"It seems like an understatement to call this the New Gilded Age. Perhaps we should instead call it the Obscenely Over-the-Top Gilded Age, considering that Tesla shareholders just approved a $1tn pay package for Elon Musk and the market value of chipmaker Nvidia has rocketed above $5tn. Not only that, the 10 richest billionaires in the US saw their collective wealth soar by $698bn over the past year, while Google's former CEO, Eric Schmidt, reportedly paid $110m for a 123-room mansion in Los Angeles."
"While it no doubt feels like a golden age for Trump and the super-rich, it doesn't feel that way for 42 million Americans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) food benefits. They just suffered through an alarming 10 days, with many saying they didn't have enough money to feed their families because the Trump administration moved to halt Snap benefits for millions of Americans on 1 November. Trump told them in essence: Sorry, we don't have the money to pay those benefits right now."
Extreme wealth concentration has produced record payouts and soaring market valuations for tech billionaires while lavish purchases and projects by the very rich proliferate. Meanwhile 42 million Americans rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) benefits and experienced a 10-day disruption after the administration moved to halt payments on 1 November. The government spends about $8bn monthly on Snap, while administration-backed tax cuts cost roughly $1.5tn, highlighting divergent fiscal priorities. The contrast between billionaire gains and everyday affordability pressures for housing, groceries and childcare contributed to electoral setbacks for Republicans as voters prioritized cost-of-living concerns.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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