 and 2012, 95% of all the new income produced in the economy went to the top 1%. What about everybody else?

[Uben]

1. Everything over $1 mil/yr should be taxed at 90%

That's the only way to correct the problem. Sound outrageous? That's what they did after the great depression.
Not at the $1 mil/yr level, but taxation was at 90% for a while. Think of all the good that money could do.