Who Rules America? An Investment Manager's view on the top 1%

[SnakeBoy]

It all doesn't matter, we all die and bring nothing in the end.

[SA210]

Above 99%, below 99.5% and his description of that life exactly describes me. I'm the small business owner.

That said, I am VERY resentful of those in the top .1% - and their pawns in the Govt. who use the power of the Govt. to enrich themselves, and prevent anyone else form joining the party. THOSE people, through onerous regulations and taxes upon those of us ACTUALLY carrying the water, are inhibiting macro economic growth and wealth ac ulation. They take ridiculous risks, get burned, and the rest of us bail them out.

They are the ultimate drain on society. They don't play by the rules - they write the rules; this is NOT capitalism - this is a rigged system.

People like you are simply useful idiots, frankly. You defend these people to your last breath, even though, as the author points out, they are not providing any useful service to our society; not creating wealth or jobs; just draining money from the rest of us. They are leaches and parasites, and have wrecked the entire planet's economy for their own benefit; and have not been held accountable for their actions. (Nor have their puppets from both sides of the aisle in Washington).

It's nearing time to break out he torches and pitchforks.

Great post

Well ing said. I am in the 99% as well, but I do not influence government or write the rules, as it were.

The less than 1% above me need to be killed and eaten, period. I pay my taxes, I dont have tax shelters and repatriate periods afforded me or my business to shelter money overseas (nor do I want to). And you would never hear me complain about raising my taxes, ever. I make enough money in multiple vehicles, taxing my income a little more or raising the taxes on capital gains is a miniscule increase at best. I am not a financial manager, I am not an economist, thats why I never enter into those conversations. I am a small-business owner who works extremely hard to stay where I am. My whole world is wrapped up in this business, if I fail, I lose everything. If they fail, the taxpayer (you and me) just bail them out because theyre TBTF.

These people are nothing to the working man, they provide no benefit, their employment numbers would barely register on the overall scale. Theyre vultures, producers of nothing, exchanging information and zeros.

Gordon Gecko said it best in total contrast to Wild Cobra's ethos. To paraphrase, money is a zero sum game. Because money is power and there is only so much power to go around.

Less than 1% owns ~40% of the country's wealth (and climbing), that isnt sustainable.

These people at the very tippy-top are not Americans...or Chinese...or Japanese...or Mexican...or Saudi...or anything. They exist outside national borders, no loyalty to anyone or anything except their portfolio. With decades of evidence in the form of regime changes, resource exploitation, assassinations and political corruption, they will quite literally bleed everyone of us dry with even half a chance to do so.

IMO, its not about the money, the dollars and cents. Its about their power relative to others like them. Government never even enters their train of thought until they come up with yet another rule or regulation change that benefits them in some capacity. Then it is, literally, as simple as cutting a large enough check from multiple sources in order to make their dream a reality.

A blip on the financial radar for them, a new expense that they (also because they write the laws) get to write off as an expense.

both of these takes. Good to hear a little truth.

[boutons_deux]

Meet the Global Financial Elites Controlling $46 Trillion In Wealth

Tax Breaks For The Rich, Budget Cuts For The Rest Of Us

To further demonstrate how the mega-wealthy have seized control of our political process, consider that the richest 400 Americans paid 30 percent of their income in taxes in 1995, but they now pay only 18 percent.

In fact, 1,470 Americans earned over $1 million in 2009 and didn’t pay any taxes.

The average tax rate for millionaires was 22.4 percent in 2009, down from 30.4 percent in 1995. The average millionaire saves $136,000 a year due to reduced tax rates.

Looking at the tax rate from a long-term perspective, the amount of money the richest people and most profitable corporations pay in taxes has fallen dramatically since 1955. Corporate tax accounted for 27.3 percent of federal revenue in 1955. In 2010, corporate tax accounted for only 8.9 percent of federal revenue. Corporate taxes accounted for 4.3 percent of overall GDP in 1955, in 2010 they accounted for only 1.3 percent.

Deliberate Systemic Attacks

The dramatic increase in economic inequality and poverty, along with the unprecedented rise in wealth within the topone-tenth of one percentof the population has not happened by mistake. It is the designed result of deliberate governmental and economic policy. It is the result of the richest people in the world, and the “too big to fail” banks, using the campaign finance and lobbying system to buy off politicians who implement policies designed to exploit 99.9 percent of the population for their financial gain. To call what is happening a “financial terrorist attack” on the United States, is not using hyperbole, it is the technical term for what is currently occurring.

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/151999