In article <d0bkkvsfjoi38912drt7egdgb386db6apk@4ax.com>, David Patrick says...

On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 11:45:25 GMT, Sir Arthur C. B. E. Wholeflaffers
A.S.A. <nospam@newsranger.com> wrote:

Debunkers say YES to war-profiteering and NO to helping the troops that make
the debunkers very wealthy.  Here is the proof:

But you're not wealthy....

Patty, your's "slip-up" is showing. 

USA wealth distribution realities
Excerpted from the "Push Hamburger" website:

The Hidden Wealth of the Richest 1%

Including or excluding the so called "couch potatoes", Americans take in more
information than they ever have. Newscasters such as Ted Koppel, Dan Rather, Tom
Brokaw, Robert McNeil, and Jim Lehrer are as well known to this generation as
Walter Cronkite was to previous generations. Not only do people watch their
favorite newscasters regularly, they read mountains of newspapers and magazines
as well.

Because the American media claims to be the freest in the world, few have reason
to suspect that their mass media information is being very carefully controlled
and colored. The shocking truth is that the American public is being purposely
kept in the dark about many vital realities. For example are you aware that:

THE RICHEST 1 (ONE) PERCENT OF AMERICANS possess more wealth than THE COMBINED
WEALTH OF THE BOTTOM 90 (NINETY) PERCENT. 

Despite how incorrect that statistic may first appear, there is definitely no
error or misprint involved. Not only that, the full significance of the above
statement is rather difficult to instantly appreciate, so we�ll take a moment
more to consider its implications.

Because the richest 1% prefer to associate almost exclusively with members of
their own social and economic standing, few members of the bottom 90% of
Americans have ever even met a millionaire let alone a billionaire.

Consequently if you belong to the bottom 90%, you can think of the wealth of the
richest 1% as : more wealth than the combined assets of every American you have
ever met, plus all the assets of every American you would be likely to meet on a
trip that took you through every single city and town in the nation!!

If you haven�t been thinking of the rich and their wealth in quite that light, I
suggest you begin to, because that information is only the tip of the iceberg of
information being actively suppressed by the so-called freest media on the
planet. Many references will be made throughout the book to the bottom 90%, so
it is appropriate that we try to define the group a little more precisely.
Since the average person in the West considers himself or herself a member of
the middle class, logic as well as popular opinion would suggest that half or
more of the population fits into it. Initially then, let�s arbitrarily consider
that American society is comprised of 60% middle class, 20% lower class, and 20%
upper class. Because the combined middle and lower economic classes only account
for 80% of the population, the bottom 90% of society must also include half of
the so-called upper class as well!

This means that the bottom 90% is comprised of:
1)	Every member of the middle class
2)	Every member of the lower class
3)	Half the members of the wealthy upper class

So now our original statistics can be interpreted to mean that:
THE RICHEST 1 (ONE) PERCENT of Americans own more wealth than:
1) ALL of the wealth of ALL of the MIDDLE class COMBINED WITH
2) ALL of the wealth of ALL of the LOWER class AND ADDED TO
3) ALL of the wealth of the bottom HALF of the UPPER class

If you are surprised or shocked, don�t feel bad. The elite have gone out of
their way to ensure that you didn�t know it. Nevertheless, my initial choice of
(20%, 60%, and 20%) to represent the upper, middle, and lower class population
percentages was arbitrary, so if you think the arbitrary percentage breakdown of
society was at fault, I welcome you to run your own idea of the class
percentages through the preceding model. No matter what figures you choose, the
bottom 90% of society would still have to include ALL of the lower class, plus
ALL of the so called middle class, plus a portion of the upper class. The
staggering significance of the wealth of the richest 1% will not alter. Go ahead
and try it.

The Hidden Wealth of the Next Richest 9%

Up to this point, we have referred only to the richest 1% and the bottom 90%.
However, sandwiched in between those two groups is another wealthy minority,
"the next richest 9%". Let�s now find out how that group fares economically.
You may be stunned to learn that: THE NEXT RICHEST 9 (NINE) PERCENT also possess
more wealth than THE COMBINED WEALTH OF THE BOTTOM 90(NINETY)PERCENT

As unbelievable as it sounds, there are two minority groups, not just one, that
own more assets than the bottom 90%. These two statistics alone should leave
little doubt that the bulk of the wealth in America is owned by a very small
minority of super rich individuals. This reality contrasts so drastically with
the "equal opportunity", "equal prosperity" concepts fed to the bottom 90% and
the world at large, that statistics such as these have had to be suppressed.
Again, there is no misprint. The only deceit involved is that the bottom 90%
have been purposely kept in the dark about wealth distribution realities.

Hidden Permanent Prosperity For The Rich

If you were unaware of the severity of wealth distribution inequities, then you
are probably in for an even bigger surprise to learn that the rate, at which the
economic elite are getting richer, is simply astounding.  Statistics published
in Forbes magazine�s annual survey of America�s billionaires expose this little
known but shocking reality.

In 1982 there were 13 billionaires; in 1983....15; in 1984....12; in 1985....13;
in 1986....26; in 1987....49. Note carefully that prior to 1986 the number of
American billionaires had averaged around 13. Then the Reagan administration
drastically altered the wealth distribution patterns by introducing new tax
legislation favoring the top 1%. In 1986 the number of billionaires DOUBLED, and
by 1987 the number of billionaires had virtually QUADRUPLED to 49!! By 1988,
there were 68 individuals or families that each had net wealth in excess of
$1,000,000,000. By 1989, the number had risen precipitously to 82. And by 1990,
the Forbes survey reported the staggering total of 99!!  With favorable tax laws
in place, the super rich can enjoy bonanza years even during recessions!! The
tax laws that allowed this to happen are still in place, and will remain in
place till enough people get sufficiently concerned to insist that they be
changed. What should cause the American people to sit up and take notice, once
and for all, is the fact that this explosion of wealth took place during a
period when:

1. The stock market crashed harder than in 1929.
2. Hundreds of American banks and Savings and Loan thrift institutions declared
bankruptcy and saddled the taxpayer with a debt to pay that may ultimately
exceed $500 billion dollars.
3. Thousands of farmers lost farms that had been in the their families for
generations.
4. Millions lost their jobs.
5. Wage earners were having to take massive pay cuts and reductions to their
benefits.
6. Social programs and health and education programs were being drastically cut
back or terminated.
7. Waves of pan-handlers were flooding onto the streets.
8. Shelters for the homeless, and grocery handout centers were springing up like
mushrooms in practically every city throughout the nation.

It should not take an Einstein to observe that equal opportunity, and equitable
prosperity is an outright hoax for all but a small minority. Unlike Britain,
France, and Germany, which can point to their Feudal pasts to explain their
existing wealth distribution inequities, America can point to no such excuse!
The American economic elite have established Feudal wealth distribution
inequities equal to, and even surpassing their European counterparts (the
monarchs and the landed aristocracy), in just 200 years!!

We have been brainwashed into believing that the super rich are so few in number
that they and their wealth can be safely ignored. In reality, they directly and
significantly affect everyone else�s standard of living, and will continue to do
so as long as their power and influence remain unrecognized, and unchallenged.
This explosion of wealth for America�s super rich has immense significance not
only for society as a whole, but especially for the bottom 90%.

Many of those in the bottom 90% who accepted pay cuts and decreases to their
employment benefits, did so because they had been led to believe that everyone
else was also feeling the pinch. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What is being successfully hidden from public awareness is the fact that the
widening gap between the haves and the have-nots is an ongoing process, and one
which is running even now at full throttle. The extent to which the bottom 90%
are being successfully deceived can be made more obvious by noting just how the
current economic bad times are affecting American billionaires.
A good example, but not necessarily a typical one, is Sam Walton and family, who
increased their wealth by $2,300,000,000 (from $6.7 billion to approximately $9
billion), in a twelve month period, from the time Fortune magazine took their
1988 survey, to the time they took their 1989 survey. For those who believe that
the rich pay high taxes, Sam�s pre-tax profits had to have been considerably
higher than $2.3 billion. Even a 25% tax rate would put his pre-tax profits in
excess of $3,000,000,000 for a 12 month period!!!

If you think that movie theater prices are exorbitant, or feel that "pay TV"
prices are unreasonable, then perhaps you ought to have a word with Mr. Sumner
Murray Redstone whose fortune increased by $1,480,000,000 (from $1.4 billion to
a hair under $3 billion) in the same twelve month period. His name surfaces
attached to entities like Twentieth Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, MGM/United
Artists, or "pay TV" entities such as Showtime, The Movie Channel, and MTV.
Fortune magazine�s own comment was: "That�s a compound annual rate of return of
about 132%".

Or perhaps you would liked to have purchased a cellular telephone, but found
them too expensive? Try talking Mr. John Werner Kluge into taking less profit.
After all, his wealth increased by a cool $2,000,000,000 ($2 Billion) just last
year.

For those unused to thinking in terms of hundreds of millions, not to speak of
billions, let�s take a moment to digest the significance of this magnitude of
wealth. To begin with, a simple 10 percent interest on just one billion dollars
amounts to $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) in interest alone per
year. From a working person�s perspective, it would take 100 lifetimes, (of 40
working years each), for a person earning $25,000 per year to earn the amount of
income each of our billionaires can earn in interest, per billion, per year.
(without lifting a finger) Who pays for these previously mentioned profits? You
of course, through an unnecessarily high cost of living (high cost of goods and
services, high bank interest rates and inflated real estate prices, etc.).

It is worth keeping in mind that before families like the Carnegies,
Rockefellers, Morgans, Vanderbilts, and others of similar ilk used PR campaigns
and some supposedly philanthropic donations to help convince Americans of their
social nobility, they were commonly known as "robber barons".

Consequently, it should come as no surprise that in recognition of the
widespread use of tax-deductible methods of purchasing civic respectability,
Ralph Waldo Emerson defined a philanthropist as a man who gives away what he
should be giving back.

In short, fantastic wealth is being generated virtually all the time, but the
bulk of it is being skimmed off by the wealthy while the working class are kept
on a relatively minimum standard of living to help fuel the illusion of ongoing
hard-times.

To avoid showing the rest of the nation the amount of money they have managed to
amass, and to further avoid paying taxes, some of their corporations are
registered in out of the way playboy tax havens like the Bahamas. In addition,
they keep much of their money in specially numbered secret bank accounts (no
questions asked, no information given), in countries such as the Bahamas,
Switzerland, or Liechtenstein, whose banking communities have grown fat by
obligingly taking on the role of laundering and safely storing secret treasures
for some of the world�s wealthiest thieves and criminals. In fact, the August 21
1989 issue of Insight magazine fully exposed just how cheaply and easily a money
laundering network can be set up. People who work from nine to five everyday
don�t have the time to waste thinking about the activities of these jet setters
and playboys. Because of economic segregation, most nine to fivers have never
even met such a person. Quite often the elite have their own jets, and seek
obscurity behind tinted limousine windows. For the most part, the elite who rule
America from behind the scenes, purposely go out of their way to maintain
extremely low profiles. Why? Because neither their fortunes nor their business
transactions would stand up well to public scrutiny.

Media owners, who belong to the richest echelons of our society, cooperate with
their peers to ensure that their profiles remain as low as they wish. Laws that
were supposedly enacted to protect the privacy of individuals, have certainly
served the purpose of keeping the general public largely ignorant of the
shocking realities of wealth distribution inequities. In effect, the economic
elite are effectively making fools of 90% of society�s so-called equals. Not
surprisingly, their lobbying power has ensured that inheritance laws allow
fortunes to remain virtually intact from generation to generation.

"If ye love wealth better than liberty ... servitude better  than ... freedom,
go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsel or your arms ...  May your
chains set lightly upon you. May posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
Samuel Adams