Stephan:   Wealth inequality is largely the result of the tax policies enacted from the Reagan administration onward; the work of both Republicans and a few Democrats like Bill Clinton. This becomes obvious if you trace the rise of billionaires. Most of the media describes the first billionaire in the nation as being John D. Rockefeller. But even Rockefeller did not reach that level according to author Ron Chernow. In his definitive 1998 biography on Rockefeller, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.,  Chernow estimates his wealth peaked at $900 million in 1913. The point here being that for all but the last few decades in America it was an extremely rare level of wealth. By 1960, for instance, the best estimate was there were only between 4 and 11 billionaires in America. Today, however, according to Forbes magazine, "There are 540 billionaires in the United States, with a combined net worth of $2.399 trillion, according to our 2016 list of the world's richest people." There are 124 in California, 93 in New York, 48 in Texas, and 44 in Florida. This tracks with the rise of wealth inequality, that makes the United States the worst developed nation in the world for wealth inequality. And the Republican response is... Why to shovel even more money into the coffers of the uber-rich. Mitch McConnell is arguably the most powerful christofascist and servant of the rich in America, and he couldn't care less about your wellbeing.