Putting Congress In Perspective

Question: How much did Congress save taxpayers last year when it cut food stamp benefits for 16 million poor children?

Answer: Less than the windfall Congress is trying to bestow on a few of the richest American families by ending the federal estate tax. The House has already approved a bill to do this, and the Senate is poised to follow suit.

To get a sense of just how breathtaking this giveaway is, consider the $30 billion estate of casino magnate - and GOP super-donor - Sheldon Adelson.

If the repeal goes through, the Adelson family's savings, when added to what they've already avoided through loopholes, could total as much as $12 billion. That's far more than the $8.6 billion Congress sought to spare taxpayers over a decade by cutting food stamps last year.

Two very ugly realities are at play here.

First, the distribution of wealth in the United States is now so lopsided that the assets of individual families can rival the cost of entire government programs that serve as lifelines for millions of needy Americans.

Second, majorities in both houses of Congress won't shrink from inflicting additional misery on the people who rely on those programs to heap piles of wealth onto the already obscenely rich.

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/30654-coddling-the-rich

Ah, yes - the oligarchy.

In the land of the free, and the home of the brave; many of whom are still foolish enough to throw their money away in Mr. Edelson's casinos.