Another Shocking Wealth Grab by the Rich -- In Just One Year

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/01/20



Another Shocking Wealth Grab by the Rich -- In Just One Year
by Paul Buchheit
Published on Monday, January 20, 2014 by Common Dreams

~snip~

1. Just 13 Americans Made More from Their Investments in 2013 than the Entire SNAP Budget

Some wealthy Americans like to refer to themselves as "makers," and food stamp recipients as "takers," even though most of the latter are children, the elderly, or low-wage workers. Many of the top 13 on the Forbes list did not make anything of significance in 2013. Yet by being heavily invested in the stock market they were able to take $80 billion among them, more than a year of food stamps for almost 50 million people.


2. The Richest 400 Took $300 Billion in 2013, Approximately the ENTIRE Safety Net

The total budget for SNAP, WIC (Women, Infants, children), Child Nutrition, Earned Income Tax Credit, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Housing is less than the $300 billion 'earned' by the Forbes 400.


3. The Richest 12,000 Families are Estimated to have Each Made $40 Million in the Past Year

The stock market grew by $4.7 trillion in 2013. The richest 1% owns about 38% of all stocks, or about $1.8 trillion of the 2013 gain.

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4. The Richest 400 Individuals Own More Than Three-Fifths of America

The richest 400 now own over $2 trillion among them, or about 2.8% of the country's wealth of $72 trillion. This is more than the holdings of three-fifths of America, or 72 million families.

[notemason]

1. Game over

It's the end of the Monopoly game and they have hotels everywhere. All the poor can do is pray they land on the lesser predators instead. That is if they're still in the game.