Rich Get Richer While War Rages On

Ben Stein Says Life Is Great For The Wealthiest Americans

(CBS)  Sunday Morning commentator Ben Stein says America's ventures in Iraq and Afghanistan are worsening but here at home, the stock market soars.


Year after year, month after month, sometimes day after day, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average reaches new highs. The war in Iraq gets worse. Afghanistan slips out of control. The gap between rich and poor grows more profound, the trade deficit grows immense, and fears of the future of Medicare grow sharp indeed. Yet up, up, and away goes the stock market.

Why? Well, frankly, no one knows for sure. Yes, profits are great and interest rates are low, but markets don't always go up - even on news as good as that. But here is a clue: Something like 50 percent of all stock is owned by the top 1 percent of Americans in terms of wealth. The top ten per cent own nearly ninety per cent of stock.

For those Americans, far from Fallujah, life is great. The rich in America have never been richer or more numerous. There are long waiting lists for Ferraris and Bentleys. A $10 million house and a $1 million dollar are what life is all about for them.

They're in a great mood. Iraq seems far away. Kabul is remote. Money is pouring in. So, what do they do? They buy cars and houses and mistresses and stock, and as it goes up, they come to believe it will always go up, and they keep buying and so it keeps going up.

Until one day, the dollar collapses and interest rates rise and fear sets in and the rich are suddenly singing the blues. But for now, if you're not on the battlefield, don't know anyone who is, and the company just gave you a $1 million dollar bonus or 10 million times are mighty sweet. Time to buy.

[ddaryl1]

I sick and tired of what is happening in America, and if things do not get better in the near future and the decades to come there will be civil unrest that will cause major disruption.

I am disgusted with America and the way it caters to corportations and the wealthy.

Last time I checked the constitution said "We the people", not "We the corporations"

time for MAJOR change, and change I am willing to fight for, unlike Iraq

[ou812pbrain]

Oh Boy, you know the gap is getting further apart day by day and proof is when comments are posted by people who really don't know how to or are too lazy to use the shift key. Mr. Stein, you and I have different opinions on many issues, but this commentary helps me to realize the beginning of the new age of Robber Barons. Present day opportunistic industrialist that commandeer the wealth of a nation and blindfold the poor tax paying suckers into believing that they have the good life. Fact being is that old phrase " A good war will pull us out of this economic depression". This must be the rule of the X generation and it's leaders, Democrat and Republican. No one really wants to bite the bullet and until they do, the rich will begin to host two million dollar weddings. When will we realize just because you have a home mortgaged to the hilt and a equally mortgaged european car in the drive it doesn't mean you've made it. Thanks for bringing this to the masses, but it%u2019s not what they want to hear. God save the materialist and God save our country...

[kba78]

OH jn122736 good call on your comment theres no reason why i should have to fight for a job aginst a minority any more then any one else , i thought that *** ended during the civil war , minorities cause half the problems these days with there civil rights gorups making sure the get enough hired at certin places its bull s--t , you want equal rights , then you come apply just like the everyone else ,look at women they have done it Why cant you! and no im not racisist, i do get upset listing to the dumb civil rights groups , if white americans do something like that its we would be called racist.this is 2007 people not 1960 get over it

[kba78]

maybe we should worry less about what going on over seas and pay attention to whats going on on our home turf , this country id falling apart , our goverment if is in the process of taking our own rights away ,we cant even control when money go's , and even when we can we cant trust 99 percet of the people in control of it, i live in upstate new york and get 33 percent of my check taken of each week in taxes and see nearly 500.00 if im lucky at the end if the year , some low life , welfare blood sucker is living well thats all i can say, im stuck paying for inter cities problems , over bugeting , on goverment behalf , im 28 yrs old ill probably never see my social security , becuase there wont be any or ill have to be 70-75 yrs old to get it,so i hope you old generation folks are living it up on our behalf , becuase i now u never payed anywhere close to what im paying into it. to all you 65 and upers who are complaning put that in your pipes and smoke it!

[ressigmann]

to fascistusa
Speak for yourself, I am no one's slave. Go to North Korea if you want to see a facist state. As many Democrats are part of the elite are you just anti-government?

[ressigmann]

to jn122736
"No taxation without representation" the revolution was caused because Britian thought that after leaving the colonies in relative attonomy that they could suddenly turn around and start taxing as they pleased without consideration for the people. Many of the founding fathers were rich buisnessmen. The Constitution does not guarantee equality just equal opportunity for those who take it. Neither John Kerry or his wife earned their vast fortune, but somehow I don't expect a check to arrive. Personally I don't care much for many of the rich snobs born into money, but it is still legally their money. Socialism will never work, yes it is exaberated by greed and corruption, but it does drag everyone down not lift everyone up. Look at affirmative action, there were many times where a person with a college education lost a prospective job to people who might have actually graduated from High School. There are states where a number of contracting jobs are reserved for minorities no matter what their work quality is compared to other companies. If you are all but guaranteed a contract then there is little motivation to provide top quality work. A man I knew wanted to be an Air Force pilot aced the pilots exam, but they were short of minorities so they allowed another candidate to take the test three times until he barely squeaked by, and the person I knew had to fight to get a later slot.

[scott4261]

"Beware of the military industrial complex..."

Dwight Eisenhower

With all the war profiteering going on, I'm sure Ike is rolling in his grave!

[montraville]

There is also the phenomenon of private equity, which pits the super-rich against the merely rich. Private equity firms take a public firm private, then lard it with debt, then spin it off as new, debt-ridden stock, taking a huge profit. Frankly a lot of equities scare me with their potential instability and indebtedness, and are not acceptable for nestegss or retirement funds.

Of course, if the bottom drops out, more than the stockholders will suffer. The entire economy will catch a cold.

Republicans want to water down the new reporting rules for equities, which are now among the toughest in the world. I personally don't understand why. If the Japanese make the finest cars, and the French the finest wines, why can't America have the most reliable stock issues?

[fascistusa]

You moron:

"There is nothing mentioned about "wealth redistribution", and that so long as all laws are followed that there is nothing wrong about making money"

The Anti-Trust Laws and ALL the Basic Laws Protecting the Little Guy from THE ELITE AND THEIR CORPORATIONS are GONE.

La'sse faire. Free Reign of Business.

WE ARE ALL SLAVES IN A FASCIST COUNTRY CONTROLLED BY THE ELITE.

[scott4261]

Randi Rhodes was playing this clip from Bush last week on her radio show:
"Money trumps ... um ... peace, sometimes (cackled laughter)."

About says it all....and right from the horse's mouth!

[scott4261]

Socialism and plutocracy are the extremes at opposing ends of the same road. Our constitution gives us the tools to find the workable and equitable center if we have the fortitude to stand up for America instead of personal gain.

Posted by jn122736 at 06:18 PM

-----

Here, here!

[jn122736]

Re. Ressigmann, post 3:58 P.M. Feb 18, 2007

The very catalyst for the revolution that made our country and the constitution possible was the rejection of the wealthy/royalty dominating the average citizen.

The importance of equality, which you ridicule, was prominently injected into the preamble to the declaration of independence, and these are the same people who wrote and ratified the constitution.

Agreed, there is nothing wrong with making money but being born wealthy and earning wealth are two entirely different things.

Intelligence is never evenly distributed. We have already reached the point where only the well-off can afford higher education which means we are losing out on some of the best minds available.

Without the proper redistribution of resources America, as we have known it, is doomed to destruction. The fact that the wealthy cannot or will not see this is proof in itself that what I have said is true about loosing the some of the best minds.

The same thing that has caused the failure of every dynasty/country throughout history, Greed and corruption, caused the fall of the Soviet Union. It is happening in America now at a disastrous rate.

Socialism and plutocracy are the extremes at opposing ends of the same road. Our constitution gives us the tools to find the workable and equitable center if we have the fortitude to stand up for America instead of personal gain.

[ressigmann]

If you read the constitution you will find a suprising and amazing fact: there is nothing wrong with being rich. There is nothing mentioned about "wealth redistribution", and that so long as all laws are followed that there is nothing wrong about making money. Remember America is a capitalist country, communism is where these silly and ridiculous notions of everyone being equal. Redistribution will not change whether there are rich and poor it will only change who is rich and poor. No matter how noble the ideas of universal equality sound there is always going to be someone who is better than you. Trying to make everyone equal jsut drags everyone down to the lowest common denominator. Its why the Soviet system fell apart: whether you plowed 40 acres of land a day or 2 acres you got paid the same, so there was no motivation to plow beyond 2 acres. Poor work is rewarded under this sort of system (you still get paid) and good work is not rewarded (you make only what people who produce less make). For reference review France's economy which is doing lousy for many of these reasons.

[emhawks]

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest,easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious....Out of war, a few people make huge fortunes."
- Major General Smedley D. Butler
"Facism should more appropriately be called corporatism, because it is a merger of state & corporate power".
- Benito Mussolini
"...fascism will come to America in the name of national security...."
- Jim Garrison
"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war."
- Donald Rumsfeld
"...money trumps peace, sometimes."
- George W. Bush

[Razzl]

I'm kind of relieved to read this kind of commentary from Ben Stein--he seems to always be shaking his head in agreement at Larry Kudlow's lunatic capitalist rhetoric on CNBC, so it's good to know that he's only being polite. Stein joins the growing chorus of voices from the traditional Wall Street conservatives (including Buffett and Bernanke) who are putting the lie to the politically motivated taxation policies of the Bush administration.

[knyghtwolf]

continued from previous posting.....This WHOLE country was built on slavery, both free & low wages, women were boxed into a neat little package to do their "womanly" duties, men were to go out, work all their lives, and retire at 65. Do you truly believe you were born to work for another human being? To serve ANOTHER person because of your racial, religious, or cultural heritages? This the bible tells you so? Work for self improvement is ONE thing, but applying that same said principle to bank roll another to a wealthy state, that's entirely another, THAT my friends, its truly far from being a good Christian. I guess I wonder how many would be willing to die for the betterment of ourselves and our children? Think it over....

[knyghtwolf]

There is ONLY one way to ever change the present system; complete & through "re-education" of our youth today about the true business practices put forth by corporate america. We have had facist & totalitarian ingrained behaviors placed within us from day one, going back to the industrial revolution. We got hammered in school, starting with kindergarten on through the 12th year, OBEY public authorities, every uniform you see is your friend, from the smiling policeman that is helping a little girl get her kitty cat out of the tree, to political figures from the federal level on down. How much are you all willing to lose to make this change, that's what I am curious about, we talk about being ripped off daily but what is or will be the sacrifices that have to be made to change it all, and will those changes be any better, or better still, HOW do we make sure these changes actually work? Who decides when and where, how and when, all the principles we live or exist by today will be of any value? Any education is a base foundation, you have to build yourself, inside & out to see what is illusion or reality. The mind control here is ourselves, we are convinced that we can do nothing to change ourselves without checking with the federal government, who by the way, is run by corporate america, to see what we can or can't do.

[scott4261]

Waht has happened to the TENS OF BILLIONS Halliburton and other companies have FLEECED from the American taxpayer during this war? Isn't that STEALING? I swear, if you are not OUTRAGED, you are NOT PAYING ATTENTION!

[bluestardad]

On the most recent account of corruption CBS News Reported via, KVTV Dallas article billions of gallons of oil are being stolen because Iraq has no meters in place to gauge how much oil is being produced, pumped, or loaded on to tankers in the gulf. This has been going on now in Iraq for years. How can anyone know how much money or oil has been stolen under the watch of Coalition forces, it makes the United Nations Oil for food scandal pale in comparison. If you combine this blatant theft with the Slant drilling being done by Iraqi%u2019s neighbors there are unaccountable billions of dollars being stolen in Iraq right now. What type of management or leadership has been responsible in Iraq for the last four years? Iraqi and American Dollars by the tons have been sent to Iraq and lost, stolen or squandered. Who has been in charge of this oversite?

[bluestardad]

You may have noticed the coming surge of American public opinion against using our military to promote the agenda of other Countries! American people are learning it is ok to disagree with a President who is friends of Saudi Arabia and who gives them special treatment on the world stage at the expense of American lives. For years no one would say anything against promoting the Israeli agenda for fear of being labeled an anti-Semitist but now America is learning it is also acceptable to disagree with Israeli promoters like AIPAC members, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and William Kristol of the Weekly Standard who would gladly sell thousands of American soldiers lives to promote Israeli interest! Now these same policies and neocons are pushing our soldiers toward another war in Iran. American military is made to protect American interest not fight proxy wars in the interest of other countries! American blood and treasure should be spent only in American interest! The Current Vice President of the United States felt the need to jump on a plane on a moments notice and fly to Saudi Arabia at the beckon call of the house of Saudi. He showed the world by his actions who his true masters were! As for the Rest of us Americans, The Statue of Liberty Stands in New York Harbor and is not Kneeling in the desert of the Middle East!