POSTED BY JHW22
Hey, give the guy a break!
When you have that much money and can claim every deduction the rest of America can't even qualify for, and you have to keep track of what money is off-shore, and you need to make sure you have the illegal lawn guys off the paperwork, and you are trying to decide how to deduct the new mansion you just demolished so you can build a new one, and you're wondering if the car elevator is considered a business expense since you are a "job creator", and your paperwork is spread over multiple states and houses, it's just hard.
The Romneys struggle, y'all. And it's damn class warfare to criticize them for having so much money that they get to take advantage of opportunities we will never have. And we're just envious. It has nothing to do with fairness at all. So quit whining over not being able to take more than the standard deduction! You got your $400 refund already. So what if you had to use it to pay the termite people to insure the termites don't come back and destroy your ONLY house that is worth $113,000. Waaaahhhhh. You can't relate to the Romneys and that's not *their* fault.
This is TOTAL snark, FYI.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Leave Romney ALLONNNE! *bawl*
Friday, January 27, 2012
Hard Work?
POSTED BY JHW22
When the Republicans take aim in their class war against Democrats, the middle class and the working class, one of their favorite weapons is the all-too-familiar:
Tax increases punish hard work.
We're to believe that the more a person makes, the harder they must have worked to earn it. Never mind the fact that laying roof tiles in 105 degree Texas heat doesn't earn a guy a million bucks. Apparently it's not as hard as going to board meetings and country club meet and greets. So a guy who owns his own roofing company and does a lot of the work himself pays a good chunk of his income in taxes. Shame on us for taxing that guy so high.
But more shame on us for wanting to tax Mitt Romney so high. Because, gosh darn it, he has so much money, he MUST have worked so gosh darn hard for it.
Take 2010, for example. Mitt worked hard. Why should he pay higher taxes as some kind of punishment for his hard work?
What? What's that you say? Mitt didn't actually work for that income? You mean his income came from a company he USED to do work for and some investments?
Well, my dad decided to retire early when he was laid off and now he works every day investing. He reads, researches, plans, has the coolest spreadsheets in the WORLD. So I'd say he works hard.
What? What's that you say? Mitt didn't actually control his investments? He pays a trustee to make all the investment decisions for him?
WHAT?! So, we're not supposed to punish hard work with higher taxes? Well, then hell! Mitt has been paying someone else to do the work of making him money off of him not working. So, seems to me the "punishing hard work" excuse don't float here.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Quote of the Day
Here's another Ted Sorensen quote to stick in your back pocket the next time someone uses the right wing "class warfare" jab, from "Why I Am A Democrat."
Read this book!"Democrats have no wish to turn millionaires into paupers. Indeed, they do not object to the rich getting richer, particularly when their creative talents, energetic efforts, and sound investments enlarge the national pie for everyone to share... What Democrats dislike is the rich getting richer at the expense of everyone else, particularly those whose labor in helping to enlarge the pie but who receive a smaller piece in return."
Monday, November 28, 2011
Quote of the Day
And there you have it. Simply explained and easy for everyone to understand despite the bristling of GOP mouthpieces projecting that it is the Democrats who are waging class warfare because they'd like to tax the wealthiest of the 1% an extra point or two."It is unconscionable that in the face of mass unemployment, Republicans continue to foil measures to spur employment, including an extension of the payroll tax holiday. How can conservatives declare simultaneously that (1) it would be a terrible crime to raise taxes on the rich in the long term, and (2) it is an act of virtue to raise taxes on the middle class immediately? Has class warfare ever been so naked?"
~E.J. Dionne, Washington Post
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Will O'Reilly Quit If Taxed at a Higher Rate?
Absolutely not. And he said as much on The Daily Show.
Here's Jon Stewart taking Bill O'Reilly to the woodshed yet again. I would truly love to see O'Reilly in a serious discussion with Stewart regarding the issues they speak about, instead of his insistence in trying out a punchline here and there. I do believe he's a smart guy - but I also believe he knows where his bread is buttered and therefore leans towards conclusions with which he might not otherwise agree.
The Solyndra fiasco was reported, or shall I say regurgitated by the media before all the facts were made known.
And the $16 muffins? That's already been debunked as well. Too bad Stewart didn't know anything about it.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Poor Rep. Flemming Eking Out An Existence at $774K Per Year.
Here's the perfect example of the GOP disconnect in the class warfare/tax fairness issue. Republican Louisiana Rep. John Flemming owns Subway shops and UPS storefronts. His income from those businesses is $6 million yearly. But he has the balls to whine that after expenses, he only takes home $600,000. After after home expenses, he only has $400,000 left to reinvest.
First of all, it's none of my business if Flemming's home expenses are $200,000. But whatever happened to tightening your belt at home during hard economic times? What happened to living within your means? Second, it doesn't seem like he's counting his $174,000 Congressman's salary in his take home total. Finally, Flemming claims to have 500 employees. At $5.4 million in expenses, he's paying far less than $10,800 per employee that his number equals divided by 500 employees.
So, John Flemming is a liar when it comes to job creation. But what's really galling is that what he sees at practically nothing, his $774,000 "take home pay" can hire 15-20 teachers, or police officers or firefighters.
And these are the politicians the Tea Party types defend? Pathetic.
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Right Crowd
POSTED BY JHW22
This economist shared his perspective on why Bristol Palin provides more social value, thus earns more income, than a pediatrician. And when you think about it, it's what lies at the root of why some people protect the incomes of the wealthy, as if the higher the value of one's paycheck, the more value they must obviously provide to society.
Some say that it's our world of tabloid, celebrity and "reality" television that has warped our sense of what value is. And to an extent, they are right. You could argue that some celebrities use that vast wealth to contribute far more to society than residents of a small town combined. But the celebrity still has a huge chunk of cash left over and the good they performed was about the heart and not a paycheck, though, right?
So there is that point, and it's valid. But what I think is the greater disservice, the thing that causes the warped vision of value to really harm America, is the way our elected leadership distorts the meaning of value in order to benefit the new definition of value. If we place a higher value on someone's status via a job, then they are worth more in the value of a dollar. If they are worth more in the value of a dollar, they are worth more to society. Ergo, if you don't make a lot of money, your value to society is less. Despite the work actually done by the person making $10,000 or the person making $10,000,000.
Public policy and politicians have used this as a wedge to create an ideal that every American can reach the big bucks if they just work hard enough. So, if someone is a community organizer, they aren't really contributing. We want CEOs as Presidents, not community organizers. That's not a reality show or summer blockbuster meme, that is a political manipulation of the American Dream in order to create a Haves and Have Nots mentality. But when the gap is growing so much that the wealthiest Americans are paying less in taxes than the middle class, then you have to stop and ask, "What is really happening?" America has distorted our values by saying that asking a millionaire to pay more in taxes is class warfare despite all the evidence that they have had more tax benefits than their kids' teachers.
And it hasn't been reality shows and tabloids going after teachers and public workers lately. It's been elected leaders.
Senator Orrin Hatch said that 51% of American families don't pay income taxes -- right after he said he thinks really poor people shouldn't have to. What people are missing when they discuss how many people don't pay income taxes is that it's because they are too poor to pay taxes. The people he's talking about aren't rich enough to get fancy tax accountants to get them to not pay anything. They're not tax evaders. They're people living on such low income that they don't owe income taxes. And what's wrong with that? What's wrong is that we have TOO MANY families making so little that they don't owe taxes! And yet, it's a pejorative to say they don't pay taxes. THEY DON'T MAKE MONEY. And see, they are the bad guy. Why? So that we won't pay attention to the people who get to deduct mortgages on their second and third homes and their yachts.
And right now, the left is divided among the "Yell at Obama" crowd and the "Fight the GOP" crowd. And the GOP is divided among the "Get Government Out" crowd and the "Block Obama" crowd.
Frankly, when I look at who is harming America the most, I can't fathom why more people aren't rushing to be part of a "Get Something Done" crowd. And when I think of it, Obama is right in the middle of that "Get Something Done" crowd. He has been leading that crowd and keeping it focused and effective. And although I stray over to the "Fight the GOP" crowd every so often, I am most certainly part of Obama's crowd. I want to get something done!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Mama Grizzlies Have Very Thin Skin
Via Oliver Willis:
Palin just can't let anything go. So Barbara Bush says of Palin,"...she's very happy in Alaska, and I hope she'll stay there." C'mon, Sarah. Take the high road just once, willya? Nope. I don't think Sarah Palin has ever seen the high road or knows it even exists.In an interview Wednesday with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, Sarah Palin fired back at former first lady Barbara Bush, opting to make a class issue out of the Bush’s comments.“I don’t want to concede that we have to get used to this kind of thing, because I don’t think the majority of Americans want to put up with the blue-bloods — and I want to say it will all due respect because I love the Bushes — the blue-bloods who want to pick and choose their winners instead of allowing competition,” Palin said.
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