The Tea Party and Party of No (and now, Obama and the Democrats) want to maintain NBLB...No Billionaire left behind.

As a hard-working member of the Middle Class, I am tired of subsidizing the rich and the poor, only to see my paycheck fail to keep up with inflation.

Our country is a de facto, plutocratic oligarchy.

Despicable.

So true! This article shows everything that's wrong with unfettered, crony, criminal capitalism right here. Note the article says the amount of billionaires is at an all time high. SMH. Its not a defacto plutocractic oligarchy but EXACTLY that.

Plutocratic oligarchy. Jeez, it sounds as ugly as it looks!

Until the day obscene wealth is seen as immoral billionaires will continue to get rich from slave and child labor. Well, it will almost certainly continue even then...

"Working harder will make you a billionaire too?"

Carl W for the fairy tale of the day today!

Considering that the top 1% (those making more than $380K/yr) pay 38% of the tax bill, the top 5% pay 58.72%, the top 10% (those making more than $113,799/yr) pay 70% of the total taxes received from individuals (this is all based on IRS stats for 2008), I see no need for them to pay more!! Those making less than $33,000/year individually paid less than 2.7% of total taxes. I'm sure not in the top 1%, but I was born poor (my family earned below poverty line), borrowed to go to college (neither parent has a degree), kept working to learn more (5 degrees total), and worked my way up. I am now in the top 5% and I can say that NO ONE subsidizes me! I don't say it to brag, but that the upper 50% carry 97.3% of taxes paid by individuals! Who is getting subsidized?

Who is more likely to effectively use the wealth they create? The government or the individual? If you still need help answering that - name me one government program that is under budget, on time, or in any sense can be considered efficient? I don't think it can be considered rational to make the tax rate any more progressive than it already is. Just ask New York and California where businesses are leaving in droves due to progressive (repressive?) tax rates.

Perhaps I just missed it, but did they not mention that Bill Gates only comes in second to Slim because he's given so much of his own money to his and his wife's charitable foundation? Were it not for all the money he's given away, he'd actually be worth about $88 billion right now, blowing Slim out of the water by a huge margin.

Slim didn't make gains on Gates. Gates gave up his spot through philanthropy--something for which Slim has very publicly shown disdain, claiming that investing one's wealth to make even more profit is more beneficial to society than philanthropy.

Looking tirelessly for a job is work, only it doesn't pay at all.

This is more proof that those who earn more than 1 billion or have 1 billion or more in net worth should be taxed 95%!!! those making 1 million to 1 billion or are worth 1 million or more up to 1 billion, 75% tax for them!!!

those who make less than 50,000 get a huge tax cut.

About 50% of Americans pay no income tax. The top 25% of earners pay about 80% of income taxes the remaining 20% of taxes are paid by the 51%-79% percentiles. About 24% of wage earners not only don't pay income tax they get rebates on taxes they never paid (it is called the earned income credit and is really just welfare). Your comment is idiotic since it seems to imply the wealthy pay no income tax when in fact it is the exact opposite. I am not wealthy but my wife and I pay enough income tax that if the money was simply transferred to a family of four they would not be below the poverty line. Meanwhile we get zero tax credits for education or anything that is available to people who pay zero income tax (and our education and efforts are why we make the money we do). Not complaining mind you but then again I am not whining and sniveling about someone else like the OP.......

Centrist Republican, there are a lot of Centrist Democrats right there with you!

About 47% of Americans paid no taxes at all for 2009. Who knows how many of those actually got a refund in excess of their federal tax contributions, thanks to the Earned Income Tax Credit. The tax system is terribly skewed on both ends of the spectrum and needs to be fixed so that it's more fair to everyone, especially those of us in the middle.

Everyone should have to pay something, even if it's only a token amount, because everyone enjoys the benefits - to some extent or another - that the federal government provides. No one should be allowed to get back more than they put in, that's simply just wrong.

William, you got it, and it is called brainwashing. Brainwashed with cliches like democracy, choke, choke, freedoms and Americanisms. Americans are no more free than bees, struggling to keep the king bees, a rollin in the honey, no more free and advantaged as the serfs of ole England. Everything in this nation and world is sacrificed for the top weathiest, so a tiny minority can have all the riches, glories and true freedoms from being a slave to the economy.

With the exception of a tiny minority, the worker bees do all the work and sacrifices to keep the rich pigs rollin in the clover and keep them truly free. Everyone else is no more free than a slave, a slave to the boss, the job and the economy. Let's tax the poor and middle class so the rich can get richer, duhhhhh.

I say let the rich pay the taxes, they can afford it.

Sir can you spare a few million my way?

Chris stop spreading that Tax Foundation propaganda.

You have NO IDEA what those people and their tax accounts actually pay, no idea whatsoever.

Maybe America needs a budget?

Spends within that budget?

Stops giving billions away to other countries?

What percentage of people pay how much taxes is irrelevant. How much tax they pay in proportion to how much wealth they have an make is important. That the top 1% pay 38% of the taxes tells me nothing. What tells me something is that that top 1% also possesses and makes more than 38% of the money in our economy.

Hey Centrist, and Chris, why not spout off about effective tax rates, rather than spounting off statutory tax rates. Just like businesses the wealthy seldom pay the statutory tax rate on all their sources of income, your going off about the statutory rates for earned income, give me a break.

Since the top 1% has 42% of the wealth, they should be paying 42% of the taxes. The top 20% has 93% of the nations wealth. They should be paying 93% of the nation's taxes.

http://www.mybudget360.com/top-1-percent-control-42-percent-of-financial-wealth-in-the-us-how-average-americans-are-lured-into-debt-servitude-by-promises-of-mega-wealth/

You guys are being overly critical. Not all billionaires are the same. Look at what the article says, Gates and Buffett have already traveled to three continents working to change giving practices among the ultra-rich. They are trying to get their fellow billionaires to pay more in taxes. Warren Buffet, who also happens to be the richest American, is an outspoken liberal. Bill Gates, who isn't as outspoken as his friend is nonetheless working very hard to give away all his personal wealth, but he doesn't just want to give it away, he wants to do it in a way that helps people by reducing disease and poverty.

Without question, there are a bunch of selfish people on this list, but there are also some very admirable people. Please don't think that everyone is the same. Are you exactly the same as your neighbor?

Centrist Republican is full of it. Never believe numbers some post if they can't provide a source.

The Top 1% are people that make more than $1,137,684, not $386,000. I doubt very seriously you're the Top 5% (over $400,000).

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

Sad thing is the US could take every penny from the top billionaires and it wouldn't even pay for 1/3 of our debt...

The wealthy would only repay 1/3 of out national debt?

The rest of the debt would be covered by the no-bid corporations that have added to the robbery of America.

[Sarcasm]

Here is an idea for all you loafing Liberals who want to "re-distribute" the World's wealth to get your FREE cellphone, FREE IPad, FREE computer, FREE vehicle, and FREE house, and maybe even a FREE family:

Take your concerns to the United Nations Redistribution World Council and have them TAX ALL THE WORLD's richest folks and redistribute the money to you. You can start with: Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu.

[Sarcasm]

skor...
It's the Queen Bee and the good of the hive that all the worker bees work for. She lies there all day making babies, the workers then care for their replacements and that of the queen bee and the drones (males).
Every bee in the hive works for the good of the hive as they're able and according to their roles...

Kumar:

I've about had it with this ridiculous beer story. That is not how it works.

Every time anyone purchases a good or service from another he is paying that person's or corporation's taxes. WTF is the matter with you? Do you think every vendor pays the taxes out of his own pocket, fires up a printing press, pulls the money out of thin air? NO, HELL NO, he gets it from his customer. Everyone who spends money pays taxes, one way or another. You are simply too thick to grasp that whether money gets to the government directly from one person, or it passes through the hands of several merchants, it still gets there.

The fact is that all the talk about how the rich are being fleeced and how their wealth is being ripped away from them is absolutely false. It is a lie. This article tells us that the rich continue to get richer. How freaking stupid do you have to be to miss that fact?

The time has come. We need to redistribute that obscene wealth by whatever means necessary.

If the rich are getting richer at ever increasing rates, all the rest is BS. It only proves they can be taxed more, and more often, without being hurt.

And they should be hurt.

So, Kumar, lets flip your beer story around a bit. You've got 10 Clydesdale horses pulling the Budweiser wagon. 2 of the horses eat 93% of the feed and hay that's given the group, yet only pull 38% of the load. And that's OK with you.

Just waiting for the first trillionaire.......the amount of money some of these people are worth is getting ridiculous.

hey, got a million, I'll glady pay ya back on tuesday........

The problem with the beer analogy is that later on the rich man goes back to the bar and convinces the barkeep to give him a cutback of the previous nights revelry for "encouraging business". The barkeep then passes this cost onto the middle-class beer drinkers. Its called corporate welfare and it is 100 times more nefarious than poverty welfare.

Here is a question for all the anarcho-capitalists and neo-cons: If all the tax breaks given to the rich over the last 30 years was encouraging job growth, then why are their bank accounts expanding while the rest of us had to deal with the Great Recession? (here is a clue: its all the democrats fault, right?)

“...the farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spend a cent from his earnings."
-Thomas Jefferson (1811)

Societies that fixate on spreading wealth rather than building it, generally end up spreading poverty.

If you really want to get pissed off.

Look at the collective wealth of the members of the US Congress and POTUS & his staff.

Then compare the INCREASE they averaged, while the US economy was going into the TOILET, their wealth INCREASED 16% between 2008 & 2009...

A significant number of members owned shares of major players in the health-care and financial-services sectors, which were the subject of major reform legislation during the period. see http://www.cnbc.com/id/40233691

Societies that fixate on spreading wealth rather than building it, generally end up spreading poverty.

Sounds like a great quote, even without attribution. But it doesn't face up to reality. The simple fact of the matter is that the rich make their money by using a public infrastructure. Countries with a sophisticated infrastructure are also the most prosperous countries in the world. And so it so happens that the infrastructure has to be paid for. By contrast, third world countries have near-zero tax rates and are therefore the poorest countries in the world.

The bottom line is that if the uber-rich were interested in making more money, they would be willing to pay more in taxes; the economic growth from a better infrastructure and smaller government debt would more than make up the small part that they had to pay in extra taxes, and everyone would benefit. There are many of the uber-rich who realize this - for example, this is why Warren Buffet, the richest man in the country is an outspoken liberal who wants higher taxes on everyone, including himself.

Kumar:

I don't care if the beer story was written by Jesus Christ. It is not in any way related to taxes. It is not an analogy. It is a false comparison. Gosh, it was written by a professor, a Ph.D! Ah yes, the strength of an ad hominem proof.

Go back and read the post and you will note that I was quite clear when I wrote that any vendor or merchant merely passes along his costs of doing business. Taxes are a cost of doing business, whether for a corporation, an LLC, a single proprietorship, etc.

Are you completely unable to reason? Where do you suppose the top 1%, 10%, or 20% got the money to pay taxes? It came via some sort of transaction. If tax rates for the rich are confiscatory, how do you explain the fact that they continue to accumulate an ever-increasing share of the national wealth? How?

You cannot show a single measure that shows that wealth has not continued to concentrate at the upper levels. None. You can engage in name-calling all you wish, but it will not change facts. That the wealthy pay a vast amount of taxes is irrelevant to my point. They also receive greater benefit of the socialist improvements that facilitate the accumulation of their wealth.

You really don't get it.

Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Bye! Don't let the door hit on the ass!

Here is an idea for all you loafing Liberals who want to "re-distribute" the World's wealth to get your FREE cellphone, FREE IPad, FREE computer, FREE vehicle, and FREE house, and maybe even a FREE family:

Why are the nanny states mostly republican? You speak of redistribution of wealth, why is it that Alaska get $6 for every $1 dollar the pay in federal funds and Massachusetts only get 0.78 cents. Why is that redistribution of wealth ok?

These rich people have several homes, I assume, if any of those houses are in flood zones, my tax dollar go to subsidize their flood insurance.

My tax dollars go to cover money they have in the bank under $250k Why should I be paying for FDIC for the rich

AC:

What's going on here? This is the second time I find myself in complete agreement with you.

OK! I have to know. Do you think we might be able to solve this problem if we went to publicly-financed elections. No special interest money, no independent expenditures. Perhaps a series of debates and a certain amount of advertising time. What say you?

stronghorse,

The problem with the state of wealth generation we're seeing in this world today is that it is generated among the very few who amass it at incredible rates. This wealth creation does not "trickle down" to the masses. Their wealth generation does NOTHING for anyone else except in taxes (which the "poor little rich boy" crowd wants to minimize) and in their "generous" support of charities. Oh goody! the rest of us get to benefit from thoughtful, heartfelt hand-outs of the ultra rich. Aren't they generous and warm hearted?? I know I feel better.

Unless wealth generation translates to wealth generation for all (or at least the majority), wealth creation means nothing. It is not wealth "creation" -- it is wealth hoarding. And - yes! - those who control the highest percentage of wealth in this country, those who have benefitted the most from opperating the system -- should be the ones who pay the most to support it. And don't give me "they work harder" for it. Yes, they work hard -- so do a lot of people who never get rich. Luck and uneven advantages play a huge role in those who do so much better than others -- perhaps even more so than hard work. There is no legitimate reason for one individual to amass this much of the whole world's wealth. All it means is that they take too much for whatever it is they do, or they don't pay those who work for them enough. Good for them that the world lets them get away with it -- and they have so many of you here fighting their cause for them.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

Oh please, we've been through economics 101 and the fairy tales of how capitalism works in your laboratory test tube world. Your example is a bunch of nonsense. The richest guy has tax accountants and lobbyists, the drug dealer has guns and ammo. Your model has no resemblance to reality, and neither do you.

David, you're an idiot!

An ad hominem attack by a PhD. It figures. What's next? Sticks and stones?

This was published by a very reputable economics professor

Sorry we decided not to join your circle jerk.

Tax rates across the world is much lower than in America now,

Kumar the liar.

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/69xx/doc6902/11-28-CorporateTax.pdf

The previous UN study discovered the top two percent of the richest people in the world owned most of the financial wealth in the world while the bottom 80 percent owned just 7 percent. Most of that richest 2 percent live in North America.

For example, the CEO in one research report that made more in one day that one of his factory workers made in an entire year. For example, Firestone tires maintains its rubber plantations in Africa by paying local field workers a couple of bucks per day with no benefits. They sponsor the Super Bowl every.

And here is Wall Street. Jamie Dimon just got a $17 million per year salary after foreclosing on military personnel deployed to the Mideast, which was ILLEGAL. Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO at Goldman Sachs, got $14 million after his out of court settlement and SEC fine (the largest ever in US History) for FRAUD. His CEO counterpart in the United Kingdom got $17 million after collapsing the UK economy with derivatives fraud. Then there are the top 25 hedge hog fund managers that made an average of ONE BILLION DOLLARS EACH IN 2009 after being the worst of the worst speculators that collapsed the housing market and the US economy. The people that have caused the recession have yet to really feel the recession because they are still living in multiple mansions with fleets of stretch limos, servants, yachts, private jets, etc... No trickle down here, just the old hog snout in the profits trough attitude.

And the Republicans grossly overindulged these white collar criminal slobs with tax cuts. My wild guess is that they have already given themselves tax cuts with tax evasion offshore bank accounts.

Kumar

Your stupid beer story forgets to mention the bottom 8 guys get a shotglass sized beer and the 10th guy drinks 5 gallons by himself.

David Walker,

In Thailand, elected members can not make ANY outside INCOME while they serve in office. This includes their wife...

TWO of he last FOUR PM were removed from office because of this.

PM Thaksin was convicted of receiving PROFIT when his wife bought property during a PUBLIC Auction. And he signed the title, which is required for BOTH, when either husband or wife are buying property. Was he a CROOK?? Probably, but this was all they could find to CONVICT him of in Court...

The other PM because he received income when he appeared as a cook on a TV show. He said it was just to cover his expenses, for appearing on the show.

The US Politicians could have their campaign expenses paid by ONLY their Political Parties for National Offices. This would regulate the money received, because they would not be directly receiving any money. This would also prevent them from personally BANKING contributions to retire on.

The US Politicians should also be required to divest any income/holdings of ALL Companies they are making Laws of regulations on. This could also result in many to LIMIT the time they are in office...

A series of debates & Town House Meetings where the PUBLIC could floor questions. Not just the arranged Media circus with pre-approved questions & scripted answers...

Also LIMIT the time that they would be campaigning. Plus make the MAJORITY of this PRIOR to mail-in voting starting, this should also include the LOCAL Politicians...

The system currently in place in the USA, is almost GUARANTEED to result in CORRUPTION...

Lies on top of lies. People like Centrist Republican and Chris only tell one side of the story. There is a flip side to that coin.

The bottom line is, you can work hard, get degrees, create your own business(s) and SLAVE all of your life and you'll NEVER become a billionaire. You'll be lucky if you become a MILLIONAIRE.

You don't get into the high dollar brackets unless you get your nose in the right places, pay the right people kickbacks for protection against those who you step on and the lives you destroy making your way up the ladder of "success".

What the people like Centrist Republican and Chris, won't tell you is that by having people who horde wealth and control so much, it wreaks the economy. YOU CAN'T HAVE A HEALTHY ECONOMY UNLESS MONEY IS CIRCULATING. The middle class and the poor don't have millions and billions to stick in some Swiss bank and not pay taxes on. They have to spend most of what they make to send kids to school and college, so that when they graduate, they can get a job at WalMart. The more the wealth is spread, the more it will get circulated. The more it circulates, the healthier the economy.

This collapse of the world economy did not start until Reagan re-instituted the failed Hoover "trickle down" economics.

I hear a lot of whining, but few actual numbers as it relates to taxing the evil rich more than we do now.

Using the story's facts, all the billionaires in the world are worth a TOTAL of $4.5 trillion. The story says 50% used to be from the US, now only 33% are. If the numbers hold, that means ALL the billionaires in the US are worth $1.5 trillion TOTAL, if they sold / cashed out all of their holdings at stated value.

As I have said many times, this means you could STEAL all of their wealth, and it would only cover the deficit of the US criminals spending for ONE YEAR. Just the deficit of ONE YEAR's spending - these criminals, you know, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and those evil Republicans in Congress who spend $3.8 TRILLION PER YEAR and have amassed nearly $14 TRILLION in debt.

As they say, your liberal leftie rants amount to BS - the rich don't have enough money to bail out you morons.

I, for one, am getting very tired of this stupid comparison between what percentage of the population pay what percentage of taxes. It's irrelevant, and any simpleton (with or without a Ph.D.) should know that.

What matters is what percentage of INCOME pays what percentage of taxes, and those who earn many, many times a living wage should pay a greater percentage of the taxes. The top 2% of the population represents more than half of all annual income and they should pay far more than half of all taxes. In fact, half of their income should be paid in taxes.

Most of the income for the very wealthy comes from dividends and investments - which have been taxed at a very low rate for a very long time: 15%.

If that tax break was repealed, the deficit would be much easier to fix, and much sooner.

Or you can look at the fact of the increasing number of Billionaires and the decreasing number of jobs.

So your choices are slavery or they leave? See Ya! Someone will replace you. Billionaires are not irreplaceable.

What I see is the Rich and the Poor taking advantage of the people who want to make a fruitfull life with the sweat from their brow. Take advantage of the honest hardworkers. Both sides do it! I'am the sucka? Cause my pursuit of happiness doesn't including wanting to be a Billionaire?

I like to think of it as letting the pro's play in the minor league. Leading the sheep to slaughter.

How long before technology only requires the best of the best? Jobless recovery?

Deficit is already currently out of reach. Why? The decrease number of jobs is a decrease number of tax payers along with the decrease in domestic demand! What is it honestly 22% unemployment?

Yes I am cynical! Really thou go around and see how many recent college graduates cannot find a career. Temp agency, Temp agency, Temp agency that's the future. Low pay no benefits, take it or someone else will.

HMMM we'll cut education. Smart for them but not smart for a country. Rape is Rape plain and simple.

@ Kumar-889209

Biggest problem in the USA is not wealthy folk, its wealthy folk investing their portfolios on international markets. Globalization of the American economy is a bad thing.

We can all make a difference to the future of our economy and the stability of our workforce. BUY AMERICAN! Yes it might cost a little more, but it will more than likely be made of higher quality materials than its international counterpart. Want to BE AMERICAN, just BUY AMERICAN, save your livelihood in the process, and that of future generation. Pull your money out of international banking systems and put your money to work solely on domestic interests. Stop bleeding American wealth into international markets, for continuing to do so will surely destroy our own economy.

To be a tycoon in a country of peasants is nothing to gain pride over. But some people will always be too stupid and lazy to realize that.

common sense-200426 I hope that we don't do what the other countries citizens are doing. That is exactly the excuse out government needs to institute marshal law. If we did what is happening there, in my opinion, our government would do exactly what is happening in Libya. Do you believe the elites of this country wouldn't turn the citizens weaponry against it's citizens in order to preserve their way of life. The middle class in this country is nothing more than paid slaves.

There was a time when most of the rich citizens and most US corporations had a "social" conscience. Since the 80's (the decade of "ME") nothing has been the same. The rich learned that to hold their wealth and gain more they needed more political power, lobbying grew ten fold, politicians were bought and sold for votes and "favors, back room politics (also known as the good old boys network) became the norm rather than the exception. In the 50's and 60's US Corporations had a good year when they turned a profit (however small) it meant that all the bills were paid and there was a little extra to expand upon. Once the 70's appeared, US Corparations started to "project" there upcoming profits and "investors" invested upon those projections. Not meeting them meant disaster for Wall Street, even if the Corporation turned a sizable profit, it was considered a "bad" year because it didn't meet expectations.

I was wondering, I have heard since the 70's that the "fossil fuel" companies, the US government et. al. were investing in and looking for ways to circumvent "oil" as a primary fuel source. Billions and billions spent since then and we are now 40 years into the future and just starting to see anything remotely resembling "alternative" fuels and oil is still by and far the largest source still. WTF has all that money and time been spent on ? Cancer is still here and yet the pharmaceutical companies have spent vast fortunes on research yet we are no closer now than we were 60 years ago to a cure. Yet the pharmaceuticals are turning gigantic profits. Something smells rotten in Denmark or Washington or where ever your nose is.

Yes, we live in a "controlled" environment. The question is how long will the masses want to live this way?

My button is way beyond pushed.

"...To be a tycoon in a country of peasants is nothing to gain pride over. But some people will always be too stupid and lazy to realize that...."

But you have to admit; getting the peasants to beg the tycoon to take their money is a marketing phenomenon.

From what I see on the news we already have thousands in the streets protesting. Look at Wisconsin. The Gov. is trying to break the unions so the rich can make more money.

danny-3140462.......Ooooooh Dannnny Booy.....

Please provide any link which states that the Wisconsin Governor is trying to break the "unions" "so the rich can make more money".

Ah, next Liberal talking point please.

ldo--don't see much real news lately, huh? Too busy listening to Rush et al.

This news is not a liberal talking point.

Yeah Ido, Gov. Walker gave a huge tax cut for the ultra-rich in Wisconsin. Too bad school teachers are not "job creators".

King David,

It's funny that you say that, because I believe that many of the statements made by the President in regards to the turmoil in the Middle East were directed to our own middle class as well as those in the Middle East. If you go back and look at these, one might even conclude that he was subtly encouraging our own middle class to rise up peacefully and he did it in such a way as to not attract attention.

There is little doubt in my mind, that a few radical right Governors will over react to large protests and/or general strikes. But that won't last very long and it will be the beginning of the end of the radical right. I find it somewhat ironic that it was the far right who were talking of revolution and taking their country back. This relatively small minority put together a strong effort and won a lot of power in the last election and now they're using it.

But now it's becoming completely clear who they are using that power against. That's the majority in the middle. Sadly, a lot of middle class folks got suckered in to enabling what is happening by electing these radicals. Hopefully, some of these are seeing the error of their ways. But whether or not they do, they are far outnumbered by the hardworking folks in the middle who are now outraged.

Many of the people who are now paying the price are people who chose to stay home in the last election. Worst mistake ever! A painful lesson. However, the real battle is just beginning and maybe it had to happen that way because many are just to complacent and don't really pay attention to what is happening around them. What is happening this very minute in Wisconsin is just the beginning. This is gaining momentum at an astounding rate. The far right staged their little revolution with mostly smoke and mirrors, but now you're talking about many, many real citizens who have had enough.

Too bad school teachers are not "job creators".

Yep I'm sure all the local businesses were too busy anyway and didn't need their money.

I just heard from a Republican friend that had been in the Korean War and spent decades in the military that his pension had been cut back. What has America come to in having military pensions cut, policemen-firemen-teachers laid off, all for the sake of tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. Boeing just got a $36 billion contract to build super air tankers for all of our quagmire wars around the world while vet benefits are being cut back. WTF is wrong with that picture??? The Republican plan for spending cuts includes an increase in military spending. Then Republicans just extended subsidies, tax loopholes to corporations like ExxonMobile. The Republican priorities are NOT the American people!!! Republicans and Teapublicans need to be backlashed out of office in 2012.

Makes no sense to let them offset their USA taxes based on what they were being taxed for doing business in other countries. NO FREAKING WONDER why our country is going broke, we're practically giving away our money to international markets and governments. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life, what idiot proposed this as a suitable way to let Exxon Mobile and other large corporations operate? At the rate we're going with nonsense like this, everyone in the world will own a piece of America, except us who actually live here in America. Goodness.

Congress spends too much money. WAY too much money. All of the US billionaires wealth would only pay 1 year of the deficit spending, after that, we would need to find new rich people to take from.

Why does the left keep spewing lies that in practice will not solve anything at all? My guess is that it is because this irresponsible level of spending supports them and their friends, so really it's just their own selfishness and greed that motivate them. Sad really.

As long as some are willing to exploit others to make themselves richer, we will have these kinds of monsters.

Hanabahn,

Its not their job to make sure the rest of the world has theirs. Its to get theirs so they and their familys are taken care of..

SJC, So Since when is creating a product that most of the world needs/wants exploiting others?

Nobody forces you to use Microsoft CPUs or Software... Nobody in mexico forces the people to use his Telecom company..

Seems like both of you ( and most of this vine ) are envious of the freedom money brings and want to bring down the people who have it. Instead of trying to get your own.

Wake up Jerry, 1 billion = 1000 x 1 Million. This is FAR, FAR more than one needs to "take care of their families" or anything like that. We're talking obscene amounts of money.

I need that kind of money so I can buy a car. : )

Have you priced cars lately?

The world tried communism morons, it didn't work.....

So you propose anarchy or a plutarchy? Which is it?

You live in world defined by Faux New Propaganda,

Is that you Peter17?

They're able to amass this sort of wealth because wealth is mobile and electronic. Push of a button, and you've bought or sold shares of a company...or traded derivatives...etc. Never having actually had the product in hand, or had a role in its creation, you've made money off it.
Time is money, money is time or, more to the point, people's lives. Wealth is amassed by amassing the sweat equity of many people, or amassing their lives.
When wealth is viewed in that context, it's much easier to see how unconscionable it is for people to have wealth of the amount described in this article. Nobody needs that much money, it's more just a matter of saying 'see, look at me, my account is bigger than yours...' It's a power trip.
Within the next decade or two, we're going to see class warfare, and a new Revolution not unlike that of the Russian or French revolutions. And it will be justified.

chris-335678.......

You're a SUCK.

Everyone should from this point on belittle and humiliate the filthy rich wherever they find or see them. Call them sucks in front of their friends and family. Sucks in a restaurant where they eat. Sucks on the water when their yachts pass by. Sucks when they stop to fuel up that yacht. Sucks at the airports where they keep their private jets. Sucks if they enter a market to buy a bottle of water.......

The middle class is going to have to stand up to these SUCKS and let them know just how disgusting the little worms are.

Chris: You love COMMUNISM . Your buds exported everything to COMMUNIST CHINA. Nice low payed, dormitories full of unarmed servants. A corporate dream. If this country revolts, perhaps China will take you in???

@Jeremy-960164

*cough* Microsoft doesn't make CPUs, don't think it ever has or ever will *cough*

Anyway, its a scientific fact that the ultra rich folk of the world have a human mental disorder. This is a fact, proven by science. The ultra rich are missing the a key component of the brain that makes a person feel shameful for being extra greedy. Bill Gates isn't missing this part of his brain, how do I know, look at the endless amounts of time and HIS OWN money he spends to help others out. Oprah Winfrey and Warren Buffet and others like them on the other hand, are psychologically ill, we should put them in a mental institution. Their brains tells them its alright for them to be billionaires while not giving thought one to the plight of their neighbors. Sure you might see Oprah singing a song and dancing a dance for whatever cause she is promoting during the week, but the reality of the matter is the money she supposedly "donates" is actually her followers money after she has claimed ownership of it and passed it along as her own. Greed is a sickness, through and through.

TS: Buffet also gave billions to the foundation that Gates founded. Oprah aso gives much away to charity as well.

Your screen name should probably be adjusted: Purveyor of False Rumors.

As far as Gates: You could argue that he screwed billions of people to gather the money he has. After all, have you actually seen a MS product that worked well?

I think everyone needs to be taxed equally based on a percentage of earning. I hardly think it's fair that I dole out almost 40% of my paycheck to taxes the entire year while Bill gates pays for the first 8 seconds of the year and is done. How about we all pay 20% and be done?

For all you nay-sayers, it doesn't matter that Bill would end up paying millions in taxes. Do you think that will bankrupt a man worth $56 billion? Just like me paying 40% all these years has not bankrupted me.

I would be willing to bet that Bill Gates already pays MILLIONS in personal taxes each year, and Microsoft also pays Millions in corporate taxes..

The problem isnt Bill paying more, thats not going to help us in the long run, the Rich already pay more then their fair share.. Why dont we go looking to the 50 percent of this country that pay ZERO Taxes, or get free money because they " dont make enough ".

brodiemac, no way in hades you pay 40% in taxes. if you were in that tax bracket you wouldn't be sniveling about Bill gates you would be buying stock in companies he is. You are in short, full of crap.....

Maybe the American Government needs to learn how to handle a budget instead of just constantly raising taxes????

Unless you are Democrat and LOVE taxes. LOL

chris

Most Americans pay more than 40% of their gross income in taxes. While the Fedral tax rate is not that high for most at this moment, by the time you add in property, sales, state, county, city taxes plus the various service and usage charges on things like your electric, phone, water, and environmental fees, it adds up to considerably more. If you don't think you pay property taxes because you rent, think again. Your landlord folds that into your rent, you just don't get the benefit of the deduction.

I expected, but haven't read so far, any guy who's "willing to give their left nut to become a billionaire". I've read on many other comment sites where guys are willing to trade their testicle for all kinds of other non-monetary things. Hmmmmm...

Old Pilot: Most people don't think that far. If they sat down and added up ALL the taxes and fees (taxes by another name) they pay for just about everything involved in their lives they'd go into shock.

America's middle class is caught between subsidising the poor and padding the pockets of the wealthy. Those who say the rich aren't paying their fair share are partly correct as are those who say the entitlements are crippling the economy.

Mygirl1

The very interesting thing about the attack on the middle class is that as the wealth of most of the middle class has been in their investment in their home. That has been pretty much destroyed, while at the same time the engine of inflation has been cranked up by the Governments starting up the printing presses. At the same time it seems to have squandered that money in a way that benefits the finical institutions and the wealthy. So if you consider yourself a member of the (former) middle class, then I think that we have been robed, and the shackles of economic slavery have been locked around not only our ankles, but the ankles of our children, grand children and their successors for the next hundred years.

old-pilot: so very true and so very scary. The politicians are the best that money can buy. Goldman Sachs is a criminal organization except they do their stealing legally (quasi-legally) note how many presidents have appointed former and current GS employees to cabinet and administrative posts. I was thinking today that Goldman Sachs and others of that ilk are, in reality, the government. The Federal Reserve is also in reality the government and look at how many former GS employees are involved with the Fed. Reserve.

Makes no sense to let them offset their USA taxes based on what they were being taxed for doing business in other countries. NO FREAKING WONDER why our country is going broke, we're practically giving away our money to international markets and governments. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life, what idiot proposed this as a suitable way to let Exxon Mobile and other large corporations operate? At the rate we're going with nonsense like this, everyone in the world will own a piece of America, except us who actually live here in America. Goodness.

Just one instance. We just handed over the keys to the day to day operations of the NYSE. It's actually starting to speed up now, better put the breaks on globalization of local markets now before it becomes too late. Shame on the politicians put in place to protect us from this type of havoc. Shame on them!

Taxes are paid on your INCOME, not on your net worth after you have paid your taxes.

Some of these posters are just as dim as a nightclub.

Peter17 - Well said

And these inventive billionaires also employ thousands

Yes they do especially in China,Mexico etc etc.....and yes they need extra tax breaks from their other employes like John Boehner...and company..

yes, they employ thousands, yes they have accomplished great things. but that doesn't mean they shouldn't pay taxes. I pay 36%, they should pay 36%. Why do they get a break and I don't?

"Why do they get a break and I don't?"

They don't...

And of those 3 billionaires how many tax breaks did they get that the average guy never gets? How many subsidies did they get? Go ahead and explain how the deck is not stacked in their favor and that they hire tax accountants for no reason at all.

If you check a variety of his posts you soon discover that Peter is a highly partisan hack that only publishes what he feels needs publishing, in other words he does "Fair and Balanced" the same way as Faux News.

Yash,

We only need to consider how "tax breaks" come about. They come from our government. Our government allows tax breaks ONLY to influence the behavior of the taxpayer.

The government might tell someone "if you do this, we will let you pay $1,000 less in taxes. So when someone takes advantage of the government's offer, why would we hold it against the taxpayer instead of the government?

The government did not offer the tax break just to be Mr. Nice Guy. It made the offer in exchange for something it wanted.

Tax breaks come about because of lobbyists.

Wake up.

Lobbyists or not, the government is the ONLY entity that issues tax breaks and they do so in order to get something they want.

Lobbyists or not, the government is the ONLY entity that issues tax breaks and they do so in order to get something they want.

Yes, this thing they want is called campaign donations.

Both sides of the political aisle engage in campaign paybacks

Lobbyists or not, the government is the ONLY entity that issues tax breaks and they do so in order to get something they want.

And what they want are crushy big buck jobs after they leave office. In layman's terms it's called taking a bribe.

No should have a tax break. No matter the circumstance, unless the person is poor and cant pay his taxes to begin with. Tax breaks are under the table dealings going directly against the protection of the common good. Most these deals serve selfish purposes for those who hold the keys to the corporate and political America.

Makes no sense to let them offset their USA taxes based on what they were being taxed for doing business in other countries. NO FREAKING WONDER why our country is going broke, we're practically giving away our money to international markets and governments. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life, what idiot proposed this as a suitable way to let Exxon Mobile and other large corporations operate? At the rate we're going with nonsense like this, everyone in the world will own a piece of America, except us who actually live here in America. Goodness.

Peter17 your rich buds already received their tax break due to a weak president. Keep exporting the jobs to China. Someday they will reward you. As you deserve.

And if all of this were a evil Republican issue, why didn't Obama, Nancy and Harry fix all of this?

People like Bill Gates have created wealth, paid billions in taxes, employ 10's of thousands, and have created millionaires through their work.

How many nations economic systems allow for this?

Seems the most irresponsible of Americans are the idiots spending $1.5 trillion MORE than they take in each year. That would be Congress if anyone is confused.

Bill Gates and the uber rich are not the ones hurting you in the big scheme...IT IS THE UNIONS. They take so much more from you in taxes than the uber rich will ever not pay in taxes.

Let's examine your logic.........."what the Unions take in" is greater than "what the elite do not pay in taxes". OK...so we allow workers to vote for or against Union representation; ....and tax the elite. Now that makes some sense.

I would argue with this idiot be he would beat me with experience....

"be he would"?

The paraprosdokian you are referring to goes like this:

Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Let me explain it to you simpletons. Lets say I earn $40 million dollars in one year and pay 36% of that in income taxes. I am left with about $25 million. I spend the rest of my live spending that $25 million and donate any future earnings to charity. In effect, I have no annual earnings and will pay no further income tax. That is why Bill Gates pays such a small percentage in taxes, he virtually gives away more than he earns in a year. If you don't understand this analogy, I can't help you, heck you can barely help yourself...

Lets say I earn $40 million dollars in one year and pay 36% of that in income taxes

A total fairy tale. The 36% is a marginal rate. Your so called charity work gets you more deductions. As a millionaire you can borrow as you please, whereas the average guy can't borrow to excess because he only makes so much. Which means the rich can write off far more than the average guy as well.

Why don't you tell us about all those thousands of tax write offs and breaks enjoyed only by people who make more than 6 figure incomes? You think providing half the story makes it correct?

Anybody who's been to a trial knows the oath, you tell the whole truth, otherwise it's b/s. Your story is b/s. Chris you're a charlatan, a tool of the rich, and you actually enjoy it. Bahhh you sheeple, bahhhh.

Believe in name calling Yash?

You seem intelligent enough to argue your point with the guy using facts, logic and reason instead.

You'll survive, you may even get a tax break.

Did you work on CAPS/SPOC?

Exxon US Federal tax rate last quarter of 2010 was 43%...

Exxon recorded $7.7 billion in U.S. tax costs during 2009...

Exxon's grand total in global taxes for 2009? $78.6 billion. The company's effective income tax rate was 47%, its highest in three years.

Exxon paid the most taxes during 2009 of any U.S. company.

Then wonder why the price of fuel is going UP... Because Exxon doesn't pay taxes...their customers or...YOU...do.

Exxon did not pay taxes, neither did GE.

Exxon paid zero taxes, where do you find this nonsense?

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1004/gallery.top_5_tax_bills/2.html

Exxon Federal Taxes - MINUS $156 million they made money from the government.

State - $110 million, still $46 in subsidies, not taxes.

Internation - the only ones with any brains - $15 billion.

The average Joe subsidized Exxon. Are you a liar or a sheeple AC Robertson?

Hey Peter17, AC Robertson has taken your place as the #1 corporate propganda artist here.

You better work hard and come up with some really ridiculous stuff to beat AC.

Exxon recorded $7.7 billion in U.S. tax costs during 2009...

AC Robertson apparently what you call tax costs are the tax write offs.
Way to go there charlatan.

Then wonder why the price of fuel is going UP... Because Exxon doesn't pay taxes...their customers or...YOU...do.

Hey Mr logic, if they paid no taxes then how did we pay their taxes? Oh you simply mean they kept our money as more profits.

YashBudini,

If you read you own reference.

"U.S. tax codes allow companies to take massive deductions in light of those international charges, which knocked Exxon's federal income-tax bill down into negative territory.

That said, Uncle Sam gets his money in other ways. Including sales taxes and duties, Exxon recorded $7.7 billion in U.S. tax costs last year, and paid even more overseas.

Its grand total in global taxes for the year? A whopping $78.6 billion. The company's effective income tax rate was a hefty 47%, its highest in three years."

Reading comprehension is a plus. YOU must be a product of the US Education system...

You got caught in a lie, live with it. Stop squirming.

YOU must be a product of the US Education system...

Oh you're remark is so patriotic!
You must be a product of Glenn Beck.

Exxon's grand total in global taxes for 2009? $78.6 billion. The company's effective income tax rate was 47%, its highest in three years.

International taxes are not our concern. Get them to fall for your propaganda, see how far you get. Haha.

Makes no sense to let them offset their USA taxes based on what they were being taxed for doing business in other countries. NO FREAKING WONDER why our country is going broke, we're practically giving away our money to international markets and governments. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life, what idiot proposed this as a suitable way to let Exxon Mobile and other large corporations operate? At the rate we're going with nonsense like this, everyone in the world will own a piece of America, except us who actually live here in America. Goodness.

YashBudini,

As even YOUR reference stated Exxon paid MORE US TAXES in 2009, than any other Company in the USA.

Stating that they paid NO Federal Income TAXES, is IGNORING all the other US taxes they did pay...

I owned several businesses in the USA. I ALWAYS did what was required to MINIMIZE my TAXES. ONLY a FOOL does otherwise and Exxon is no FOOL...

I currently live outside the USA and the ONLY taxes I now pay are US property taxes & US Fed Income Tax on my retirement incomes... Everything else is ZEROED out after deductions....

What other taxes? The tiny state taxes? Get a grip.

An average of $2 million per state? That's a joke for them.

Do you enjoy being a misanthrope?

So true and what country does Bill Gates company Microsoft manufacture his products in ? You guessed it.. China. More US jobs sent overseas for profit. He is willing to sell his products to us .. but NOT let us build them. I don't care HOW much money this man donates to charity... he is still a greedy pig.. just like the rest of them.

Microsoft is not a big producer of products. They are primarily in the software business. Perhaps you are thinking of Apple.

Even more so that you might even think...

Even so more, more so, than I thought you were thinking or thought.

Peter - software is a product, doomoss.

iPhones and iPads are produced by Chinese slave laborors, many of which died last year making your phone... look it up if you don't believe me. The truth is just about all billionaires today are rich because of child and slave labor. No thanks, keep you money I want to sleep at night.

Microsoft is not a big producer of products. They are primarily in the software business. Perhaps you are thinking of Apple.

I think Hannah was talking about the 24 million+ Microsoft XBOX's. Those are made in southeast Asia.

Yes , thank you.

Software is not a product?

Duh! Ignorance with no bounds.

what country does Bill Gates company Microsoft manufacture his products in ?

Bangalore India

I would say the whole state of Mississippi is worth more than Mexico!!!

Legalize drugs and Mexico could pay off our National Debt out of chump change! :D

Not laughable... It is really a pity to have the richest man in the world living in a country where 40% of the population live in extreme poverty and 60% live with less than 2 US per day.

Slim has done nothing but get richer every day without any reinvestment in the country... Or do you dream his money is in Mexico?

Dude, I'm worth more than Mexico, and I'm broke! But seriously, I wonder how many billionaires have made their riches off the drug war, which is finishing of big chunks of Mexico at this very moment. More billionaires means less money in the economy, and is a predictive factor of disaster. Kudos to the tiny handful of philanthropists though.

Your comment is wrong in so many ways. Mexico had a GDP of over a trillion dollars last year. So the country is at least worth that much and that's over ten times as much as what Slim has.

So, at the very least Mexico's richest citizen (also the world's) is worth apprx. 1/10 of the whole country's GDP!?!?!?!!! There IS something very WRONG about that!

Any when you consider that the country of Mexico is openly encouraging its citizens to violate U.S. immigration law with impunity on a continual basis at the direct ENORMOUS financial cost to the U.S. and its taxpayers--- THERE IS SOMETHING REALLY WRONG ABOUT THAT!

When you consider that the country of Mexico's leader Calderone continues to insist upon his citizens ENTITLEMENT to remain in the U.S. in violation of U.S. law--- THERE IS SOMETHING REALLY WRONG ABOUT THAT!.

Certainly there is no entitlement to do something that is ILLEGAL! Mr. Slim should feel compelled to invest in his own country's future and that of its people, but he obviously DOES NOT! THERE IS SOMETHING REALLY WRONG ABOUT THAT AS WELL!

His daily burrito plate must be REALLY 'spensive...

Wow. The wealthiest hombre on the planet... and i never even heard of him OR his company. I guess the rules of business have changed. Yeah, it's a shame that Mexico has its drug problem, and the governments on either side of the border seem powerless to fix the problem. Get the US troops out of the middle east entirely, and station 1 solder 5 feet apart along the border, heavily armed. C'mon Federal gov't , SOLVE this stupidity ! No more global empire bullcrap...

Don't laugh to hard, that is the direction the right wing is taking us. Their support of the filthy rich will have us there in the next one or two decades.

Not laughable - tragic. As a child I went on weekend excursions with the family to Baja California. I saw, as a young child, other children just like me, living in cardboard boxes at the massive dump near Tijuana. The dump was a filthy festering smelly place. These people had nothing.

I don't know about Slim's giving habits. Perhaps he provides food and clean water for all the orphans in Mexico. I sure hope he does something powerful with his billions. That much wealth ceases to really have any value in it's extreme redundancy. He would die before he could sit in a room and count it all.

Well, his cost of living is probably pretty low, living in Mexico and all :)

Chris-1022114 Did you graduate from High School? You seem so smart, and yes I'm laughing at you.

Mexico has always been rife with corruption, el patron owns the land and the peons (serfs) work for a pittance. Americans complaining about the wealthy here should take a gander at Mexico. Corruption is rampant, everyone is on the take and there are no social services or entitlements. The poor eat garbage if they're lucky, very much like certain African nations where the despots live as kings and the subjects are lucky to get a yam.

mygirl1 - well they have free education all the way to college and medicare, might not be Mayo Clinic standards but its good enough. I agree with Slim that creating jobs its a better way to contribute to society than charity.

ES: I agree with jobs over charity.

Just did a little research on Slim. Seems after the devaluation of the peso following the economic collapse in Mexico, Slim bought many companies for, well, pesos including an aluminum company and oil production, printing etc.

He is a monopolist and many complain that his activities have prevented small business from gaining a foothold. His telecommunications business charges some of the highest fees in the industry. Apparently Slim manuvered himself to riches in the same way that JPMorgan did, following the banking crash (which he created) in the early 1900's, Morgan went in and bought banks for pennies on the dollar, successfully erradicating his competion and creating massive conglomerates.

Not too impressed with his philanthrophy or his statement about jobs over charity since he essentially controls the jobs markets for many industries.

I don't know about Slim's giving habits. Perhaps he provides food and clean water for all the orphans in Mexico. I sure hope he does something powerful with his billions.

Says in the article he does pretty much nothing with it besides invest it to gain even more wealth.

Satori blaming Republicans...?

Are you aware that your President is a democrat? Did you notice the past 2 years democrats controlled everything, and they did nothing about this "problem".

Are you aware that your pathetic liberals in congress are wealthier than their republican counterparts?

Did you know that Obama is employing more ex-Goldman Sachs investment banker types than any President in history?

I am truly amazed at all the liberals who rant and rave about wealth, and fail to realize their two-faced leaders are the very people sustaining the wealthy in America?

Hilarious.

Yes I graduated High School. I was joking when i said it was laughable. Slim is a greedy bastard. He owes his country something and decides instead to reinvest in making more money for himself when he could be building a brighter future for his country. Instead he rapes them over the hot coals for services.

Are you aware that your President is a democrat? Did you notice the past 2 years democrats controlled everything, and they did nothing about this "problem".

Yeah the president is going to reverse 30 years of republican mistakes in 2 years... Oh and maybe you forgot to check but republicans have used far more fillibusters and stalling tactics than any other session in history. Everything Obama has TRIED to do, and if you bothered to look it up there are quite a few things pro middle class, the republicans have axed without the slightest hint of trying to negotiate.

Uh, ALL of them. Think he got where he is without being the ringleader?

He does not need to launder Cartel money... He himself is a cartel

The greedy are getting greedier. That's how I perceived that headline. Nothing new. Those in the greed seldom care about the people who put them in that position to begin with; Their customers, employees and service providers. They might sing a little song and dance a little dance to make us think they are on our side, but it all boils down to selfishness. If you are one the 10% wealthiest people in the world, there's got to be someone down the line who you haven't compensated according to your gains. And there is definitely something wrong with that.

But wait! To conservatives this is Capitalism at its finest! To them, every rich person on this list made his millions with his own sweat, blood, and tears and deserves every penny he has earned. When corruption surfaces, just turn the other cheek and keep chanting the mantra "Capitalism is great!"

TV conservatives, kind of like TV ministers are bottom sucking scum, and are not conservatives, Bigoted racist homophobes maybe, but what has happened to the economy is not the work of real conservatives. Like the guys who started this country. If Jefferson was around today, he'd gather an army an dispatch these "feds" before they further damaged his handiwork.

Agree, our forefathers would be ashamed at the blatant disregard for humanity by the greedy who control our country. Our forefathers actually 'worked' for a living like everyone else around them. Politics was, by all means, a side job that was done in the service of the greater good. Nowadays those in power and in the greed show no regard for their constituents or power brokers, they simply look for the easiest way to take advantage of those around them to get what they need for their own good. The people who they are elected to SERVE, are simply an afterthought, a mere peeve of holding such an honorable position.

No, the cartels need to sell Slim "insurance" for his business operations. He evidently has the margins to support lots of mob action. He'd probably turn them into salespeople and "account managers".

I don't think its a coincidence your name is "Dick" is it? Your right wing masters and their policies have created this giant clusterf*ck of disparity of wealth. America's most prosperous time was when the rich were taxed and that money was used for the society they have gotten their riches from. Eisenhower tax rate? 80%, Nixon? 70%. Remove your head from where the sun doesn't shine dude.

Why the US who has the largest market doesn't have a policy of "If you want to sell here you must employ here" like the EU is beyond ridiculous.

Someone still has his head up Limbaugh's a$$.

I would add that the "compassionate conservative" Wall Streeters most likely have a Slim "derivative" well traded. For the children, of course.

Legalizing weed and charging an import tax.

This guy was born in Lebanon. Surely he's not one to care about the Mexican people other than the depth of their pocketbooks. He must taken the free Greedy Capitalist 101 course online.

Big Ed, you are right. That would be very interesting.

Note how many are American. Not as many anymore. Wonder why? The Uber-wealthy have no allegiance to a country, these are the globalists seeking a one world order, American sovereignty has stood in the way of those goals but not for long.

Now, if they only printed what each of these billionaires paid in taxes last year maybe we all would understand the system better

That's why people are cheering Wikileaks.

@mygirl1, totally agree!

Gloria, I'm positive each one of these guys pays more in taxes each year than you will even make in your entire lifetime! You're actually going to come on here and complain about what others pay in taxes when you admit that you owe taxes yourself!?

Unless you're single because you're a widow, your relationship status is irrelevant. Your child still has a father. The degree of his/her special needs is the bigger issue.

STLMike. its not what they take -- it's what you're allowed to keep. Why should less wealthy earners get to keep less of what they make than the more wealthy?

Their need of funds for necessities is likely to be greater.

It's wise not to spill the beans on your personal situation, gloria leon , and it's also wise to not use your first and last name online. Identity theft could take place right here on this comment page just because you opted to wear your heart on your sleeve. C'mon girl, get smart !

It then becomes difficult to conduct billionaire business deals when you are riddled with bullets

Why do you think they've got no money down there? Slim has it all.

Wow so they arrested a person for killing an american. Do you honestly believe they got the trigger man, the person who paid him, or maybe the president of Mexico trying to suck more money from the USA for more bogus help on his pathetic war on the drug cartels. What % does he get from the cartels himself? That should be question #1. Mexico has more than one billionaire, what about all the drug cartels?

*Attention* All illegals should head to this guys house! America is outta money.

Great Now we can Have the Mexicans feed the world

Yeah well soon we won't be able to afford anything except Taco Bell anyway.