"Rich people's yacht money"

[kpete]

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Puts things in perspective.

Wages for the top 1% skyrocketed 160% since 1979 while the share of wages for the bottom 90% shrunk

https://www.epi.org/blog/wages-for-the-top-1-skyrocketed-160-since-1979-while-the-share-of-wages-for-the-bottom-90-shrunk-time-to-remake-wage-pattern-with-economic-policies-that-generate-robust-wage-growth-for-vast-majority/

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. Because Betsy DeVos wants to buy a couple more.

[BobTheSubgenius]

17. One of the most telling - and disgusting - things about her and her family...

...is that they have a "yacht manager." I've never heard of that particular job before, but they have so many yacht - 10, I believe - that they need a person to manage the logistics of their little fleet.

[Chellee]

19. Jeff Bezos

He's building a yacht so big that it needs a support yacht. Conveniently, he'll be able to put the helipad on the support yacht so he doesn't have to give up valuable real estate on his main yacht to land his helicopter.

Still, I'm sure he feels like it's modest because it's only half the size of a standard cruise ship. That carries thousands of people. So... yeah.

[Joinfortmill]

34. Sickening.

[BobTheSubgenius]

41. That is absurd, as well as appalling.

Until now, I thought the yacht sweepstakes had a tie at the top - some hedge fund guy had one that cost him a billion dollars to build. Everyone who's anyone has a yacht with a helipad. Paul Allen had one that could launch a submarine.

But good ol' Jeff has taken the crown. Remember when a ridiculous yacht or mansion was major status symbols for the obscenely wealthy? Now, you have to have your own space program.

[ck4829]

3. K&R

[yardwork]

4. Hope this takes off.

[DLevine]

5. K&R. nt

[BlueBassLines]

6. Hells yeah

Safe to say that it has gotten out of hand.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Fortunes grow on good ideas, patents, discipline, and strong-arming businesses

all of which costs money. So yes, it's always the same, rich people have yacht money and want more yacht money, poor people have little access to the upward-bound elevator.

I think most fortunes are built on strong-arming (i.e., hardball), deception, fraud, and cunning. It's what they won't tell you about in school because they own that too - the schools and the devious nature.

[Wounded Bear]

9. Most wealthy people got their money the old-fashioned way...

They inherited it.

Also, in support of your thesis:

[oldsoftie]

21. Actually, the vast majority did NOT inherit it. Maybe 1/5th at best.

Not just billionaires but multi millionaires too.
Its a false meme thats made the rounds for years.

[druidity33]

25. I'd like to see a link for that...

even if you don't inherit millions, starting off with a few grand (or hundred grand) of inheritance will likely lead to more wealth than anyone that doesn't inherit anything.

[oldsoftie]

30. Now your're moving the goalposts. But links below.

And most who do inherit dont get it till they're older anyway. Most parents dont die while the kids 25.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/majority-of-the-worlds-richest-people-are-self-made-says-new-report.html

https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/on-retirement/articles/7-myths-about-millionaires

Now there are mathematical gymnastics & assumptions that can discount some of the "self made" folks out there. but a lot of it is a stretch.

I do think an inheritance tax is needed over a certain reasonable amount. However I also think its totally unfair to tax cash & stock values the same as business value. If I have a farm or a mfg plant thats valued at 50M; I'll either have to sell it or borrow against it to pay the tax. Cash & stock assets are totally different.

[druidity33]

32. I'm delighted to be wrong here...

and i agree with your other points as well. The people i know who are very wealthy all started out with parents with money. Whether they inherited any of that dough i can't say, but just to be clear i agree with one of the millionaires in your link when he says:



"I didn't inherit my wealth. I created it," Ford said on PBS News Hour in 2017. "But look a little deeper, and it turns out that version of my success story is a lie. Yes, my family background is rather humble. Both of my parents were teachers. I grew up in hand-me-down clothes from our neighbors."

Ford does not disavow his own hard work, but instead says there is much more to the story of his own success, including, for example, his access to education and his being a white man."

[c-rational]

16. I generally agree with this proposition. Maybe I got it from my mother who felt the same.

[Hiawatha Pete]

8. K&R

[getagrip_already]

10. But, but, but.... what about the yacht builders...

Struggling small business in Asia, Europe, and the Middle east?


And all the third world crew members?

Whoever would there be to buy American caviar and cake?

[rlegro]

11. Great! And we could tailor this tactic to other campaigns, e.g......

Sure it would be wonderful to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and build more affordable housing, but what wouldn't that endanger Sen. Joe Manchin's Maserati?

[hay rick]

31. Let's Go Maserati!

[sarchasm]

12. LOL! Perfect...

[IronLionZion]

13. Human sacrifices must be made to protect rich people's yacht money

rich people's yacht money comes with a price

[BradBo]

14. Nailed it. I would love the see another Rich and Famous show.

The networks wouldn’t allow it now.

[sop]

15. And the yacht brokerage business in South Florida is booming.

[jalan48]

18. Class politics? Look for an uptick of identity politics in the corporate news.

[oldsoftie]

20. Such bullshit. Are we TRYING to lose elections?

For the Thousandth time, you cannot balance the budget & pay for all the new desired programs only on the backs of the super rich. ITS NOT POSSIBLE.
Oh, but you can get a Tweet re-tweeted 100k times & get a bunch of followers, so there's that

[kpete]

22. Hmmmmm?

Perhaps not ALL of it
But they can certainly pay their FAIR share
& I believe that should start ASAP.
I would love to see them pay more to make up for years passed
-but bleeding heart liberal that I am, I know that is not possible.

[oldsoftie]

29. Certainly there should be changes made;

Do away with carried interest. (also, unrelated, do away with the SS income cap.) 10-15% min corp tax rate for businesses over a certain size; no deductions. Etc. But going over a certain tax rate wont gather much revenue because the wealthy can afford to simply hide income. Even the not-so-wealthy can do it
And we need a sales tax.

[burrowowl]

43. A luxury sales tax.

The poor and middle classes do not need more taxing.

[oldsoftie]

44. Pretty much every county goes to a sales tax to fund programs successfully.

Because they work. And its acceptable to most people because EVERYONE pays. Its one of the pillars of taxation in Europe. A luxury tax has been tried; it failed and would fail again. And it wouldnt raise that much money either. We simply dont have enough people paying into the system.

[Iggo]

23. All or nothing argument spotted.

[oldsoftie]

28. Thats how a lot of politicians describe it. Only the super wealthy pay!

Over 50% of workers pay zero income taxes. Thats where 1/2 our revenue comes from. We want European style programs but refuse to consider funding them the way they do. Which seems to work.

[Iggo]

35. Politicians using false dichotomies? What next?

[oldsoftie]

36. Making promises they cant keep?

Dogs & cats sleeping together?

[Lunabell]

39. On the backs of the super rich?

Well, I guess that's one way of saying, "Let them eat cake." SMH

[oldsoftie]

40. No, its not. People just arent realistic. It really is that simple.

NO tax plan funds all our new desires by simply taxing (what is considered) the rich. There simply arent enough of them TO tax. And doing an asset tax would not only be a PR disaster, it also wouldnt raise enough.
Continuing to ignore these facts results in a constantly rising national debt, yearly budget deficits; and lost elections.
Should the rich pay more? YES. And I pointed out a few ways to do that above. But we have far too many people who pay NOTHING into our system. And most of them arent considered "poor"

[DBoon]

24. a society with these extremes of wealth and poverty cannot exist for long

Unbounded greed and selfishness at the top inevitably dissolves the ties that hold society together.

[paleotn]

26. It's all in how you frame it.

[marieo1]

27. So True.............

Truer words were never spoken..............they could care less about the rest of us. Oh, they will use us if they get a chance to add more to their coffers but they will never care what happens to the rest of us. How did we get so unbalanced? And...........why don't the wealthy try to fix it? LOL.........

[Joinfortmill]

33. Oh boy. This works

[James48]

37. It's not even that.

It means sacrificing their FOURTH yacht money.


🛳🛳🛳 ⛵️
That’s a little easier to picture.

[Blue Owl]

38. Ask yacht what your country can do for you

[ck4829]

42. Kick