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Sharing the wealth isn’t enough

From Swans, Michael Barker interviews Robert Arnove, author of Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism: The Foundations at Home and Abroad (and a review); Dennis Buss, author of "The Ford Foundation in Public Education"; Peter Seybold, author of The Development of American Political Sociology: A Case Study of the Ford Foundation's Role in the Production of Knowledge; Mary Anna Colwell, author of Philanthropic Foundations and Public Policy: The Political Role of Foundations; and Edward Berman, author of The Influence of the Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller Foundations on American Foreign Policy: The Ideology of Philanthropy. Behind the Billionaire Pact: Some 40 philanthropists worth a combined $230 billion are publicly pledging to give away their fortunes (and more on why sharing the wealth isn't enough, and more on philanthro-capitalism). On philanthropy, what gives? Experts say that our own sense of self-worth plays into whether or not we give or don't give our hard-earned dollars to charity. The real liberal elite: Now that more liberals are as rich as Republicans, do we risk forgetting the poor and working families? The simple truth is that the wealthy are undertaxed compared with everyone else. Peter Laarman on why taxing the rich is the godly thing. Soak the very, very rich: James Surowiecki on building a smarter tax code (and more). The Reagan Revolution is stealing our future: Tax cuts for the rich are pure theft. William Gale on five myths about the Bush tax cuts. The liberal case for regressive taxation: Why progressives should not oppose a value-added tax. If the debate over tax policy is going to be accurate, it's probably worth diversifying our terminology.