The Six Walton Heirs Are Worth More Than the Bottom 48 Million Families Combined
In case you’re wondering … that means the children of the founder of WalMart – Sam Walton – inherited a fortune that is equal to the wealth of the bottom 40% of all Americans combined. That’s the definition of income inequality. These kids didn’t earn this money … they inherited it. They won the sperm lottery and it’s indefensible that anyone is talking about giving these people more tax cuts.
The Economic Policy Institute writes HERE:
And in 2010, as the Walton’s wealth has risen and most other Americans’ wealth declined, it is now the case that the Walton family wealth is as large as the bottom 48.8 million families in the wealth distribution (constituting 41.5 percent of all American families) combined.
It’s hardly a surprise that the economic circumstances of the Walton family and that of most Americans are moving in opposite directions, but some have attempted to quibble with the use of this particular statistic by noting that nearly 13 million American families have negative net worth—meaning that they have outstanding debts greater than the value of their assets. This is a bit of a strange objection—of course, many American families have negative net worth, but this is an economic reality, not a statistical fluke.
Pew Research says that by 2 to 1 – Americans believe raising taxes on the rich will HELP the economy HERE:
By two-to-one (44% to 22%), the public says that raising taxes on incomes above $250,00o would help the economy rather than hurt it, while 24% say this would not make a difference. Moreover, an identical percentage (44%) says a tax increase on higher incomes would make the tax system more fair, while just 21% say it would make the system less fair.
(via cuntymint)
