Tag: ruling elite

We’re Living Through the Greatest Transfer of Wealth From the Middle Class to the Elites in History

Recent history is punctuated with a lot of not-so-great economic “greats” from the Great Depression to the Great Recession. Now we have a new one: When historians look back on the decisions made beginning in March 2020 and still going strong, this period will be remembered as the “Great Consolidation”—the acceleration of a historic wealth transfer and power concentration out of the hands of the middle class and into those with political power and connections.

The “connected” form a powerful bloc comprised of big government, big business and big special interests. And though their monikers label them “big,” they are comprised of relatively small elites. And they are seeking to use their power to benefit themselves at your expense.

Prior to COVID, more than 30 million small businesses accounted for about half the GDP and jobs in America; the other half of the economy was concentrated in 20,000 big companies. So you might have expected that small businesses would have had an equal amount of negotiating power when the pandemic hit as big companies. You would be wrong.

Big companies have more lobbying dollars and more connections, and thus more ability to play the political game. Their big pockets are balanced with a small enough scope to make them a government ally, compared to the highly decentralized small business landscape.

As a result, big firms were deemed “essential” and allowed to stay open during the pandemic, while small businesses were subjected to punishing lockdown orders and forced to close, in part or completely. Many of the examples were doubly infuriating given the absurd hypocrisies they presented. For example, big box pet retailers like PetSmart that groomed pet hair and nails were deemed essential—while salons owned by small business owners that served humans were not. The LA-area Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill was forced to close their outdoor dining—while a movie production not only operated but hosted a catering tent serving food to crew in the same parking lot that the restaurant had been forced to abandon. Weed dispensaries, illegal just a handful of years ago in many jurisdictions, were suddenly deemed essential.

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‘Establishment Elite … Will Target You, Censor You, Demonize You And Call You A Domestic Terrorist,’ Says Tulsi Gabbard

Former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Friday during “Fox News Primetime” that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are in danger of being destroyed by the “establishment elite” if they stand on principles.

“This is a bigger problem than Democrats or Republicans,” Gabbard told host Will Cain. “This is about the establishment elite trying to hold on to their power and continue to increase it. And the mainstream media is a powerful arm of that establishment elite,” she continued, noting that politicians are either “with them, agreeing with them, supporting them, carrying the water for them.” 

Gabbard argued that the alternative is for the elite to turn on their detractors and then “target you, censor you, demonize you, and call you a domestic terrorist and stick the attorney general on you. Seeing you as a threat to their power and, therefore, the enemy.”

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This Is How America’s Ultra Wealthy Are Evading The Democrats’ New Taxes

For most Americans, the term Private Placement Life Insurance, or PPLI, is financial gibberish. But for the ultra-wealthy, those who represent the top 0.1% in the wealthy pyramid, that acronym represents financial freedom from the coming Democratic tax hike tsunami.

As many ultra wealthy Americans – those whose net worth is $20 million and over – scramble for places to hide from Democrat plans to hike their taxes, many on Wall Street think they’ve found just the thing, and as Bloomberg reports today the tax oasis is a niche strategy called private placement life insurance, which is was already gaining popularity among the very rich for its ability to shield fortunes from taxes. Advisers to the top 0.1% already say it’s dominating conversations with their clients.

The threat of higher taxes, which President Biden has affectionately called making billionaires and millionaires pay their “fair share”, isn’t the only factor sparking interest in PPLI: as Bloomberg’s Ben Steverman writes, “a little-noticed change in US insurance law at the end of 2020 makes the tool more powerful, at the same time that competition among insurance carriers and advisory firms is giving rich investors more flexibility, lower costs and a wider choice of products on PPLI platforms.”

The math is simple: as long as assets are held in a PPLI policy, they escape taxes, much to the horror of wealth redistributionists like Elizabeth Warren. When the holder of a PPLI policy dies, heirs inherit the PPLI’s contents tax-free, a perk which strikes at the heart of Biden’s plans to get the very wealthy to pay more taxes on their investments, especially on capital gains that currently aren’t levied if assets are held until death.

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The Covid Debate Isn’t A Medical Issue, It’s A Social One

If you’ve been told in the last 15 months or so that you and your family are selfish, careless people for going about your business or normal lives without considering how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting everyone else, you’re not alone.

If you’ve been lectured ad nauseam by news outlets, social media platforms, elected officials, etc. on the importance of following guidelines meant to supposedly protect us, you’re also not alone. There’s just one problem – the Covid policy debate isn’t a medical issue, it’s a social one.

By now, most of us are pretty well aware of Covid’s effects on our lives. Even as variants develop and the so-called science of pandemic expert-turned state-approved celebrity Dr. Anthony Fauci fluctuates, to our mainstream culture, the pandemic is not over. For the average citizen and their family, this news is disheartening, but to the elite, it couldn’t be less of a problem.

Covid Has No Meaningful Effect Whatsoever on the Elite

Since the beginning of the pandemic, it’s been made clear to us tragically common people that for politicians, media figures, celebrities, and the other privileged few, the pandemic is merely an inconvenience more than anything else.

We’re lectured with wagging fingers that not getting vaccinated is the most entitled and self-absorbed action we could possibly conceive. Meanwhile… 

Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot says that the city might be “forced” to reinstate some of the nation’s strictest policy measures to curb the spread of possible new variants. Just weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people descended on Chicago’s Grant Park for the annual Lollapalooza festival. The event, where the price of just a day’s admission is $130, had an estimated 350,000 attendees, yet no city officials expressed concern over the possibility of the event causing a surge in Chicago’s Covid cases (while simultaneously, South Dakota’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was quickly labeled a superspreader event and its attendees lambasted). 

There’s no basis for moral posturing from elites when their lives haven’t essentially changed. 

In the aftermath of the festival, city officials seemed pleased as punch to declare that there was no evidence to suggest that the four-day gathering resulted in an increase in cases. Then, just three days later, it was reported that 200 positive Covid tests had been linked to the festival. While 200 out of an estimated 350,000 isn’t a superspreader, it’s also not nothing. 

If you’re asking yourself why these two events with nothing in common could be depicted so differently in the media, take a moment to think about it. Who’s more likely to blindly support progressive policies, swarms of young Millennials and Gen Zers (who can afford to pay thousands of dollars to attend a four-day festival), or a group of bikers who publicly display symbols of American pride?

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The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax

In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.

Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same in recent years. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn did it twice. George Soros paid no federal income tax three years in a row.

ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits.

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