Three billionaire CEOs have more wealth combined than the poorest half of the U.S. population and that’s a problem, according to a left-wing think tank and the liberal press. Only they didn’t seem to realize what they were saying.
A "progressive" group, The Institute for Policy Studies, released the study complaining about income inequality and the 400 richest Americans, but specifically calling out the top three: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
CNBC.com, as well as far-left media of The Nation and Common Dreams wrote about the report, but none of them pointed out one rather glaring fact. All three billionaires are big lefties. That was an especially ironic omission for The Nation which used the report to bash GOP tax proposals.
IPS didn’t admit it either, not once in the 18-page report “Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the rest of us.” The report condemned income inequality, a pet issue of the left which often portrays wealth as a zero sum game — as if there is a fixed amount of wealth forever and someone having more means others have less.
Buffett, for example, is so liberal he’s been beloved by the news media for years, especially when he calls for higher taxes on the wealthy (something the IPS report recommended). He’s also the king of abortion donations giving more than $1 billion to pro-abortion groups including Planned Parenthood.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, currently the world’s richest person (topping Gates), spent millions supporting a referendum on gay marriage and promoted the internet sales tax, according to The Atlantic. He also owns the Post which has proven again and again to be anti-Trump. The Post is one of many liberal new outlets that complained again and again about “income inequality” in 2015, except it consistently ignored the vast riches of its owner.
A 1998 Salon article concluded Bill Gates was a “bleeding heart do-gooder liberal,” based on his “personal checkbook record: pro taxes, pro birth control, against guns.” In 2016, Forbes also listed him as one of the many billionaires spending money on Democrats. He also gives to many non-political endeavors too.
