Donald Trump promised struggling working-class voters that he heard their frustrations and would act.
He did: He pushed through a tax cut that made income inequality worse. In 2018, for the first time, the 400 richest U.S. households paid a lower average tax rate than any other income group, according to new research by two economists.
Those billionaires paid an average total rate of 23% in 2018, down from the 70% their 1950 counterparts paid. Meanwhile, the bottom 10th of households paid an average of 26%, up from 16% in 1950.
That’s the rot in our system: Great wealth has translated into immense political power, which is then leveraged to multiply that wealth and power all over again — and also multiply the suffering of those at the bottom.