A Billion Here, A Billion There...

So...I'm a genius. I've solved America's financial crisis. Well, at least on paper.

While perusing my Saturday morning newspaper (the only day of the week I get to do so unhindered and unhurried), I noticed a little op-ed piece by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times. He was addressing the current furious debate over whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, a proposal that has garnered much support from the current GOP leadership and many of the newly-elected members of Congress.

There's a lot of talk about what is fair and most productive for "mainstream Americans." The arguments from both sides are generally characterized as either "redistribution of wealth" or "trickle-down economics." The proponents and critics of each of these ideas are united in one common characteristic: they vociferously defend their view and venomously demean the other.

Many of us in the middle are left to ask: "But what does it all mean?"

Enter Mr. Kristof's opinion piece ( you can read it for yourself here.) Citing a number of sources, including a study commissioned by President George W. Bush via the US Labor Department, Kristof mentions that the average "tax cut" that will be extended to the upper one-tenth of 1% of America's wealthiest individuals will be $370,000.

That's not somebody's annual salary, or even the bonus compensation of a Wall Street executive. That's just the amount of "wealth incentive" that 1 in 1,000 of USAmericans who live at the top of the heap will receive by finding a way to renew the Bush tax cuts.

I took out my trusty calculator and did a little math. Folks, that is a staggering $114,976,760,000 BILLION each and every year that the other 99.9% of us are basically being asked to come up with to fund things like -- oh, I don't know-- roads, national defense, Medicare, education and a few other items of vital national interest.

(I know that writing BILLION in all caps is both annoying and redundant, but I'm just trying to be clear here!)

Now, I'm all for equal opportunity. Which is I think the point that Kristof is trying to make. Just how "equal" is the opportunity in America these days when the top 1 percent of Americans own 34 percent of America's private net worth? (Expand that to the top 10% and you'll find more than 70% of the national fortune in bank accounts, trust funds and investment portfolios.)

So, with all the uproar over "cutting taxes" shouldn't we also be asking another question: is that money really going to "trickle down" to those of us who find ourselves not just in the other half, but in the other 90% -- or should I say, 99.9%?

Okay, so maybe I'm not really a genius -- but even I can add it up and see that something stinks like the bottom of the Gulf here.