Right Wing Entitlement

It is no secret the economy is in the proverbial toilet.  Since I was in grade school I have been hearing about the gap "widening gap between the rich and the poor."    Comparatively, the current budget crisis's impact on the wealthy vs. on the working poor is like comparing the Grand Canyon to a crack in the sidewalk.


Dave Johnson wrote a column published in AlterNet titled, "9 Pictures That Expose This Country's Obscene Division of Wealth," here are a few gems from it:


 "Between 1979 and 2008, the top 5% of American families saw their real incomes increase 73%, according to Census data. Over the same period, the lowest-income fifth (20% of us) saw a decrease in real income of 4.1%. The rest were just stagnant or saw very little increase. This is why people are borrowing more and more, falling further and further behind. (From the Working Group on Extreme Inequality)"


"Societies that are more equal do better. In the book The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate Pickett make the case that great inequality harms us physically as well as spiritually, and the these harmful effects show up across society. The book examines social relations, mental health, drug use, physical health, life expectancy, violence, social mobility and other effects and show how inequality worsens each."


"Top 1% owns more than 90% of us combined. "In 2007, the latest year for which figures are available from the Federal Reserve Board, the richest 1% of U.S. households owned 33.8% of the nation’s private wealth. That’s more than thecombined wealth of the bottom 90 percent." (Also from the Working Group on Extreme Inequality)"


At this point, United States of America does not have a Government that is representing the people, it has a Government that is run by Corporate America, and thanks to the Supreme Court, it can only get worse.  Being "friendly" with Corporate America is how most people get elected into office; and it is those interests that are being served.  It is super wealthy Americans and Corporations working in collusion with the Banking Industry, Wall Street, and the Federal Reserve, who do not want to pay taxes; so the Bush era tax-cuts were and are not part of the budget crisis discussions.  


These Robber Barons spew rhetoric about everyone needing to make sacrifices due to the budget deficit.  Why is the deficit is so monstrously large?   It wasn't the individuals making less than a QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR WHO KEPT "TAX CUTS?!"   In fact, I bet individually and collectively quite a bit of money was spent lobbying OUR elected officials to support keeping this parting gift from George W.  This is on top of the large sums regularly budgeted by the wealthy to discover any and all ways possible to avoid paying taxes.  (to me, my household budget is <$24,000. annually and supports two)   Right wing propaganda would be funny if those spewing it did not have an utter disregard for personal responsibility, civic duty, social justice and an utter lack of moral integrity and a sense of entitlement that is truly ironic, given their rhetoric.   
Read the article.