re: #141 thedopefishlives

Yes, that’s exactly what I got from that. The disparity may be growing, but notice that doesn’t mean rich people are taking money out of poor peoples’ pockets, because economics is not a zero-sum game.

That last bit is a Rush Limbaugh talking point, and makes absolutely no sense - of course money is a zero-sum game. Money spent on one thing is money that can’t be spent on something else. Money that incompetent, corrupt CEOs suck up for themselves is money not reinvested in their company or their workers:

In 2007, the average ratio between salaries for a chief executive and American worker was 344 to one. That figure dipped to 319 in 2008, but is likely to rise this year, which is “really worrisome,” says John Cavanagh, the Institute’s director.
…
The gap is “still very, very high, still much higher than most other countries in the world would consider decent and in sync with democracy,” Cavanagh says. “If you go back a generation in this country, on average it was about 30-to-1.”

So, if they want to avoid the higher tax bracket, let them reinvest that money in their companies and their workers instead of paying themselves so much more for so much less in terms of value added.