Four hundred obscenely wealthy individuals, 400 little Mubaraks – most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion-dollar taxpayer bailout of 2008 – now have more cash, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined.
In the United States, the wealthy have a tradition of charity. But in Germany, the rich say, ‘We pay taxes. It’s enough.’
I lived in buses. I didn’t really have anything else. I didn’t feel like a female, and I ended up really kind of isolated. Everybody thinks you’re so happy and so wealthy and such a big star, but you’re really kind of lonely and don’t know how to stop it.
It’s a very ancient culture, British culture. You can’t be seen to be too wealthy, and you certainly can’t be seen to be giving away any of your wealth either because that’s sort of vulgar, too. It’s funny, that, because in New York, if you are wealthy, you have to be philanthropic to be successful.
The anti-individualist enemies that Ayn Rand battled are still the enemy, but they’ve shifted their line of attack. Political collectivists are no longer much interested in taking things away from the wealthy and creative.
Democratic socialism means that we must create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy.
How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts? I rest my case.
The fight is over two fundamentally different ideas about the nature of America. On one side are those who believe that that every hardworking person should be able to rise. On the other are those who believe that wealthy white men should always rule over a permanent class of workers.
I had rock-star dreams from 8 or 9 almost nonstop. I thought it was going to be like being a god on earth: having as many women as you want whenever you want them, having super powers, being incredibly wealthy, never doing laundry.
London’s central role in the financial market would be undermined if wealthy foreigners did not want to come here.
Many Americans have been looking for an explanation for Mr. Trump’s apparent adoration of Mr. Putin. How can a powerful, wealthy American man hold affection for the tyrannical, corrupt leader of a hostile power?
We need to consider a financial transactions tax. And we need to ask whether the top marginal tax rates are really appropriate, given that the effective tax rates paid by the wealthy are often actually lower than those paid by the rest of us.
Greece has been, in many ways, a partially dysfunctional society. For example, the wealthy barely pay taxes… to an extent, that’s true elsewhere, including the United States, but it’s been pretty extreme in Greece.
The wealthy have installed their slaves in the highest spheres of the state. The banks are privately owned. They are concerned solely with profits. They have no interest in the common good.
Even tax breaks that are supposed to help the middle class too often skew toward the wealthy. Consider the mortgage interest deduction. While political leaders in both parties have long considered it untouchable, it actually helps those at the top of the income scale far more than those at the bottom.
True conservation provides for wise use by the general public. The American people do not want our resources preserved for the exclusive use of the wealthy. These land and water resources belong to the people, and people of all income levels should have easy access to them.
What do wealthy people do with their money? They can only buy so many cars, houses, and steak dinners. So we either give it away or invest it.
It isn’t only rich countries that suffer from the effects of tax havens. Developing countries also lose billions of dollars in tax revenues due each year because wealthy individuals and some companies use tax havens to move assets and income offshore.
Let’s just shatter the illusion. I am not wealthy. I’ve lived in the same house for the past 30 years.
Both JFK and George W. Bush were the sons of wealthy U.S. ambassadors and thus privileged to meet distinguished figures, to travel, and to see the world and think about its problems if they chose.
It’s quite confusing being one of the less wealthy people at a posh place.
Johannesburg is weird, because half of it is like Los Angeles. It feels like just wealthy parts of L.A. But half of it is severe slummy, something like Rio De Janiero or something. So it’s kind of weird, because it’s both happening at the same time.
I always knew the Sixties wasn’t a revolution. It really was just a bunch of university students with wealthy parents having fun.
Once you are wealthy, you are in a nice comfort zone and want to stay there. So I always look in the mirror and ask, is my philanthropy making the world a more just and fair place?
Cory Booker grew up rich in an all-white suburb. He’s basically a white guy. His parents were very wealthy executives at IBM.
The best thing about being immensely wealthy is not having to be in any particular place at any particular time doing a particular task you don’t want to do.
For the fifth year in a row, the Bush budget cuts city core services to pay for wealthy tax breaks. And once again, the mayor’s requests were not funded.
I wasn’t born to a wealthy or powerful family – mother from Puerto Rico, dad from the South Bronx.
I wish I was a wealthy person. I wish I could self-fund.
While Trump, and, yes, Biden spend time with wealthy donors, Warren refuses big money. She also refused to participate in a Fox News town hall, wanting nothing to do with what she calls Fox’s ‘hate for profit’ business plan. She is unafraid to name her enemies.
You can’t define what’s middle class, what is wealthy, what is poor.
A wealthy landowner cannot cultivate and improve his farm without spreading comfort and well-being around him. Rich and abundant crops, a numerous population and a prosperous countryside are the rewards for his efforts.
In the late spring of 2008, my wealthy entrepreneurial husband, Elon Musk, the father of my five young sons, filed for divorce. Six weeks later, he texted me to say he was engaged to a gorgeous British actress in her early 20s who had moved to Los Angeles to be with him.
The problem with money bail, for those who aren’t familiar with it, is that it puts a price tag on freedom. It says to someone who is wealthy that no matter how dangerous you are, you can buy your way out.
I grew up in Marin County, which is a wealthy suburb of San Francisco.
No matter how wealthy a few plutocrats get, we can never drive a great national economy. Only a thriving middle class can do that.
At one time, very wealthy ladies only wore real jewels. Now they want costume.
The more we allow Republicans to concentrate the lion’s share of wealth in the hands of a few, the more power these wealthy few will have. And they will use this power to continue rewriting the rules of both our economy and our political system in their favor.
I don’t come from a wealthy family, so for me to have to struggle as long as I have in New York and Los Angeles and finally know that I have an income coming in for the next 10 episodes was a major, major life-altering moment.
I was kind of a loser at ballet school. It’s all rich kids, and I was not a wealthy kid. I didn’t have the Chanel butterfly clip everyone else did.
Any attempt to redress the inequities and injustices that plague our society has to start with the reality that we will never live in a genuine meritocracy as long as the wealthy are able to protect their own interests.
When you look at what’s written under the Statue of Liberty, it’s the immigrant story. It’s about ‘bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ It’s not about ‘only bring me only your rich, your wealthy, your smart.’
Now, twenty years old, I come out and I go back to Greenwich Village. Now, of course, I’m a wealthy man.
I think that’s most unfortunate about our Democratic system, that you’re confining it to people who are either very wealthy in their own right or have capacity to gain access to large amounts of money.
I’m not a wealthy person because I was never a star. I was a working actor and a supporting actor.
Each and every year, the United States loses an estimated $100 billion a year in tax revenues due to offshore tax abuses by the wealthy and large corporations.
I got a lot of money, but when you wealthy, that mean that your children is ballin’, your grandchildren is ballin’.
I believe that the only people who really, truly benefit from any of the policies of Republicans are the wealthy. I’m in that 1 percent tax bracket, but I’m not a man of wealth.
Wealthy individuals are known for spending their money wisely. This means living below their means by skipping the McMansion and impractical luxury vehicles.
Dubois was the first black American to graduate from Harvard. He was accepted within the northern white intellectual circles as one of the ‘best of his race.’ As an avowed socialist, he was the only black member of the original 19 wealthy socialist founders of the NAACP.
The inequalities are greater now than in ’92. Some states have equalized per-pupil spending but they set the ‘equal level’ very low, so that wealthy districts simply raise extra money privately.
You are not going to lift everybody out of poverty through the kindness of wealthy people.
