…doesn’t make it right. Who didn’t learn this in childhood? This was Trump’s defense of Paul Manafort’s crimes. He feels bad for him because all the lobbyists do this and he was the unfortunate one that got caught. Well, what happened to the promise to drain the swamp?
The scourge of greed is rampant in Washington, big business and the wealthy class. Financial crimes cost the American people billions of dollars every year. Dollars that are desperately needed to repair and improve infrastructure, education, and healthcare, and to support the scientific research and development needed to keep America in the forefront.
The cavalier attitude of the President to these financial crimes is not good for America. These destructive financial crimes are seemingly seen on the same level as speeding. A lot of people speed, but only a few get tickets. A lot of people are engaging in tax evasion, misuse of public funds and other financial crimes, but only a few are held accountable.
Some speeders harm others, but all financial criminals hurt others. Financial crimes cause people to lose their homes, jobs, healthcare and their opportunities, just to name a few of the atrocities created by unfettered greed.
Greed is a sickness, an addiction. There is never enough. Paul Manafort is the personification of greed addiction. He blew through 80 million dollars and borrowed 20 million more. That is more than the life’s savings of hundreds of retired middle class families. He used these millions to buy things, not to help others, not to create, not to make the world a better place, not to secure his own retirement or invest in his children’s and grandchildren’s futures.
Manafort is only one sad example of a greed addict in America. There are many, many more. They are more dangerous to our country than inner-city crime committed for survival. Big money needs to be banned from campaign finance and financial crimes must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
reilly m gray 
In the USA today upper classes are isolated. The upper 9.9 % have built a invisible wall protecting themselves from the lower classes. These upper class people are from good schools, have good health live in good neighborhoods and come from good families. This stagnate class structure can only encourage cheating,
Good families comes from finding ones mate at the better schools. Children of families who have a net worth of 1 million dollars or more can afford manipulate the SAT process by hiring the best tutors. It is a common practice to pay a consultant upwards of 20 thousand dollars for someone to help you with the college essay help you select the best clubs and even to arrange interviews with people who can help you be selected to these top schools.
In 1985 54 percent of students at 250 of the best colleges came from the bottom 3 quartiles of income but in 2010 the number decreased to 33 percent. According to the book Price of Admission the wealthy can cheat by taking advantage of affirmative action policies designed just for them. The author Daniel Golden says legacy admission policies reward children of alums. Athletic recruiting at elite colleges look for those who participate in exclusive sports lacrosse squash and fencing. Giving cash to these schools has come back in popularity. Jared Kushner parents gave to Harvard to get him accepted.
Private Schools are the main cause of inequality in education. Only 2.2 percent of all students graduate from nonsectarian private schools but these students make 26 percent of Harvard graduates, and 28 percent of Princeton graduates. The bottom 60% are priced out of the better schools while the premiums for young college graduates is the top 70%. Of salary. The top decile from the ten top earning colleges is $220,000.
Why do American doctors make twice as much as doctors in other countries though the United States ranks dead last in the Commonwealth Funds healthcare rankings for high income countries five times running. Dean Baker an economist for the Center of Policy Research sees a cartel structure, controled by the AMA, which limits the slots at Med schools and residencies. This goes further to limiting foreign trained doctors and nurse practitioners. According to a Forbes 2016 article American Bar Associaton is accused of doing the same thing. American lawyers earn twice the salary of their English counterparts.
Well educated upper classes in the USA complain about government interference in their personal lives. The top 10% of Americans prefer a unseen government meaning, not paying taxes. Out of the 1.6 trillion dollars raised in federal income taxes last year 1.2 trillion was paid by the working classes. The income tax rate is capped so a lion’s share of the taxes comes from the lower classes. Both the taxes on sales and investment are flat taxes which are regressive.Tax breaks for retirement saving, interest on mortgages , and employer sponsored health plans all are tilted to the wealthy. Best of all the value of our homes and investments are not taxed as they grow in value.
Good neighborhoods provide close access to work and congenial neighbors. A typical worker commutes an hour to work and is unable to network with neighbors who can provide good social assistance. From 1980 to 2016 residential values in Boston increased 7.6 times. Property values in San Francisco increased 167% in the same period. The real estate returns on the right kind of property have been so fantastic that economist believe this is responsible tor all of the wealth concentration over the past half of a century. Guilded neighborhoods offer better education, lower crime and better business opportunities.
Better health options are provided to the wealthy through employer based insurance and better nourishment practices. There is strong evidence that the wealthy have less stress and better physical and emotional health.
Why doe Paul Manafort believes he can game the system. This because he is entitled because he always since birth been entitled with the best of everything.
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Thanks for your comment Ken. It is very relevant to what is happening today. I have read a couple of books about this separation of the classes and it unfairly favors the upper classes and excludes the lower classes. I am not sure what we can do… There are laws and policies that need to be changed to ensure greater fairness, but when the lawmakers are from this favored class they are reluctant to change.
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