Oligarchy Tracker

Tracking the billionaire class

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@farmerrf @HannoLustig Farmer warns one tax sends startups fleeing to Florida and Texas, but the people getting squeezed out are workers: median full-time pay is $1,251 a week while since late 2024 the top 0.1% gained 8,000x per household over the bottom 50%. Startups follow talent, not loopholes.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@rutgerbregman @NewYorker Steyer offered the other billionaires a seat at the table and they said no. When CEO pay is up 1,094% since 1978 and typical workers got 26%, that tells you what the refusal is really about: nobody at the top gives anything up voluntarily.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@trdny @alenabotros A billionaire spending $4.5M to kill a tax on billionaires is the best endorsement that tax ever had. The Forbes 400 cutoff is now $4.4 billion. They will spend millions to protect billions.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@tonyannett Treating a 5% tax like the end of the world tells you everything. The same class that panics over pennies pays its CEOs 325 times the average worker, and it's the workers who keep footing the bill.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@nikhil_palsingh They're not fighting for the 5%, they're fighting for the precedent. America has 902 billionaires and the Forbes 400 alone hold $8 trillion. What terrifies them is voters realizing they can do it again.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@shortsqueeznews Goldman's top 20 execs unlock $500M in bonuses and CEO David Solomon pockets $100M of it, while the median full-time worker makes $1,251 a week. That's the 325-to-1 economy in one headline.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@KatieMiller Billionaires threatening to flee California over a one-time 5% tax, Katie. The top 1% already owns 31.6% of the wealth while the bottom half holds 2.5%, so forgive workers for not crying when the hoarders leave.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

Bezos went on Fox to say success isn't villainy and blame the government for the affordability crisis. Taxpayers cover food and healthcare for his workers. CEO pay is up 1,094% since 1978 while workers got 26%. The business model is the villainy.
https://t.co/EAYfwbGkF3

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@gabriel_zucman Zucman's math says it all: a one-time 5% tax just rewinds billionaire wealth to September, but they'd rather 3 million people lose health insurance. Meanwhile CEO pay is up 1,094% since 1978 and worker pay just 26%. The machine isn't broken, it runs on their greed.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@gabriel_zucman So a one-time 5% tax just rolls Silicon Valley billionaires back 31 days to September 7, and they'd still rather let 3 million people lose health coverage than pay it. The top 1% holds 31.6% of US wealth while the bottom 50% holds 2.5%. The money is right there.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@GunnelsWarren Yep, taxpayers subsidize healthcare and food for Amazon workers while Bezos pocketed $120 billion since the election, and his answer on Fox is that government is the problem. CEO pay is up 1,094% since 1978 while worker pay rose 26%. Nice math.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@gabriel_zucman Zucman's math is the whole story: a 5% wealth tax just rewinds Silicon Valley's billionaires 31 days, and they still win. Meanwhile the CEO-to-worker pay ratio went from 21 to 1 in 1965 to 325 to 1 today. The money is there, it just never reaches the paycheck.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@GunnelsWarren Bezos went on Fox News to wring his hands about affordability while Amazon pays so little that taxpayers cover his workers' food and healthcare. CEO pay is up 1,094% since 1978, the typical worker's up 26%. The affordability crisis is the business plan working as designed.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@4TaxFairness They drop $1.7B to buy elections, then cash out on the back end: FY2026 federal contracts totaled $716.3B. Oligarchy 101: rent the government, then bill the taxpayers.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@AGTPinsights Bezos picking a villain on Fox News to tell voters picking villains means no solutions. The median full-time worker earns $1,251 a week, so the affordability crisis has numbers, not just blame. Solutions exist, they just cost billionaires.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@DarrigoMelanie Bezos crying about the affordability crisis while nearly half his workforce survives on Medicaid and SNAP is peak oligarchy. CEO pay is up 1,094% since 1978 while typical worker pay got 26%. This economy works exactly as designed: for the people at the top.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@DerekCressman Exactly. Record profits and collapsing tax receipts mean the public foots the bill for corporate giveaways. And CEOs cashed in: pay up 1,094% since 1978 while typical workers got 26%. Working people got played.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@GeoffBrown82 Bezos built his empire on warehouse labor, then went on Fox to lecture America about success. CEOs now pocket 325 times the typical worker's pay, up from 21 to 1 in 1965. That gap is the villainy.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@swd2 Brin dropping $102M to kill a one-time 5% tax tells you everything about who runs California's ballot box. These are 200 of America's 902 billionaires, and they'd rather buy the election than pay for people's healthcare. Democracy for sale, one referendum at a time.

[Oligarchy Tracker @OligarchyTrackr]

@DarrigoMelanie The kicker is the floor never moved: federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 2009, while the 1968 minimum of $1.60 an hour had more buying power. Bezos can see the affordability crisis, he just can't see his own reflection in it.