I know, I know, we try hard to avoid political discourse on this site, but this piece is just too good not to share with my closest personal friends. It's from the New York Times and is almost beyond belief...almost being the buzz word. For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions The very richest are able to quietly shape tax policy that will allow them to shield billions in income. By NOAM SCHEIBER and PATRICIA COHENDEC. 29, 2015 WASHINGTON — The hedge fund magnates Daniel S. Loeb, Louis Moore Bacon and Steven A. Cohen have much in common. They have managed billions of dollars in capital, earning vast fortunes. They have invested large sums in art — and millions more in political candidates. Moreover, each has exploited an esoteric tax loophole that saved them millions in taxes. The trick? Route the money to Bermuda and back. You can read the rest here: My comments later...
My grandparents had a secret hedge fund....it was under their area rug in the livingroom! It was so bizarre to see them lift the corner to extract a bill for a birthday gift.
Now they'd have to funnel it through a Bermuda Bank before you saw a dime of it aggie. The beauty of the article V is it isn't a political statement on the right versus the left, but the reality of the super rich compared to the rest of us schlepping along trying to make ends meet. Best of all, it's not just an us and them, but real life stories of how and why they have been able to do what they are doing. There was a time when even the robber barons felt some sense of national loyalty to the country and how it was to grow forward. Hardly the case these days. If this article wasn't enough for you to begin to understand just what is happening, this piece from NPR three weeks back kind of says it all. The Tipping Point: Most Americans No Longer Are Middle Class Americans have long lived in a nation made up primarily of middle-class families, neither rich nor poor, but comfortable enough. This year, that changed, according to the Pew Research Center. A just-released analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority. The trend is so firmly established that it may well continue; Americans have experienced "a demographic shift that could signal a tipping point," Pew researchers concluded Wednesday. Read the rest here.
I read the whole article and it got boring. Aren't we glad we live in our own little bubble called Sun City!
