BGolden;842067662 said:
The problem I have with many of the people crying out for "fairness" is
that they fail to make the distinction between productively creating wealth and ruthlessly
accumulating wealth. They take a shotgun approach that punishes some
people unfairly.
Just like on the right people fail to make a distinction between people genuinely needing help and hucksters trying to game the system. However, how do you distinguish?
The reality here is that we're not talking so much about people making a $300K gain from selling their rental house or writing a screenplay or whatever it is. We are talking about the elite of society who have more money than they could ever spend. These people sometimes turn into philanthropists (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) or adopt some pet cause or another. Sometimes they fund museums and other institutions (like Cal) that benefit the public. Often, they are very picky about what they will and will not fund - wanting a lot of control and some measure of recognition in return for their support. I read an article a couple of years back talking about how in the past the NYC elite donated their art to The Met or Smithsonian without question, but now they all wish to create their own museums with their names on them. A sign of the times, I think.
I am an independent voter. I don't believe in labeling people as liberals or Tea Partiers or RINOs unless they self-identify. My parents were both Europeans and I don't see where European society has crumbled because tax rates are high. Germany in particular would be doing quite well if not for their involvement in the EU. On the other hand, I do want to keep more of my cash in my pocket and I do want to make sure the programs I support (like NASA) are funded and the ones I do not support (like The Train to Nowhere) are cut.
In my opinion the main difference between a Republican and a Democrat is compassion for the common man. Republicans don't have near as much unless "common man" means white males. One thing that *every* voter needs to realize - Democrat or Republican - is that the nation's monetary elite are not suffering even a little bit even as they are the ones that led us into this mess. One can't squeeze blood from a turnip so it necessarily *has* to be those elite people to help create and fund a balanced budget that we all agree is fair.
Democrats should not demonize people based on their wealth, I agree. On the other hand, neither should Republicans treat them as saintly "job creators." My girlfriend does some work for a retired CEO of a NYSE listed company. He actually had stints as CEO and on the BoD of several large companies you would know by name. He is very wealthy, but he is not a bad guy. People have this image of Montgomery Burns glowering in a mansion. He's motivated (works all the time even though he has more than enough money to never work again) and even though he's not an intellectual he did take the time to educate himself. I think he does deserve to live a good life based on his accomplishments, even if some of them involved outsourcing US and European jobs to China. He also created jobs here in the US and Canada when it made sense to manufacture here. It comes with the territory.
So where am I going with this? This man has an obscene amount of wealth and most of it just sits there. Sometimes he will invest in some idea someone floats by him, but for the most part he is terrified of spending any money in this economy. He took some good losses during the economic meltdown, like many of us did. So the cash just sits there. I am sure it is invested in instruments, but let's ignore that for a moment. Can anyone sit here with a straight face and say that this guy with three mansions (not counting the two the ex-wife got) who is shopping at Whole Foods next to me (I've seen him there) can't afford to cough up some more money to keep this country afloat? His Whole Foods bill is the same as mine, except he has tens of millions of dollars in the bank and tens of millions more wrapped up in the houses. As nice as he is, he's not going to vote to tax himself, right? (Well, probably not.) He's probably not going to write a check to the IRS each year either.
The way I see it people like this could be part of the solution, but because they are not they are part of the problem. It incenses me very much to hear self-described Republicans who are decidedly middle-class defending the hoarding of wealth that is going on in this country. Romney's "private time" with his country club buddies was a great window into what those people think about most of the rest of us - and even most of the ones who don't feel that way like my acquaintance aren't advocating for higher taxes Warren Buffet style. No, the clamor has to come from the people and our elected officials.
I think people are out of touch with exactly how wealthy these people are. My acquaintance bought all of his houses cash. His new wife's engagement ring was well into the six figures. He flies first class anywhere and everywhere (and with a corporate jet in his previous life). It's not JEALOUSY that says he needs to pay more than he is. It's not anger at my own FAILINGS in life. It's not that I am STUPID or LAZY or whatever adjectives conservatives like to throw around. The simple fact is that for whatever reason a portion of all of the money you spent over the years on apparel (he works in apparel) ended up in his pocket. He wasn't a founder like Thomas Edison. He is, I suppose, a good manager and maybe just ruthless enough in business. WHATEVER THE REASON, he's got the cash now - money that passed through your hands - and it is mostly just sitting there. It's not being reinvested into the economy and you don't need an anecdote to know how much money is just sitting on the sidelines right now. He spends very little on his day to day expenses relative to his net worth even with extravagances like the ring or his Porsche. This money sitting there is not helping society in any way and now repeat this story over and over again for most of the 1%.
You're not going to balance the budget and pay off the debt on my back! I don't have that kind of cash! You have to go after the people who do have it! Period! And most of them probably wouldn't even notice the difference in their day-to-day lifestyles after the initial sting wears off! I live in LA and nowhere other than here (and maybe NYC and SF) is it so patently obvious that the gap between the rich and the upper middle class (people like me who make six figures but live in fear of illness taking away my ability to work and bankrupting me) is MANY TIMES LARGER than the gap between me (who goes to Whole Foods in my Lexus) and the people living in the slums of the city who take the bus to buy meat at a carniceria with flies buzzing around the counter.
I don't expect redneck (pardon the term) Republicans in the The South voting what their church tells them to vote to realize just how poor and disadvantaged they really are (because they are ignorant) but I find it morally repugnant that the wealthy, the elite, the educated business owners among them (and these conservatives exist in every State) want to balance the budget on the backs of poor and middle class and - further - kick those people when they are down for thinking that a good union job at a place like Hostess and Medicare at age 65 are luxuries! We are not serfs! Tax the people with the money! When underclass incomes rise then things will get "more fair". Instead, we want to pay people as little as possible and then tax them on it at the same rate as or higher than (!) a CEO earning all of his income as capital gains in the name of "fairness."
BTW, Democrats are to blame, too, for thinking that anyone with two nickels to rub together is wealthy. They love to raise the regressive sales tax over and over again. They want to repeal Prop 13, which is going to slaughter the middle class and not impact the wealthy at all. (My acquaintance pays more for the HOA on his NYC loft than he does for the *substantial* property taxes. I don't think he gives the property tax rate a second thought. He bought the place to avoid paying for hotels in NYC and figures when it all comes out in the wash he will sell the penthouse for a profit such that all his stays in NYC were free.)
Both sides need to sit down and realize there's not very much to cut except education, healthcare, Social Security, and defense. Those combined with the interest on the debt are 80% of the federal budget. Which do you want to cut and how much? Ok, now that you decided that and you have a balanced budget you have to raise the taxes on the wealthy to pay off this debt, because they are the only ones who can afford to do so. Or do it the conservative way and do it all by cuts so that my acquaintance can maintain his God-given right to three mansions and the rest of us will work on his plantation for food, shelter, and medical care. It will be just like the 1800s all over again, and maybe that's what these neocons are really all about. I wonder if, in that situation, the 1% would complain about how they are shouldering 100% of the tax burden and how that is just soooo unfair. Those lazy 99%ers!
