America’s Wealth GapBy: Leon Clarke Jr

The Origin of America’s Wealth Gap• America’s wealth gap started during slavery times.

• Blacks and other minorities that helped build America during slavery were not compensated for their work during that time period.

• Since slaves were not paid they were not able to pass on their wealth to their children like White slave owners were able too.

• Slaves were not able to educate themselves so they could not pass down knowledge to their children such as financial resources, loop holes in the system, investment ideas, and the like.

• Because minorities could not pass down wealth and knowledge to their children for the future generations living conditions for them is not so good for them as it is for the ancestors of passed slave owners. As it shows today, Whites are living better in America than other races.

Race and the relationship in America’s Wealth Gap• The median net worth of Black households was $2,200,compared with a

median net worth of $97,900 for white households...in 2001.

• The median net worth for a Black household was $12,500, $124,600 for a white one. As one can see the net worth of these households increase over the years but there is still a huge gap between the households of Blacks and Whites.

• Roughly 11 percent of African- American homeowners are in or are facing imminent foreclosure,...1.1 million Black families will lose their homes by 2012. By comparison, just 7 percent of white homeowners are in foreclosure.

• From 2005 to 2009,median wealth plummeted 66 percent among Black households and 31 percent among Asian households compared with 16 percent among White households.

• A third of Black(35 percent) and Hispanic(31 percent) households had zero or negative net worth, compared with 15 percent of white-households

AMERICA’S WEALTH GAP OVER THE YEARS

DIFFERENCES IN TAX PAYMENTS BETWEEN CLASS• George W. Bush's Federal Tax Reform in 2005 with saving incentives that were told

only to the higher-income class.

• The wealthy do not pay their share of taxes and most of the tax burden are left on the middle class.

• The wealthy are aware of tax loopholes and they exploit it each year and the lower class are not informed of these holes in the system.

• The middle class never get a tax break ;however, the wealthy do even though they only pay one percent of their taxes.

• Higher- income makers should pay more taxes because they have access to various resources than lower income makers do and will be able to get back the money they lost during tax time.

No Bail Out For the Public• America as a whole did not get a tax break or a bail out from backed up bills ;

however, the major corporations and banks .

• The government used hard working tax payers money to bail out the corporations and banks that they felt are an asset to them instead of using tax payers money to help out the public during and after the recession

• When the government bailed out the major corporations it was the shareholders who became even richer while, the middle class and poor grew poorer.

• Corporations major goal is no longer to benefit the people but to maximize the wealth of their shareholders which is called shareholder primacy.

• America cannot grow strong together if corporations do not give back to the community and stop focusing on shareholders’ wealth.

• Actions such as this leads layoffs, off shoring , outsourcing, and lower pay for workers. All to keep shareholders happy. Reckless actions such as this increases America’s wealth gap.

Politicians Corruption Increases America’s Wealth gap• Mitt Romney held two fundraisers at which he raised almost $10 million from the oil

and gas industry and then announced that as president he would end more than 100 years of federal restraint of oil and gas drilling on public lands.

• Supply-side economics the theory embraced by President Ronald Reagan that the more you cut taxes, the more tax revenue...Cutting taxes, especially at the top, would spark such economic growth that people's incomes would rise even faster than their tax rates would fall.

• George W. Bush’s decision to finance the war on Iraq by using tax payers dollars to find weapons of mass destruction which never existed which many Americans are still suffering from until this day.

• Although the democrats try to benefit the public it is negated by the Republicans who are legislators.

• Political faces favor the wealthy and how they can increase their wealth and limit the wealth of the rest.

Ways to Decrease America’s Wealth Gap • Educate one’s self and major in entrepreneurship

because it will help create more jobs.

• Get rid of shareholders in the corporations so that businesses can go back to the days when it was all about the wellness of the people.

• Let the rich pay more taxes.

• Manage the capitalist system better or create a new system.

America’s Wealth Gap video

Thank You!•“THE TOP ONLY COUNTS AND THE REST DOESN’T”- GERALD CELENTE