December 13, 2012--A Visit to Richistan

As negotiations continue in Washington about ways in which to avoid the Fiscal Cliff, it might be helpful to survey the geography of what is at stake. Literally the geography.

Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank described that landscape in his book, Richistan, a travelogue about the land of the wealthy.

In Lower Richistan, he found--

7.5 million families worth $1.0 to $10 million, many of them doctors, lawyers, and other professionals.

In Middle Richistan, he found--

2.0 million families worth $10 to $100 million, mostly entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

In Upper Richistan, he found--

Thousands of families with net worth over $100 million, mainly corporate executives, bankers, financial advisors, and Hollywood and sports superstars.

In Billionaireville, he found--

The Forbes 400 Richest Americans plus a few more worth at least $1.0 billion.

And finally in the Walton Family, he found a few individuals with a total family wealth of at least $90 billion. They are the heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and epitomize the extremes of inequality in America. This one family has wealth equal to all the assists of the entire bottom 40 percent of the U.S. population--120 million people.

All the people who live in Richistan would pay more in taxes if the Obama budget and tax plan are adopted and these are the people most Republicans are still attempting to protect.