The Incredible Wealth of the Koch Brothers (And Their Shrinking Work Force)

Right now, the right-wing is charging President Obama with  "class warfare," for saying that the rich should be paying their fair share. The irony is, in the class war, only the rich are winning. Many on the right see any attack on the Koch brothers--the ridiculously wealthy oil barons--as a retort for the demonization of billionaire George Soros by the right. The difference of course, is that Soros uses his money to fight for things that are actually against his financial interests. And the Kochs usually do anything they can to make themselves even richer.

But so what, right? Should we be bagging on people for being successful? No, probably not. Not for that alone. But the Kochs are the lucky recipients of the genetic lottery. They got their money the old fashioned way: they inherited it. But I won't accuse them of not growing the money they got from pops. They've done that. But just check out the video below. Check out the graph that shows the ballooning billions in the Koch's wallets, and the amount of layoffs they've put into effect in their companies. And these guys are buying elections now to make their profit margin even larger. I am insanely curious as to why these two guys need even one more dollar with $50 billion between them.

 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Some Companies Paid More to CEOs than to Taxes

From ThinkProgress

Hey, don't pick on those poor CEOs. They're "job creators" don'tcha know?  Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

[Excerpt]


REPORT: 25 Corporations Paid More To Their CEO Last Year Than They Paid In Taxes

Last year, as Americans across the country grappled with the widespread effects of the Great Recession, tax dodging by corporations and the wealthy cost the average U.S. taxpayer $434, even as corporate profits soared 81 percent. In fact, according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, “corporate tax dodging has gone so out of control that 25 major U.S. corporations last year paid their chief executives more than they paid Uncle Sam in federal income taxes”. . .

Read more at: ThinkProgress