Forbes 400 richest from 2010. (Alt title: GOP, stop your fiscal cliff nonsense.)

Hey middle class folks living in the rectangle-shaped state that recently legalized marijuana:

As our Government continues to move towards raising taxes on the rich and you are bombarded with news of the fiscal cliff, need a quick idea of how out-of-balance things are?

I found this article, a Denver Post re-cap of the Forbes Richest 400 list covering 2010 and focusing on Colorado.

2010. A year where median household income fell 2.3%.

Lots of folks lost their jobs. Lots of others lost their homes. Me? I learned new facets of crazy in that year, trying to land business from clients and working nights/weekends to make ends meet.

And, according to the article and my attempt at math, five of the six richest Coloradans brought in 2.5 billion extra dollars that year. (Pat Stryker was the exception, she lost money.)

Five people didn’t make 2.5 billion dollars. Nope.

Their worth before? They added 2.5 billion dollars to it.

5 people.

2.5 billion EXTRA dollars.

5 already gigantic piles of money received infusions of what totals 2.5 billion extra dollars. No losses. 2.5 billion in gains.

In one year. (A year that was financially difficult for the vast majority of us.)

This isn’t capitalism. 

It’s obscene.

GOP: the election results are this country’s loud and clear message that we don’t want to live in an oligarchy.

We think that 5 people should more than have the right to earn 2.5 billion dollars a year. No. We want this potential to feel like it, though unlikely, is still possible due to the greatness of this country.

But 5 people earning 2.5 billion extra dollars while the vast majority struggled is unacceptable.

Why is this so hard to understand?