The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

$3,900,000,000 a Year

Apr 2, 2012

Last year three people had more than a billion dollars of income. All three run hedge funds, those financial scams which amass billions by speculating in financial markets. Ray Dalio got 3.9 billion dollars, more than the average income of 100,000 workers in a year. Carl Icahn got 2.5 billion dollars and James Simons 2.1 billion.

These ultra-rich pay a special tax rate, only 15%, on income coming from capital. This is lower than the tax bracket many workers are in. Every time there is a whimper in Congress about making the hedge fund billionaires pay ordinary tax rates, their friends among both the Democratic and Republican politicians swiftly stuff a sock in someone’s mouth!