Reply #11: Well, yes, they are... [View All]

[punpirate]

... in any number of cases. I'm sure there are exceptions. But, the real problem is in Congress--for twenty-five years or more, Congress critters have kow-towed to the wealthy (and to wealthy corporations), offering more and more tax breaks in the hopes that those wealthy people will then continue to contribute to their campaigns (and, historically, the Dems have been just about as bad about this as the `pugs).

To see the extent of the problem, I recommend reading David Cay Johnston's Perfectly Legal. Congress has been the enabler here of a lot of that greed.

Another anecdote, of which some may be aware. The five descendents of Sam Walton collectively own 40% of WalMart stock (and who are collectively worth $100 billion), and have formed their own corporation to protect their interests, partly by using a little of their money to buy their own Washington lobbyist, Patton Bogg, to push their interests in Congress--including for more tax cuts and for making tax cuts permanent.

In effect, their wealth gives them an advantage few of us have--their own lobbyist in Congress, which then increases their advantage. That's a fairly refined form of greed....