We need to acknowledge that the deck has been stacked in our favor

(CNN)I expected the wealthy would do well under Donald Trump, but not as grotesquely well as those of us in the top 1% have done. From the day Trump won in 2016 to the day he lost in 2020, the stock markets were up at least $12.7 trillion, which means that the top 1% of the 128.5 million US households — the 1.28 million that own 51% of the stock market — could each have gotten richer by an average of around $5 million.
John MacIntosh
John MacIntosh
A new report this week estimated that among billionaires alone, the surging market accounts for a $1.1 trillion increase in wealth since the pandemic began in March. This windfall happened during a time when our democracy faced, in Trump, an existential threat, and when millions of Americans were devastated by Covid-19 while we were safely ensconced in second homes doing mostly non-essential jobs.

We’ve just lived through the term of a President who many of us in America’s top 1% bracket — defined in 2020 as having a net worth of at least $11 million — vehemently opposed even though we got richer during his administration.
Will the Democrats among us now have the courage to wholeheartedly support one who works hard to make us pay more taxes? Will we recognize that the nation needs our cash to rebuild and that the system that has been so good to us must be reengineered in the interest of fairness in politics, education, health and employment, as well as to repair our degraded social relationships and rebuild some semblance of national solidarity?
The next four years are critically important to the future of our nation and our world. The Democratic coalition that defeated Trump is fragile and could fall apart if its wealthiest members balk when asked to bear the financial costs of the economic programs required to keep it together. Let’s hope we prove up to the challenge of putting our money where our mouths have been. The alternative would be a disaster.
Sen. Whitehouse drops the mic after 279 speeches on one issue
Sen. Whitehouse drops the mic after 279 speeches on one issue
Doing the right thing will not be easy. Giving even a little of it up will be hard given the endowment effect and the deep connection many of us feel between net worth and self worth. However, here are some things that we should keep in mind to make it easier to do what’s right:
Don’t take tax increases personally. Yes, we are pretty smart, have mostly worked hard and played by rules which very, very few us had any hand in making. We’ve also had some luck. But this is not about personal virtue; it’s just about money.