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In the United States, the power and greed of billionaires is threatening the country.
"What you have here is first and foremost a massive inequality of income and wealth, and as a nation we must ask ourselves, from a moral and economic point of view, it's appropriate that three people, one, two, three, possess more wealth than the lower half of American society, "Sanders said. (A report released in November 2017 by the progressive think-tank Institute for Policy Studies found that Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett collectively had more wealth than the 160 million of the poorest Americans, half of the United States population.)
"You know, it's really outrageous, and it's appropriate that we look at it closely," Sanders said.
The disparity Sanders is talking about is getting worse. A report released in July by the not-for-profit think-tank Economic Policy Institute shows that income inequality has increased in all US states since the 1970s. According to the report, a family belonging to the 1% of The richest families in the United States in 2015 (the most recent data available) reported 26.3 times more income than a family of the poorest 99%.
"While the degree of income inequality differs from one country to another, the underlying forces are clear.This is the result of intentional political decisions aimed at removing power. Negotiating workers and placing it at the top of the first percent, "said Mark Price, Keystone economist. Harrisburg Research Center, Pennsylvania, in a written statement published with the report. "To reverse this trend, we should adopt policies that strengthen the ability of workers to negotiate higher wages, control the salaries of managers and the financial sector, and put in place a progressive tax system."
The influence exerted by the ultra-rich is visible in politics and the media, according to Sanders.
"They do not put their fortune under their mattresses, that's fine, they use that wealth to perpetuate, perpetuate their power, and they do it politically," Sanders said. "So, you have the Koch brothers and a handful of billionaires who are injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into the elections, because their Supreme Court has overruled the current campaign funding laws and now allow billionaires to pay the bill. buy elections transparently. "
Charles and David Koch each have a value of more than $ 48 billion, according to Forbes. Their wealth comes from their family business, Koch Industries, the second largest private company in the United States, according to Forbes. Although their cap spends hundreds of millions of dollars for elections, this includes funds raised by a network of about 300 donors, according to the Washington Post.
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