The 600 Millionaires living in Kent County will receive on average $1.7 million because of the COVID-19 Relief Policy

“The class which has the power to rob upon a large scale has also the power to control the government and legalize their robbery.” —Eugene V. Debs

Several news sources, including the Washington Post, have been reporting that: 

More than 80 percent of the benefits of a tax change tucked into the coronavirus relief package Congress passed last month will go to those who earn more than $1 million annually, according to a report by a nonpartisan congressional body expected to be released Tuesday.

This information is based on the research done by group known as the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), a nonpartisan Congressional body. 

Forbes reported that the 43,000 millionaires and billionaires in the US will get on average $1.7 million because of the Cares Act. 

While wealthy Americans are not eligible for the comparatively measly $1,200 stimulus checks that are now being disbursed to many Americans, they are on pace to do even better. 43,000 taxpayers, who earn more than $1 million annually, are each set to receive a $1.7 million windfall, on average, thanks to a provision buried in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

If there are 43,000 millionaires (some being billionaires) in the US and each of them will receive an average of $1.7 million because of the Cares Act, that would mean that the wealthiest people in the US will collectively receive $73,100,000,000, which is $73 billion and change. That is a massive amount of money, almost too big to comprehend, and it is going to the wealthiest people in the US because that is how the tax structure is set up through policy.

If we were to think about this on a local level, what would this mean? According to the most recent data (2019), there are 600 millionaires in Kent County. If they each receive on average $1.7 million because of the Cares Act, that equals a total of $1,020,000,000 coming to those 600 millionaires collectively. This means that people like Doug DeVos, John Kennedy, Michael Jandernoa, Peter Secchia, Steven Van Andel, those that make up the Grand Rapids Power Structure, will be benefitting from the Cares Act, just for being disgustingly rich.

Now, image for a moment, how $1,020,000,000 could benefit the individuals and families who are no longer working in Kent County because of COVID-19. Imagine how much this money could be used to pay people’s rent or mortgages in Kent County. Imagine how this money could be used to provide testing to every resident in Kent County. Imagine how this money could feed all those who are food insecure in Kent County. The crisis isn’t just COVID-19, the crisis is capitalism and the capitalists who push policies to the politicians they have bought, policies which the capitalists benefit from.