Obama campaign would be upset as McCains are not in the list !!
On Sep 24, 6:25 am, Frank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > As economic crisis deepens, rich get richer > Forbes publishes list of 400 wealthiest Americans > By Tom Eley > 24 September 2008 > Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the author > > Even as the US careens into its greatest economic calamity since the > Great Depression, the financial aristocracy whose parasitism and > criminality has brought on the crisis has held its own—and then some. > > The recently released Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans shows > that the combined wealth of the aristocracy has increased 2 percent, > even amidst the financial breakdown and recession of the economy. “In > this, the 27th edition of the list,” Forbes glumly notes, “the > assembled net worth of America’s wealthiest rose by $30 billion—only 2% > —to $1.57 trillion.” > > Readers will be forgiven for tripping over the word “only” in > relationship to a $30 billion increase in wealth for 400 spectacularly > wealthy individuals. This “modest” figure—the increase in wealth for > the oligarchy in a bad year—is only slightly less than the federal > government has budgeted for unemployment insurance for all of 2008. > > The overall wealth of the 400 richest Americans is staggering. There > are no multimillionaires on the list; a minimum of $1.3 billion being > required to gain admittance, while the average net worth is $3.9 > billion. > > The combined wealth of the richest 400 individuals is $400 billion > more than the entire discretionary spending budget for the federal > government. It is more than $300 billion larger than the combined 2008 > outlay for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. It is more than 15 > times the combined appropriations for education and highways and mass > transit. > > The personal wealth of the top 400 Americans is more than twice the > combined annual GDP of all of sub-Saharan Africa, home to nearly 800 > million people, the vast majority of whom live in dire conditions. It > is also several hundred billion dollars larger than the GDP of the > world’s eighth biggest economy, that of Spain. > > The club’s richest member is Microsoft magnate Bill Gates, whose net > worth, $57 billion, is greater than the annual GDP of about 120 of the > world’s 180 nations. > > The year’s biggest winner is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, > whose personal wealth increased by $8.5 billion to $20 billion, making > Bloomberg the nation’s eighth richest individual. > > On Tuesday, without a hint of irony—much less shame—Mayor Bloomberg > proposed brutal across-the-board budget cuts for the city of New York. > He is calling for cutbacks totaling $500 million for the current > fiscal year, to be followed by much steeper cuts in the coming years. > Meanwhile Bloomberg, in the course of just one year, pocketed 17 times > what he is now demanding that millions of working people in New York > City forfeit in terms of vital services and jobs. Only in America! > > However, owing to the turbulence of the stock market, great fortunes > were being both made and squandered even as Forbes published its list. > “The Forbes 400 is a snapshot of estimated wealth on Aug. 29, 2008, > the day we locked in prices of publicly traded stocks,” the magazine > wrote. “Given how unsettled the stock market is, some of those on our > list will become significantly richer or poorer within weeks—even days— > of publication. Many, including AIG shareholders Eli Broad and Steven > Udvar-Hazy, have lost hundreds of millions of dollars.” > > Becoming poorer is of course a relative process; we can be certain > that none of the demoted oligarchs faces hunger. > > Among this year’s biggest “losers”—and there is a degree of poetic > justice in this—are casino moguls. Kirk Kerkorian has managed to > squander $6.8 billion of ill-gotten social wealth, while the fortune > of his rival Sheldon Adelson “has fallen $13 billion in the past 12 > months—$1.5 million per hour.” Adelson has managed to lose more in an > hour than most US workers will earn in a lifetime. > > That the nation’s financial aristocracy continues to gorge itself even > as the economy stagnates demonstrates the increasing parasitism of the > elite. The wealth of the super-rich is no longer bound up with the > growth of the real economy, as it was in the days of Carnegie, > Rockefeller, and Ford. Just the opposite is the case. The wealth of > the aristocracy is based on the plundering and destruction of the real > economy. > > A perusal of the basis of the Forbes 400 members’ wealth illustrates > the parasitic nature of US capitalism. The largest two categories on > the list are “finance” with 65 members and “investments” with 51. > Among the “sources” Forbes lists for these categories are “leveraged > buyouts,” “investments,” “hedge funds,” “money management,” and > “banking, insurance.” > > The next largest category is “media/entertainment,” with 36 > representatives among the Fortune 400, followed by the 35 members in > the highly toxic “real estate” category. There are 30 members of the > Fortune 400 who have reaped their fortunes from “technology,” almost > all from Internet ventures or computer technology. Twenty-eight more > are found in the “oil/gas” category. > > Among the Fortune 400 there are 20 in the “retail” group, among them > seven members of the Walton clan, owners of Wal-Mart, who collectively > have assets of over $100 billion. > > It has to be asked: Are there any members of the Forbes 400 actually > associated with producing commodities or creating wealth of some sort? > > There are only 19 members of the 400 in the category called > “manufacturing.” However, upon inspection we see that this group is > comprised of corporate raiders, oil refiners, inheritors, and > controllers of holding companies. Only five members of this > classification are actually associated with producing a commodity—and > four of these produce light consumer goods. > > Likewise, there are only 11 members of the financial aristocracy whose > wealth has been associated with commodity production in the > agricultural sector. But among these, nine are inheritors of the > Cargill fortune. Of the other two, one has gained his fortune selling > discount cigarettes; another by producing pesticides in Argentina. > > There are nine members of the group in the “apparel” category, which > is split between those whose wealth has come from retail sales, such > as the owners of the Gap clothing stores, and those who have made > windfalls by producing consumer goods in low-cost countries and > selling the products for inflated prices in the US, such as Phil > Knight of Nike. > > There is only one member of the “construction/engineering” category, > the 321st richest American, Alfred Clark, who has made his fortune by > building sports stadiums. The “food” category, of which there are 21 > members, is divided among retailers, inheritors, and the owners of > single product lines, including the owner of the Slim-Fast empire. > There are only three members of the “shipping/trucking/transport” > category, and one member of “mining/lumber” (whose wealth came from > overseas ventures). > > In short, the incredible fortunes accumulated by the American elite > have precious little to do with socially useful production. On the > contrary, the financial aristocracy has reaped its obscene piles of > wealth from the gutting of infrastructure, the shuttering of > industrial production, and the impoverishment of working people, the > broad mass of the population. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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