Thread by @ColMoeDavis

From an article in The Guardian:

“The poor’s share of the US economic pie is shrinking to developing-world levels. The income of Americans in the top 90th percentile of wealth grew more than twice as fast between 2000 and 2023 as that of Americans in the bottom 10th percentile.

These days, Americans in the poorest 10th of the population draw about 1.8% of the nation’s income, about the same as poor Bolivians. In Nigeria, they reap 3%, in China 3.1%, in Bangladesh 3.7%.”

From a CBS Sports article:

“LSU is preparing one of the richest contracts in college football history in an attempt to lure Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge. . . The deal is believed to be for seven years and worth as much as $98 million.”

I’ve said repeatedly that the real divide in this country isn’t between Republicans and Democrats, black and white, gay and straight; it’s between the rich and the rest.

All but the delusional recognize that the divide between those on the top rung of the economic ladder and those on the rungs below keeps growing. That’s my gripe with the Big Beautiful Bill; it takes from those who have the least to give more to those who have the most. . .

. . . My campaign motto was “kicking ass for the working class” because for too long the working class has gotten an ass kicking while big corporations and billionaires gorged at the government trough.

It’s long past time for regular people to channel their inner Howard Beale and scream “I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!”

And that ties in with another of my gripes — how our society values the worth of work. Lane Kiffin is a great football coach and deserves to be compensated well for his talents. But, in a state like Louisiana, which is among the states with the highest poverty rates and . . .

. . . worst public education systems, the message is pretty clear: games are far more important than food, shelter, and education. And if 98 million dollars for Lane Kiffin sends a message, a trillion dollar pay package for Elon Musk is a scream and a kick in the teeth.

And what does low pay for those who tend to your grandma with dementia, provide hospice care to the dying, and haul away your trash say about how society values their work? I can go a season without football. I can’t say the same about going a season without trash collection.

We don’t need to soak the rich, but they need to pay their fair share. And regular Americans who do the work that matters more than some trivial game deserve a piece of the proverbial American dream.