Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:09 pm
Been doing my best to not quote those known to be on folk's ignore list, and on occasion, even manage to rein myself in here and there, but slip from time to time.
neal
neal
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PM sent.Elwood wrote: Im batteling a brain tumor that has me very edgie Barb
Those seething with envy types are clever, at least they think so.ruckman101 wrote:Suggesting a political cartoonist is an example of class envy is telling.
neal
Which changes the significance of this rising inequity not in the slightest.turk wrote:Michael Barone:
Consider one conundrum in American politics. Income inequality has been increasing, according to standard statistics. Yet most Americans do not seem very perturbed by it.
Not true. Not true. Not true. A 62% plurality wanted the 250K income earners to pay the pre-Bush taxcut rate. Bloomberg News poll no less.turk wrote:Michael Barone:
Barack Obama may have been elected president after telling Joe the Plumber that he wanted to spread the wealth around. But large majorities in polls approved when Obama and congressional Democrats abandoned oft-repeated campaign promises to raise taxes on high earners in the lame duck session.
Such rationalization. Benefits can be taken away, and they are being taken away all right. Benefits are going up at the top too, like vetted 100K healthcare for the CEOs and 100K "housing allowances" for public university presidents, and don't you know there are always the arrogant rich pricks who say,"fuck 'em, they got plasma screen TVs now, what are they complaining about?" and they miss entirely the fact that most Americans are one stupid medical emergency away from total economic destruction, turk. I don't like the heartless. The Republican Congress is declaring war on the safety net for average Americans, yet codifying guarantees that no matter what the stupid rich do, they make money regardless, to wit, Goldman Sachs!!turk wrote:Michael Barone:
Why don't voters care more?
One reason is that economic statistics can miss important things that affect people's lives. Wages may not have risen much since 1973, but that's partly because the tax code encourages increased compensation in the form of benefits, including health insurance.
So I am inclined to agree with Cowen when he writes, "The broader change in income distribution, the one occurring beneath the very top earners, can be deconstructed in a manner that makes nearly all of it look harmless."
as in . . . did not go far enough, due to intense lobbying from the regulated who have their Republican caucus all bought up.turk wrote:Michael Barone:
Cowen is worried that high earners in financial industries benefit hugely when they bet correctly but are sheltered from losses by government bailouts when they bet wrong. It's a problem that the financial regulation bill passed by the outgoing Congress addressed but, in his opinion and those of many others I respect, did not solve.
I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS CRAP!! J.K. Rowling, Steve Jobs, and Steven Speilberg, are not the object of this fury!! What sort of straw men arguments are these?? Financial securities executives who made off with other people's mortgages and got pouty at the thought that their BONUSES would be taxed more, they are the people we are talking about. Bringing up J. K. Rowling (not an American citizen anyway) is typical Fox News deflection horseshit, and boy do they know your average American would be led in into a stupor of confusion as theybob and weave away from the true target of this immoral unethical transfer of wealth.turk wrote:Michael Barone:
But there's little evidence that most Americans begrudge the exceedingly high earnings of the likes of Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg or J.K. Rowling. We believe they have earned their success and don't see how taking money away from them will make the rest of us better off.
The old argument again. Racking up the absolute dollars of the upper tax bracket and bludgeoning us with "SEE? They paid!" Then jumping in with the treasonous, traitorous, illegal, they won't pay anyway . . . oh well."turk wrote:Michael Barone:
We already take quite a bit. Current tax rates mean that the top 1 percent of earners account for 40 percent of federal income tax revenue -- a higher percentage than in many Western European countries. Higher tax rates would probably produce more tax avoidance -- rich people can adjust their affairs -- and lower revenues than forecast by static economic models.
And then this fucking idiot calls it ENVY? I can't take this crap.turk wrote:Michael Barone:
I suspect that most Americans would be thrilled to get a 13th month of pay. But they're not seething with envy at those who are better off.
Does this chump really really think Garry Trudeau is "envious" and "resentful" of the Bush Dynasty?turk wrote:Michael Barone:
So who does? One example is the cartoonist and author Garry Trudeau, a college classmate of George W. Bush, who has been spewing contempt for the Bushes for 40-some years. The strongest class envy in America, it turns out, may be the resentment of those who were one club above you at Yale.
Michael Barone is a Fox News Channel contributor
Actually, taxes have gone up for the poorest citizens.turk wrote:LOL. So what are ya' gonna do go eat the rich? Everybody kept the tax rates they had since 2004. Big deal. I think most people are just glad to have that. The tax-paying ones anyway. If taxes went up, the super rich would still be able to shelter more than they need. Drop the class-warfare bit. It's old and tired.
No, it is much simpler and less inflammatory than that.turk wrote: LOL.
So what are ya' gonna do go eat the rich?
No, it is not old and tired. It is vitally necessary to find solutions and quickly. There is NO RATIONALIZATION for their incomes to have shot up over the past two years just to hear them whining about the end of what were declared under George Bush as temporary tax cuts. Anybody who apologizes for the uber-rich has a fricken screw loose. You will never acknowledge much less understand the innumerable times I have said that if somebody invents the next new thing I hope they get rich! But I expect that they will pay their taxes with gratitude. I am Republican to the core when it comes to capitalism that plays by the rules. Colin, shut up already, he is not listeningturk wrote: Everybody kept the tax rates they had since 2004. Big deal. I think most people are just glad to have that. The tax-paying ones anyway. If taxes went up, the super rich would still be able to shelter more than they need. Drop the class-warfare bit. It's old and tired.
Ahhhh. But then, that's socialism.Lanval wrote: The short answer is: When everyone shoulders their responsibility, we all gain. When they don't, we don't.
L.
glasseye wrote:Ahhhh. But then, that's socialism.Lanval wrote: The short answer is: When everyone shoulders their responsibility, we all gain. When they don't, we don't.
L.
By the way, the phrase "It's morning again in America" was written by a PR/ advertising firm, not Ronnie.