Too Much - Images of Inequality - Progress & Promise

IMAGES OF INEQUALITY
Comedian John Oliver, the host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, last weekend ended his latest charming rant against America’s wealth gap with a brilliant send-up of the rigged lottery the American economy has become. The 14-minute video of Oliver’s performance would quickly go viral online. A little pinched on time? Start watching at the 12:09 point, the beginning of the lottery segment.	Web Gem Against Monopoly/ This research-rich site zeroes in on the intellectual property rackets that contribute so much to the concentration of contemporary corporate power and wealth.
PROGRESS AND PROMISE
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives may be getting serious about checking executive pay excess. At least a little. Last week, House Democratic leaders unveiled a package of reforms designed to spotlight what Democrats will accomplish next year if they gain a House majority this November. The package includes a proposal — the “CEO/Employee Pay Fairness Act” — that would deny corporations tax deductions on any CEO pay over $1 million unless “they give their employees a raise.” House Democratic leaders gave no further details on the proposition. The good news here: House Democrats have never before as a group hinted they would in any way support linking tax code provisions on CEO compensation to worker wages. Whether this proposal signifies anything more than rhetorical progress on that front will have to await the details.