What does it mean that US President Donald Trump wants socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest?
Senior Senator Bernie Sanders has a comprehensive piece to respond to this using some facts and figures: Bernie Sanders say Trumps tax overhaul which was promised to benefit the middle class has actually made the rich richer. He says the US economy could not be better for the top one percent and corporate America.
Here are some of Sanders figures to prove his one-percent theory: In 2017, the top 10 corporate executives in America saw their combined compensation skyrocket by over 60% from the year before soaring to $1.85bn. The top 25 hedge fund managers on Wall Street made over $15.3bn in compensation in 2017, up 40% from 2016 the highest in four years.
The five richest people in America have seen their wealth go up by over $100bn and corporations have announced over $1tn in stock buybacks in 2018 alone. Bonuses for average workers are up by just two cents an hour since Trumps tax plan was signed into law which is not on par with the inflation.
Meanwhile, while the very rich get richer, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages. Moreover, while the official unemployment rate is relatively low at nearly four percent, the real unemployment rate is much higher. If you include those who have given up looking for work and those who are working part-time when they need a full-time job, the real unemployment rate over 7.5.
Analysts believe patriotism and helping the middle class is just a charade behind tax overhaul introduced by Donald Trump and his Republican party. They believe the real motive behind the cut was to pay back to the GOPs mega-donors. Trumps lead economic advisor, Gary Cohn, conceded in an interview that the most excited people about the tax plan were the big CEOs. Republican Representative Chris Collins has made a similar revelation. This is how hes quoting one of his donors: Get it done or dont ever call me again.