Report: Biden Admin Paid $271 Million In Unemployment Checks To Millionaires In Two Years
Sen. Joni Ernst plans to introduce a bill to stop this.Sen. Joni Ernst plans to introduce a bill to stop this.
Schumer and fellow Democrats ignore the facts when trying to pin American oligarchy on Republicans
President Joe Biden's farewell address Wednesday was replete with oddities and falsehoods. Evidently convinced that they could use it against their political foes and hurt President-elect Donald Trump's appeal with working-class voters, affluent Democrats and fellow travelers seized on one of Biden's statements in particular, namely his suggestion that "an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), for instance, tried to use the outgoing president's claim to concern-monger during his Thursday grilling of Scott Bessent, Trump's pick to run the Treasury Department, suggesting that the presence of billionaire Elon Musk in the Trump administration was troubling. Bessent responded by noting the hollowness of Biden's rhetoric, highlighting the president's decision to award billionaire and Democratic megadonor George Soros with the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) similarly embraced Biden's 11th-hour concern about American oligarchy, noting on X, "Every American should listen to the warning @POTUS left us with: An oligarchy is taking shape in America that could threaten the progress we've made. He's right."
"Instead of helping working families, the GOP is intent on rigging the system even further in favor of the ultra-rich," added Schumer, who has received donations from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and various other billionaires.
Tiffany Muller, president of the pro-Democrat activist group End Citizens United, apparently also got the memo on the new talking point, stating Thursday, "Donald Trump's inauguration next week is the beginning of an oligarchy that's been 15 years in the making."
'Most people who are paying attention know that most elites and billionaires have shoveled money into the coffers of one party in this country for a long time.'
While Biden, Schumer, and others are keen to credit their political rivals with the supposed growth of an American oligarchy — meaning rule by a small group of people, in contrast to plutocracy, which specifically refers to rule by the wealthiest — they are throwing rocks from an expensive glass house.
Bloomberg reported that Biden's time in office proved a golden age for the wealthiest of Americans. The wealth of the 100 richest individuals in the country increased by over $1.5 trillion over the past four years. According to Federal Reserve estimates through September, the top 0.1% gained over $6 trillion while Democrats controlled the White House and Senate.
It certainly didn't hurt that the Democratic-controlled 117th Congress approved Biden's so-called Build Back Better Act, which included enormous federal tax cuts for the ultra-rich, or that Biden championed unprecedented inflationary spending benefiting the wealthy.
Many of the nation's wealthiest individuals, in many cases beneficiaries of Democratic policies, have backed the campaigns of Democratic lawmakers and worked to keep them in power in recent years.
USA Today reported in November that 83 billionaires, including two with a net worth of over $100 billion each, supported Kamala Harris' doomed presidential campaign. Trump had 31 fewer billionaires back him and only one supporting centibillionaire, Elon Musk.
Those now clutching pearls about Musk serving in the incoming administration have not only glossed over this detail but previously proved unwilling to condemn billionaire Mark Zuckerberg for helping swing the 2020 election for Democrats.
"Most people who are paying attention know that most elites and billionaires have shoveled money into the coffers of one party in this country for a long time. Every wealthy bank, everyone in finance, everyone in every industry has basically — except for one or two — has funneled their money into the Democratic Party," said Blaze News editor in chief Matthew Peterson on the Thursday episode of "Blaze News Tonight."
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A 2023 paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Perspectives on Politics noted that up until 1992, affluent voters preferred Republican candidates. However, "it is increasingly the case that the income groups that most prefer Democratic candidates are the lowest and highest income categories — hence, a 'U-shape.' For example, in 2016 and 2020, [Cooperative Election Study] data shows that the top two income quintiles (i.e., 80%-100% and 60%-80%) preferred the Democrat (i.e., Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden) over the Republican (i.e., Donald Trump) more than the twentieth through sixtieth percentiles did."
Exit polls revealed that in the 2024 presidential election, the majority of voters whose total family income exceeded $200,000 voted for Harris.
Nina Turner, the national co-chair for Sanders' last presidential campaign, blasted Biden over his oligarchy comments, telling the Associated Press, "It's cowardly that after representing the oligarchs for 50 years in office, he calls out this threat to our nation with just days left in his presidency."
"[Biden] enabled, benefited from, and emboldened the system that threatens us all, while he will ride off into the sunset and won't feel the harms of what's been built," added Turner.
Before his ouster from the presidential race, Biden and groups supporting his re-election campaign received oodles of cash from a group of billionaires worth roughly $170 billion, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose net worth is around $104.7 billion.
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On Friday, Italian authorities seized a giant superyacht that is said to be owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin after the Italian government recommended that the ship be impounded as part of the West’s ongoing campaign of sanctions against Russia.
The Daily Mail reported that Italian authorities said that the $700 million mega-yacht named “The Scheherazade,” is more than 450 feet long and contains spas, swimming pools, and two helicopter pads.
The giant yacht has been the subject of an ongoing investigation by Italy’s financial police since the end of this past March and has been docked at Marina di Carrara near Pisa since this past September as it undergoes a refit.
The Italian government’s seizure of the ship came late at night as Italian officials grew increasingly concerned that The Scheherazade was going to slip away from their jurisdiction and into international waters to avoid Western sanctions.
Reportedly, in recent days there has been a flurry of activity around the yacht. In March, the ship's majority Russian crew had been replaced with a British staff overnight.
Indicating that the ship had connections to Russia, The Italian Financial Police released a statement that said, “After verification by the fiscal authorities, it has come to light that there is a significant economic connection between the owner of The Scheherazade and senior elements of the Russian government.”
The statement continued, “On the basis of these elements, it has been recommended that the yacht be placed on the current European Union sanctions list, and the Minister of Finance in Rome has agreed.”
Mariateresa Levi, a member of the Italian Financial police, said, “I am not in a position to tell you who the actual owner is, but we are satisfied that the yacht should be seized, and in the next few hours, officers will board and impound her.”
The ship's captain has denied that Putin is the owner of the superyacht while refusing to disclose who the real owner is.
There have been claims that the vessel might belong to Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oil tycoon who has previously been able to escape Western sanctions, unlike many other Russian oligarchs.
Despite this, activists and investigative journalists linked to Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, are adamant that the ship belongs to Putin.
A probe into the vessel’s former Russian crew revealed that almost all of them worked for Russian secret service agencies charged with protecting the Russian president.
Biden administration prepares to unveil new 'Billionaire Minimum Income Tax'
The White House is set to unveil a new minimum tax targeting the billionaires as the Biden administration prepares to unveil its 2023 budget on Monday.
The Washington Post reported that, according to five people with intimate knowledge of the matter, the Biden administration’s new initiative will raise the minimum tax rates on the wealthiest class of Americans. The initiative, referred to as the “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” plan, intends to establish a 20 percent minimum tax rate on all American households worth $100 million or more.
The new tax will apply to less than one percent of American households and more than half of the revenue that is expected to be generated by it is expected to come from the pockets of billionaires, the Associated Press reported.
President Joe Biden has long been an advocate for raising taxes on wealthy Americans, but his administration has dragged its feet when it came to introducing a tax plan specifically targeting billionaires.
The Washington Post said, “The plan comes amid signs that the administration’s negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) over stalled White House economic proposal may be reviving.”
Manchin and his colleague, the self-styled maverick Democratic Senator from Arizona, Krysten Sinema, have routinely foiled the Biden administration’s legislative agenda when it comes to implementing far-reaching leftist policies such as the “Build Back Better” plan.
The “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax,” if put into effect, would mandate that those it affects pay at least 20 percent of their full income or “the combination of traditional forms of wage income and whatever they have made in unrealized gains, such as higher stock prices.”
“Billionaires paying a rate below [20 percent] will have to pay the difference between what they pay now and the 20 percent rate,” the Washington Post affirmed. “Billionaires already paying more than 20 percent would not owe additional taxes. The taxes paid toward the minimum tax would count toward whatever billionaires owe once they have to pay ordinary capital gains tax.”
An official White House document said, “The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax will ensure that the very wealthiest Americans pay a tax rate of at least 20 percent of their full income. This minimum tax would make sure that the wealthiest Americans no longer pay a tax rate lower than teachers and firefighters.”
The Biden administration also claimed that this tax increase being included in the White House’s budget proposal will cut the federal deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next ten years.
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