Due to this, the United States already had the highest inequality of wealth in the industrialized world prior to the financial crisis. Since the crisis, which has hit the average worker much harder than CEOs, the gap between the top one percent and the remaining 99% of the US population has grown to a record high. The economic top one percent of the population now owns over 70% of all financial assets, an all time record.


As mentioned before, just look at the first full year of the crisis when workers lost an average of 25 percent off their 401k. During the same time period, the wealth of the 400 richest Americans increased by $30 billion, bringing their total combined wealth to $1.57 trillion, which is more than the combined net worth of 50% of the US population. Just to make this point clear, 400 people have more wealth than 155 million people combined.


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&sqi=2&ved=0CC0QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alternet.org%2Feconomy%2F1457 05%2Fthe_richest_1%2525_have_captured_america's_we alth_--_what's_it_going_to_take_to_get_it_back&ei=-fFKTuK9KsHZgQeIuYxz&usg=AFQjCNG5yQt_drDNIb-tgzSW85qliQfhxQ

On the CBC News last night, coverage of the following: Warren Buffett urging increased taxes for the wealthy.


Billionaire Warren Buffett urged U.S. lawmakers to raise taxes on the country’s super-rich to help cut the budget deficit, saying such a move will not hurt investments.

http://madmikesamerica.com/2011/08/warren-buffett-tax-the-rich/

There is nothing new in this issue. Some 80% of the nation's financial assets are owned by 10% of the population. So just why is it that Republicans cry "wealth distribution" when Democrats try to increase the taxation on the wealthy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States

Why are you not urging your fellow conservatives to increase taxes on the wealthiest in the nation?

Why are you not urging your fellow conservatives to increase taxes on the wealthiest in the nation?

It's an interesting line we keep hearing from the cons on the revenue issue lately. Seems like they've mostly accepted they're going to have to do something other than guy Medicare and Social Security, but it's all "closing loopholes" to get at the "50% of household who don't pay any taxes." The question being which loopholes they'd close, of course, but it looks an awful lot like an openly-regressive plan to target the poor and middle class for tax increases. Remember: wealth is a sign of moral virtue, so it would be evil for the government to harm the wealthy, or help the non-wealthy.