The "financial sector" -- that is, Wall Street -- had a great recovery from the Great Recession, thanks to the American people, while the rest of the country remains mired in an ongoing depression which Wall Street created. And it's once again capturing a greater share of this nation's profits, squeezing out productive businesses that create jobs:
Looks like something's working. Bankers contribute to both parties, but lately most of their love is going one way: to the GOP.
Money Source: Billionaires
Non-banking billionaires contributed to the war-chest too. New GOP-backed bills -- and more importantly, GOP-appointed judges -- have allowed billionaires to keep on giving enormous sums of money to their cause once they've reached the official limit for campaign contributions. So far SuperPACs have raised nearly a quarter of a billion dollars from wealthy individuals for this year's election. And nearly 60 percent of that money came from just 47 people.
It's the finest election money can buy.
Big billionaire donors include Sheldon Adelson, Bob Perry, the Crow brothers, and assorted members of the Marriott family.
And for those of you who were worried that the bankers and billionaires might have been inconvenienced by God's wrath toward the GOP convention, you'll be relieved to know that the bundlers all got together for a nice yacht party.
Like they say down South: They're just folks.
Their Money's Worth: Billionaires
Are they getting their money's worth? Take a look at this table from William Domhoff:
The richest Americans have most of their wealth in business assets, financial securities, trusts, stocks and mutual funds, and non-home real estate. The vast majority of the population has its assets in bank accounts, home value, and pension accounts.
This table shows clearly that the Republican Party (along with a number of Democrats) is pushng policies that increase the assets of the wealthy, while at the same time fighting laws or regulations that protect everyone else's. They're fighting to keep capital gains taxes low and reduce even them further when it's now been proven that these cuts don't create jobs.
In any given year the country's 400 highest-income households earn between four and nine times as much of their income from capital gains as they do from salaries. They, along with other wealthy GOP backers, are benefiting from tax policies on everything from inherited wealth to unearned income.
And all those "hawkish" cuts avoid harming the business interests that make the wealthy even wealthier. They're targeted toward Medicare, assistance for low-income households, and anything else that can lighten the 1 percent's tax load without cutting into its profits.
Money Source: Big Corporations
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
