Progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall and United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard discussed a claim by a some of the top 1 % who feel they are being unfairly attacked and demonized.
In a recent letter to The Wall Street Journal, venture capitalist Tom Perkins compared the persecution of the wealthy 1 % of Americans to Kristallnacht, the terrible night of a coordinated attack on German Jews by the Nazi party before World War II. He went on to say that wealthy people should get more votes than others because they pay more in taxes.
“His view is you should get votes by the dollar’” said Gerard. “And, if you’re a multimillionaire, you should get more votes than some poor working stiff like you and I.”
On the issue of taxes, Gerard said, “If we were to have them pay their fair share as they did during Ronald Reagan’s day, not only would the deficit disappear, but we would have the ability to fix our infrastructure that’s falling down around our ears.”
Click below to listen to the conversation.
Background materials
Billionaire Sam Zell defends the Perkins analogy in “Sam Zell: I stand with Tom Perkins”
A comment from a reader on the “Money Can’t Buy Votes blog writes
The wealthy will never understand why everyone does not love money.
They will never understand that Democracy is for the poor and working class to have a voice in their governance.
They will never understand why their money cannot buy everyone's loyalty.
They will never admit the ONLY reason they are where they are is because the game is rigged.
They will never understand that they are NOT the most intelligent people on the planet just the largest sociopaths.
They will never understand what it means to be a caring human being.
They worship money and they cannot understand why.
They will never understand what life is all about. Money cannot buy votes. Money cannot buy loyalty. This is why EVERY person or persons who try to control people without sharing the rewards will eventually fail ...