It is a well-known fact that Trump does not give money to charities. He has stolen from his own, but has never donated a dollar to a ‘good cause.’ The truth is that he seldom pays his bills. Today, he owes several cities hundreds of thousands of dollars for costs related to his hate rallies. But the orange man is not alone.

A few examples of how cheap billionaires can be. Other than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, these are the percentages of their net income a few of our richest individuals contribute to charity. Jeff Bezos, Sheldon Adelson, and David Koch? 0.1%. The Walton family? 0.4%. Michael Bloomberg, now entering the race to put a damper on this whole tax Wall Street nonsense? A whopping 1.5%.

Billionaires are willing to pay millions of dollars to lobbyists to help them grow their riches, and gladly accept huge tax breaks from the government. Although this is all true, Trump continues to embrace ‘trickle down economics,’ the policy which failed Reagan’s, and two Bush administrations in the not too distant past.

Income inequality is a growing problem. If the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes every American would have access to the best healthcare and education available now. They are only accessible by the wealthy today.

You might have heard this before. In a movie several years ago, Brad Pitt delivered a line which sums up today’s America in eight words: “America is not a country; it’s a business.”

Op-ed by James Turnage

“The Truth Lives Here”

SOURCE

Photo courtesy of Ginny

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