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(URL for sources of this information at the end of article)

By Clara Jeffery, Mother Jones� May/June 2006 Issue

IN 1985, THE FORBES 400 were worth $221 billion combined. Today, 
they�re worth $1.13 trillion�more than the GDP of Canada.

THERE�VE BEEN FEW new additions to the Forbes 400. The median household 
income has also stagnated�at around $44,000.

AMONG THE FORBES 400 who gave to a 2004 presidential campaign, 72% gave 
to Bush.

IN 2005, there were 9 million American millionaires, a 62% increase 
since 2002.

IN 2005, 25.7 million Americans received food stamps, a 49% increase 
since 2000.

ONLY ESTATES worth more than $1.5 million are taxed. That�s less than 
1% of all estates. Still, repealing the estate tax will cost the 
government at least $55 billion a year.

ONLY 3% OF STUDENTS at the top 146 colleges come from families in the 
bottom income quartile; only 10% come from the bottom half.

BUSH�S TAX CUTS GIVE a 2-child family earning $1 million an extra 
$86,722�or Harvard tuition, room, board, and an iMac G5 for both kids.

A 2-CHILD family earning $50,000 gets $2,050�or 1/5 the cost of public 
college for one kid.

THIS YEAR, Donald Trump will earn $1.5 million an hour to speak at 
Learning Annex seminars.

ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION, the federal minimum wage has fallen 42% since 
its peak in 1968.

IF THE $5.15 HOURLY minimum wage had risen at the same rate as CEO 
compensation since 1990, it would now stand at $23.03.

A MINIMUM WAGE employee who works 40 hours a week for 51 weeks a year 
goes home with $10,506 before taxes.

SUCH A WORKER would take 7,000 years to earn Oracle CEO Larry Ellison�s 
yearly compensation.

ELLISON RECENTLY posed in Vanity Fair with his $300 million, 454-foot 
yacht, which he noted is �really only the size of a very large house.�

ONLY THE WEALTHIEST 20% of Americans spend more on entertainment than 
on health care.

THE $17,530 EARNED by the average Wal-Mart employee last year was 
$1,820 below the poverty line for a family of 4.

5 OF AMERICA�S 10 richest people are Wal-Mart heirs.

PUBLIC COMPANIES spend 10% of their earnings compensating their top 5 
executives.

1,730 BOARD MEMBERS of the nation�s 1,000 leading companies sit on the 
boards of 4 or more other corporations�including half of Coca-Cola�s 
14-person board.

THE BIDDER who won a round of golf with Tiger Woods for $30,100 at a 
2004 Buick charity auction could deduct all but about $200.

TIGER MADE $87 million in 2005, all but $12 million from endorsements 
and appearance fees.

THE 5TH LEADING philanthropist last year was Boone Pickens, in part due 
to his $165 million gift to Oklahoma State University�s golf program.

WITHIN AN HOUR, OSU invested it in a hedge fund Pickens controls. 
Thanks to a Katrina relief provision, his �gift� was also 100% 
deductible.

LAST YEAR 250 COMPANIES gave top execs between $50,000 and $1 million 
worth of wholly personal flights on corporate jets.

THIS PERK is 66% more costly to companies whose CEO belongs to 
out-of-state golf clubs.

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT spends $500,000 on 8 security screeners who speed 
execs from a Wall Street helipad to American�s JFK terminal.

UNITED HAS CUT the pensions and salaries of most employees but promised 
400 top executives 8% of the shares it expects to issue upon emerging 
from bankruptcy.

UNITED�S TOP 8 execs will also get a bonus of between 55% and 100% of 
their salaries.

IN 2002, �turnaround artist� Robert Miller dumped Bethlehem Steel�s 
pension obligation, allowing �vulture investor� Wilbur L. Ross to buy 
steel stock and sell it at a 1,000% profit.

IN 2005, DELPHI HIRED Miller for $4.5 million. After Ross said he might 
buy Delphi if its labor costs fell, Miller demanded wage cuts of up to 
63% and dumped the pension obligation.

10 FORMER ENRON directors agreed to pay shareholders a $13 million 
settlement�which is 10% of what they made by dumping stock while lying 
about the company�s health.

POOR AMERICANS spend 1/4 of their income on residential energy costs.

EXXON�S 2005 PROFIT of $36.13 billion is more than the GDP of 2/3 of 
the world�s nations.

CEO PAY AMONG military contractors has tripled since 2001. For David 
Brooks, the CEO of bulletproof vest maker DHB, it�s risen 13,233%. 

AT THE $10 MILLION bat mitzvah party Brooks threw his daughter last 
year, guests got $1,000 gift bags and listened to Aerosmith, Kenny G., 
Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, and 50 Cent�who reportedly sang, �Go shorty, 
it�s your bat mitzvah, we gonna party like it�s your bat mitzvah.� 

FOR PERFORMING IN the Live 8 concerts to �make poverty history,� 
musicians each got gift bags worth up to $12,000. 

OSCAR PERFORMERS and presenters collectively owe the IRS $1,250,000 on 
the gift bags they got at the 2006 Academy Awards ceremony. 

A DOG FOOD COMPANY provided �pawdicures� and other spa treatments to 
pets of celebrities attending the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. 

ONE OF MADONNA�S recent freebies: $10,000 mink and diamond-tipped false 
eyelashes. 

PARIS HILTON, who charges clubs $200,000 to appear for 20 minutes, 
stiffed Elton John�s AIDS benefit the $2,500-per-plate fee she owed. 

CCORDING TO Radar magazine, Owen Wilson was paid $100,000 to attend a 
Mercedes-Benz-sponsored Hamptons polo match. When other guests tried to 
speak with him, he reportedly said, �That�s not my job.�

Sources: <http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2006/05/sources.html>

-- 
"I wear boots when I play that ol' squeezebox
 Stompin' out rhythms
 'till the headstones dance on their graves"