Stacy Summary:   Twenty two thousand Americans die for lack of health insurance each year?   That 176,000, without fanfare, will have laid down their lives since 911 so that the insurance, big pharma and big health might thrive chokes me up with just such awe at the American spirit.  It is they who have the stiff upper lip these days, unlike in the UK where I witnessed the middle class tearing through pharmacies stocking up on thermometers, masks, cough medicine . . . really, making such an over the top self-celebratory show of contributing to the Finance-Insurance-BigPharma Oligarchy.  What do you want a swine shaped ribbon?

• Cashing in on swine flu pandemic fears

• The rich have never had it so good

According to government figures, 1-percenters’ share of America’s total income is the highest it’s been since 1929, and their tax rates are the lowest they’ve faced in two decades. Through bonuses, many 1-percenters will profit from the $23 trillion in bailout largesse the Treasury Department now says could be headed to financial firms. And most of them benefit from IRS decisions to reduce millionaire audits and collect zero taxes from the majority of major corporations.

But what really makes the ultra-wealthy so fortunate, what truly separates this moment from a run-of-the-mill Gilded Age, is the unprecedented protection the 1-percenters have bought for themselves on the most pressing issues. Continue reading →