The Morbidly Rich

 

The Morbidly Rich are $276 billion richer just in the two weeks since November 5th, so, of course, Republicans want to give them trillions more in tax cuts. A new report from Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) details how the most obscenely rich among us have gotten massively richer in just the past few weeks.

And the GOP’s pick of Senator John Thune to lead that body next year means trillions more, as he’s one of the Senate’s biggest advocates of ending or cutting Teddy Roosevelt’s proudest achievement, the estate tax.

Elon Musk, all by himself, accounts for $57 billion in additional wealth so far this month; America’s 815 billionaires now control a massive $6.7 trillion in wealth. Noting that, “Total billionaire wealth has surged by $3.8 trillion — or 131% — just since the enactment of the Trump-GOP tax law seven years ago,” the tax fairness group added: “Instead of addressing the nation’s growing economic inequality and the growing shortfall in federal revenue, President Trump and congressional Republicans plan to make the situation even worse by enacting a new tax cut package that gives billionaires tax breaks on the backs of working people.

This Republican tax plan will start with extending all the expiring provisions in the 2017 Trump law—which alone will balloon the federal debt by $5 trillion over the next decade—but will likely include new handouts to the very wealthy, such as elimination of the estate tax.” Senator Elizabeth Warren is having none of it, pointing out that Republicans have declared war on working class people and she, for one, intends to fight back.

During a Senate hearing this past Wednesday, she said: “The tax fight is starting now, and every person in the United States, every person in the Senate, needs to show the American people what side we stand on. Will we sign our names to more giveaways to President-elect Trump’s billionaire buddies, or will we fight for tax fairness for the American people?” Get out the popcorn; this is going to get interesting.

-Thom Hartmann