Bleased are the...wealthy?

Contrary to what some of my more snooty siblings might say we were poor growing up. I mean really poor. In fact, as I get older I have come to appreciate just how poor we really were. Man, we were poor. So I don't know if it was coming from that background, my service in the army, mission to Ukraine or if it is a result of my studies in history and social work but I have come to resent the rich.

Can't stand them. Don't like their big inappropriate homes, expensive impractical vehicles, ridiculous spending habits, or lavish vacations. Jealousy? Perhaps. But I like to think it is because I think of all that money being spent on them and them alone and not on the poor, hungry, or the ill. There are those that might argue, "But they give a lot to charity." Yes, I agree, but what percentage are they giving. It's awfully easy for someone who makes $100 million a year to give a million bucks to charity but that is only one measly percent of their income, obviously if they lived a more "common" lifestyle they could give far more than 1% of their income.

However, I recently began rethinking my harsh feelings about the rich after reading an article in Newsweek called "How the Mighty Have Fallen" with the synopsis of "The rich really aren't like you and me: they're historically recession-proof. But this time they've been hit hard-and we may all be the poorer for it." I don't believe in "Trickle-Down Economics," where if the rich get richer we all benefit, however, this essay pointed out that "The rich get poorer, but no one else gets richer." But what I really wanted to share were some of the statistics the author shared:

• The big taxes proposed by the Obama administration would only apply to those who make over $250,000 a year, which is about 3% of the entire country. In other words, the vast majority of us would never even be affected by the proposed tax increases

• "Households with incomes of $100,000 to $200,000 account for 14% of the population but 34% of all spending." This one is crazy because if Heidi was still working full-time as an X-Ray Tech we would fall, just barely, into this bracket. We would make more money than over 80% of American households! But clearly this group has a hard time living within their means. I once saw a statistic that 19% of households that make over $100,000 a year live paycheck to paycheck.
  

• During the current recession the top 10% of earners in the country have seen a 26% decrease in their incomes. Ouch. Meanwhile I am complaining that my mileage reimbursement has been decreased 2.5 cents a mile and I am only eligible for a 2% annual raise instead of 3%.

• In 2006 the richest 1% of the nation's population paid 28% of all taxes and the wealthiest 10% paid 55% of all taxes. Holy cow! In other words, if your reading this blog you did not fall into this category, in fact, you probably fall into the bottom 20% of the nation's earners who only paid 4% of all US taxes yet these seem to be the one's doing most of the complaining.

• I hate to admit it but the wealthy give A LOT to charity. This article noted that in 2004 the wealthiest 8% of Americans gave 47% of all charitable contributions. However, in 2008 charitable giving dropped 5.7%. Oddly enough food banks have seen a huge increase in charitable giving during the same period of time.

So...where am I going with this? I have no idea. Maybe I am reexamining my place in this crazy, mixed-up capitalistic country. Or maybe I am just cyber-rambling since Heidi is too busy playing with Hank and does not want to pay attention to me. Whatever the reason at least I know I will never fall into richest 3% of the country and won't have to worry about any huge tax increase. I wonder what Jesus would think about these numbers?