Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley has taken a bold step to discuss reversing the most horrendous swindle in U.S. history: \u201ctrickle down\u201d economics. \u201cJust let us make unfathomable amounts of money,\u201d the shell game goes, \u201cand you will all benefit\u201d. The first part has worked marvelously for the super-wealthy. The second part? Still holding our breath.<\/p>\n
Pinsley started the conversation with his report titled\u00a0 \u201cLehigh County Wealth Analysis.\u201d He requested an examination of the plan, calling for officials to perform \u201cdue diligence\u201d to vet the idea. Naysayers were out in force at a recent hearing on the plan. It got heated. But weaving past the distortions and half-truths of some detractors, the essential question surfaced: should those with little wealth pay increased taxes? Or should those with plenty kick in more to avert a looming revenue shortfall?<\/p>\n
Should we tax the family possessing a home in Jordan Heights, Allentown, worth $150,000, owned by folks earning wages insufficient to survive and thrive? Or should families with wealth in stocks, north of \u2014 pick a number \u2014 $500,000, $1 million, $2 million, or more \u2014 pay just .004% of that wealth?<\/p>\n
Opponents of Pinsley\u2019s report complained:\u00a0 \u201cI worked hard to get what I got\u201d or \u201cI sacrificed to get where I am.\u201d I don\u2019t doubt that. But so does that family in Jordan Heights.This discussion implicates poverty and affordability, both of which are growing worse by the day. The face of poverty is a child, and so the question gets reframed: do we tax poor children such as those who live in Jordan Heights, which has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (65.5%)<\/a> than found in 98.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the bitter truth. Pinsley\u2019s idea takes a step in the direction of what must happen in this nation: massive redistribution of wealth. \u201cWhoa,\u201d I hear the screams:\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s a socialist! We don\u2019t do redistribution of wealth!\u201d<\/p>\n Oh, yes we do. Big time. Nearly $80 trillion in wealth in the U.S. has been redistributed from the bottom 90% to the top 1% over the past 50 years, according to a report from the nonprofit RAND organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n This redistribution of wealth occurred by elimination of progressive taxation; through tolerance of monopoly; by destruction of unions; with the purchase of our democracy; by control of media outlets; and by too many Americans tolerating this massive theft of wealth. Today this redistribution of wealth is on steroids, and will worsen with artificial intelligence. It\u2019s coming rapidly for all of us. It\u2019s growing exponentially. In 2019, national wealth was calculated collectively at $98 trillion. Six years later total national wealth ballooned to $184 trillion<\/a>.<\/p>\n So where did the $86 trillion increase in national wealth go? Not to the bottom 50%, whose wealth increased by only $2 trillion<\/a>.\u00a0 Not to the bottom 70%, whose collective wealth increased only by about $8 trillion. Most of the massive increase of national wealth went to the country\u2019s 977 billionaires<\/a>, their total wealth rising to $9.2 trillion, according to Americans For Tax Fairness. In that same six-year period the top 1% wealthiest Americans financial worth grew 62%, from $34 trillion in 2019 to $55 trillion in 2026<\/a>. The top .1% richest in the country \u2014 just 132,000 households \u2014 saw their wealth increase from $12 trillion in 2019 to $25 trillion in 2026<\/a>. This relative handful of families now possess over six times the wealth of the bottom 50%, 68 million households, who hold a paltry $4.3 trillion.<\/p>\n