<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="df228e0c20930295c35cf284bd64780e" id="72ab0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1337048548328747015"><div style="margin:1em 0">Speaking of stealing, here are US billionaire wealth gains during the pandemic:
Elon Musk: $118,500,000,000
Jeff… https://t.co/w4jc2LNSvI</div> — Public Citizen (@Public Citizen)<a href="https://twitter.com/Public_Citizen/statuses/1337048548328747015">1607612189.0</a></blockquote></div><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/25/stock-market-soars-and-billionaire-wealth-swells-1-trillion-food-lines-stretch-far" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">According to </a>the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), the collective wealth of the nation's billionaires has soared by $1 trillion since March, while the pandemic has raged on, killing over 302,000 people nationwide as millions struggle to stay fed and afford rent or mortgage payments in the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/11/congress-cannot-go-recess-without-providing-sanders-hawley-move-attach-1200-payments" target="_blank">absence</a> of adequate federal relief.<p>"Scott's bold and direct giving puts shame to the billionaire class and their perpetual private foundations," Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at IPS, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/12/15/mackenzie-scotts-bold-and-direct-giving-puts-shame-billionaire-class-and-their" target="_blank">wrote</a> Tuesday for <em>Common Dreams</em>. He noted that "the bulk of these gifts are to the works of mercy during this pandemic—food banks, direct social service organizations, emergency funds, and support services for the most vulnerable."</p><p>"Many private foundations are still guarding their perpetual endowments and giving the minimum 5% required, including overhead," Collins explained. "By example, Scott is shaming these mega-foundations that worry more about perpetuity than the suffering of their neighbors during an unprecedented crisis."</p><p>As <em>Common Dreams</em> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/02/nonprofit-sector-suffers-coalition-calls-congress-force-wealthy-foundations-ramp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reported</a> earlier this month, nearly 800 social justice-minded philanthropists and charitable foundations have signed on to <a href="http://charitystimulus.org/?emci=f9650c0b-3034-eb11-9fb4-00155d43b2cd&emdi=f7ffdca2-9a34-eb11-9fb4-00155d43b2cd&ceid=1062869" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a letter</a>—initially released in May by the Patriotic Millionaires, the Charity Reform Initiative of IPS, and the Wallace Global Fund—calling on Congress to pass a three-year Emergency Charity Stimulus that would move $200 billion to frontline nonprofit groups by increasing payout requirements for private foundations and donor-advised funds.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="24959d9111b6f6bbc7b717057feff229" id="b9a72"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1338877188406435841"><div style="margin:1em 0">The combined net worth of the U.S.'s richest people totaled $4 trillion last week—over 4x the $908b price tag of th… https://t.co/6MTZblqDSm</div> — Institute for Policy Studies (@Institute for Policy Studies)<a href="https://twitter.com/IPS_DC/statuses/1338877188406435841">1608048171.0</a></blockquote></div>Collins, in his response to Scott's announcement, wrote that "of particular note is not just the size of her gifts, but the approach she has taken to giving. Scott, a newcomer on the billionaire wealth scene, has surrounded herself with advisers that come from under-resourced communities, not the folks that typically sit on foundation boards."<p>Scott shared some details about the selection process on <em>Medium</em>, explaining that she had put together a team of advisers earlier this year:</p><blockquote>The result over the last four months has been $4,158,500,000 in gifts to 384 organizations across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. Some are filling basic needs: food banks, emergency relief funds, and support services for those most vulnerable. Others are addressing long-term systemic inequities that have been deepened by the crisis: debt relief, employment training, credit and financial services for under-resourced communities, education for historically marginalized and underserved people, civil rights advocacy groups, and legal defense funds that take on institutional discrimination.<br/>To select these 384, the team sought suggestions and perspective from hundreds of field experts, funders, and nonprofit leaders and volunteers with decades of experience. We leveraged this collective knowledge base in a collaboration that included hundreds of emails and phone interviews, and thousands of pages of data analysis on community needs, program outcomes, and each nonprofit's capacity to absorb and make effective use of funding. We looked at 6,490 organizations, and undertook deeper research into 822. We put 438 of these on hold for now due to insufficient evidence of impact, unproven management teams, or to allow for further inquiry about specific issues such as treatment of community members or employees. We won't always learn about a concern inside an organization, but when we do, we'll take extra time to evaluate. We'll never eliminate every risk through our analysis, but we'll eliminate many. Then we can select organizations to assist—and get out of their way.<br/></blockquote><p>While Scott's gifts elicited applause, some pointed out that progressives policies including a wealth tax would make billionaires like her pay for services provided by the recipients of her donations "every day instead of just when they feel like it."</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2e9f7137560bd1bd9266633f2a9ec9ff" id="1bcda"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1338961071504285696"><div style="margin:1em 0">scott's recent giving spree still leaves her with let's see... ah yes more than $50 billion https://t.co/Ysaa3oMzes</div> — Katie McDonough (@Katie McDonough)<a href="https://twitter.com/kmcdonovgh/statuses/1338961071504285696">1608068170.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Scott's announcement comes as Amazon and Bezos are under fire for working conditions, particularly during the pandemic. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich on Sunday <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/12/15/jeff-bezos-mitch-mcconnell-and-killer-covid-19-capitalism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shared</a> part of an email he recently received from a worker at Amazon's Whole Foods delivery warehouse in New York City, which he called "particularly distressing."</p><p>The worker told Reich that six of her co-workers had tested positive for Covid-19 since October 22, because "safe social distancing is not only being ignored but discouraged." She added that "when we express our discomfort to management, we are yelled at about filling orders faster, or told that we can take a leave of absence without pay."</p><p>Earlier this month, after workers and activists <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/27/progressive-coalition-stages-worldwide-black-friday-protests-make-amazon-pay" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">took to the streets</a> on Black Friday to launch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MakeAmazonPay" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MakeAmazonPay </a>campaign, 401 lawmakers from 34 countries <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/03/open-letter-jeff-bezos-over-400-lawmakers-around-world-join-makeamazonpay-campaign" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">endorsed</a> the effort with an open letter to Bezos that said, "We, elected representatives and public officials from around the world, hereby put you on notice that Amazon's days of impunity are over."</p>From Your Site Articles
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