[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

Yes of course the US government would do a better job of spending money than the rich 1% does. In Miami night clubs the sons and daughters of RICH 1% ers try to outdo each other as to who has more money by throwing glasses of wine at $400/ glass over their shoulders. That was a story in the Miami Newspapers and throughout the US several years ago. Many in TV Land MAY remember that story. And Jeff Bezos needed to enlarge his ALREADY obnoxiously large yacht so his wife could land her obnoxiously expensive helicopter on that STATUS SYMBOL. Status symbols and showing off POWER and wealth are what they are ALL about now. They don't NEED that extra wealth as much as you and I need better roads, hospitals, airports (US is outdated), Police, good PUBLIC schools (like we had in the 1950s), bridges, affordable Universities, vocational education, other infrastructure, and many other improvements.

Why were all these things better in the 1950s and 1960s.....ask yourself ? There were no Bezos and Zuckerbergs then Jack Welsh was a piker in comparison to today - vampire squids sucking the middle class away. Because the tax system was progressive meaning higher rates for the higher earners - the potential vampire squids of America.

And super rich business people like Bezos and Zuckerberg are similar to OVERPAID athletes. ASk why? Same, same answer ........the tax brackets mean EVERYTHING. Now some athletes may be wonderful people and give back. And some CEOs may be wonderful people - like Warren Buffet. But, for many their richness drives them to be vampire squids - they go power and greed crazy. It's all caused by the moving of the tax system from progressive to practically FLAT from around 1975 to today! Look at what Putin's tax bracket is .....he pays ZERO and robs from his government! And you know what that US tax system change from 1950 to today is the same as a change from democracy TOWARD Dictatorship. Sports paydays are just a reflection of those changes. When Bill Russel played for the Celtics in 1960, he did not make a ton of money compared to today. The sports MONEY drifted upward from the middle-class sports players to the uber-wealthy pro sport athletes of today. Sport and society.....it is ALL the same.

Guess I have to repeat myself. These rich people buy stuff and invest in business that provide lots of jobs. Govt brings new meaning to inefficient spending and waste.