February 20. 2008
Page A6
O pinion
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer
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Voters Should Pick
Next President
A warning to the super-delegates
by
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Billionaires Up, America Down
Wealth inequality has roared back
H olly S klar
W hen it com es to producing bil
lionaires, A m erica is doing great.
Until 2005, multimillionairescould
still make the "Forbes” list of the 400
richest Am ericans. In 2006, the
“Forbes400" went billionaires only.
A billion dollars is a lot o f dough.
Queen Elizabeth II, British monarch
for five decades, w ould have to add
another $4(X) million to her $600
million fortune to reach $1 billion.
The average “Forbes 400" m em ber
has $3.8 billion.
When the "Forbes 400" began in
1982, it was dom inated by oil and
m anufacturing fortunes. T oday,
Forbes says nearly half of the 45
new m em bers made their fortune in
hedge funds and private equity.
T he 25th anniversary o f the
“Forbes 400" isn't party time for
America. We have a record 482 bil
lionaires - and a record 47 million
people without any health insurance.
Since 2000, we have added 184 bil
lionaires - and 5 million more people
living below the poverty line.
by
The official poverty threshold for
one person was a ridiculously low
$ 10,294 in 2006. That won’t get you
two pounds o f caviar! $9,800) and 25
cigars ($730) on the Forbes Cost of
Living Extremely Well Index. The
$20,614 fam ily -o f-fo u r poverty
threshold is lower than the cost of
three months of home flower arrange
ments ($24,525 (.W ealth is being re
distributed from poorer to richer.
Between 1983 and 2004, the av
erage wealth of the top one percent
o f households grew by 78 percent,
reports Edw ard W olff, professor of
econom ics at New York University.
The bottom 40 percent lost 59 per
cent.
In 1982, when the “Forbes 400"
had just 13 billionaires, the highest-
paid CEO made $ 108 mi 11 ion and the
average full-tim e w orker m ade
$34,199, adjusted for inflation. Last
year, the highest-paid hedge fund
m anager hauled in $ 1.7 billion, the
highest-paid CEO made $647 m il
lion, and the average w orker made
$34,861, with vanishing health and
pension coverage.
The “Forbes 400" is even more
o f a rich m en's club than when it
began. The num ber o f w om en has
dropped from 75 in 1982 to 35 today.
The 400 richest A m ericans have
a conservatively estim ated $1.54
trillion in com bined wealth. That
The 25th
anniversary o f
the “Forbes 400"
isn't party time
fo r America.
am ount is more than 11 percent of
our $13.8 trillion G ross D om estic
Product (GD P) - the total annual
value o f goods and services pro
duced by our nation o f 303 million
people. In 1982, “Forbes -MX)” wealth
m easured less than 3 percent o f
U.S.GDP.
And the rich, notes “ Fortune”
m agazine, “give aw ay a sm aller
share o f their income than the rest
o f us.” Thanks to m ega-tax cuts,
the rich can afford m ore m ega
yachts, accessorized with helicop
ters and m ini-subm arines. M ean
while, the infrastructure of bridges,
levees, mass transit, parks and
other public assets inherited from
earlier generations o f taxpayers
crum ble from neglect, and the
holes in the safety net are grow
ing.
The top one percent o f house
holds - average incom e $ 1.5 m il
lion - will save a collective $79.5
bi 11 ion on their 2008 taxes, reports
C itizens for Tax Justice.
T h at’s m ore than the com bined
budgets o f the T ransportation D e
partm ent, Small Business A dm in
istration, Environm ental Protec
tion A gency and C onsum er P rod
uct Safety Com m ission.
It's tim e for Congress to roll
back tax cuts for the w ealthy and
close the loophole letting billion
aire hedge-fund speculators pay
taxes at a low er rate than their
secretaries.
Inequality has roared back to
1920s levels. It w as bad for our
nation then. It’s bad for our nation
now.
Holty Sklar is coauthor of
"Raise the floor: Wages and
Policies That WorkforAllofUs. ”
____________
V jN E W S E A S O N S
MARKET
N O W D E L IV E R IN G
Y o u r f a v o r it e n e i g h b o r h o o d g r o c e r y s t o r e n o w d e l iv e r s
J udge G reg M athis
The Democratic Party
has two superstar candi
dates - Senators Barack
O bam a and H illary
Clinton-battling itout for
that party’s presidential
nomination.
Compared to the Republican
front-runner. Sen. John McCain,
either candidate is viewed as
more exciting and dynamic, with
Obama getting the nod from
most experts as the candidate
who can beat McCain.
Obama also has more del
egates than Clinton basedon his
wins in the primaries and cau
cuses. As such, many Demo
crats think the general election
is in the bag. Not so fast.
With all the behind-the-scenes
political work and delegate woo
ing, the Democrats are possibly
setting themselves up for acrash
come November.
Obama is gaining ground,
proving he appeals to voters of
all races and ages. But Clinton
because they vio
lated party rules by
holding their pri
mary elections be
fore Feb. 5.
C lin to n ca m
p aig n ed in both
states, and won, de
spite knowing the delegates’
votes wouldn’tcount. IfClinton
is successful in getting the more
than 350 delegates reinstated, it
gives her an unfair advantage
over Obama who didn't cam
paign in the states, focusing his
attention on the states that were
not on probation.
Most agree that Obama and
Clinton differ very little on the
issues. But Obam a has in
jected a breath of fresh air
into party politics, promising
change. Clinton has an im
pressive political record, but
her behind the scenes deal
making shows she would be
politics as usual.
Obama is the only candidate
who could beat McCain. His
Clinton has an impressive
political record, but her behind
the scenes deal making shows
she would be politics as usual.
is using her years of political
experience and clout to gain the
support of so-called super-del
egates who could change the
course of this very tight race.
S u p e r-d e leg a tes include
Democratic governors, mem
bers of Congress, retired con
gressional leaders and all of the
Democratic National Commit
tee members.
As voters we have to utilize
our power to reach out to these
elected officials and demand that
their votes reflect the interests
of their constituents.
If the super-delegates vote
based on theirpolitical alliances
rather than O bam a’s strong
showing, the Democratic nomi
nation may turn into another
defeat and put us under the
thumb of the Republican Party
for another four years.
Several super-delegates have
supported Clinton - her hus
band, form er president Bill
Clinton is one - and political
leaders say she is working night
and day to secure the support of
others.
Clinton is also working to re
store convention delegates from
M ichigan and Florida. The
Democratic Party eliminated
delegates from those two states
youthful, fresh appeal, in this
visual society, is unstoppable.
Clinton is widely hated by the
Republican Party and its lead
ers would stop at nothing to see
her defeated.
But can Obama beat Clinton?
Yes, if the super-delegates vote
the will of the people.
The Democrats must be care
ful to keep the spirit of their
newly active young and Afri
can-American voters. If they
find that their vote ultimately
doesn’t matter, then the disillu
sion of many voters would lead
to low voter turnout for the gen
eral election. Historically, low
voter turnout has resulted in a
win for the Republicans.
As a voter, you do have
power. Call or write your con
gress person, your U.S. sena
tors and your governor.
Ask that, when they support
a candidate, they base their de
cisions not on political deals, but
on the needs and wishes of their
constituents. Your voice does
matter. It is time to use it.
Judge Greg Mathis is na
tional vice president o f Rain-
how PUSH and a national
hoard member o f the South
ern Christian Leadership Con
fere n c e.
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