Tag: Rich

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Politics taxes

Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake!

There are some people in the top 1% who are more than willing to pay their fair share of taxes. We all know about Warren Buffett and his personal push to get tax laws changed that will require the rich to pay taxes more appropriate to their income. We’ve also documented others like Russell Simmons, Mark Cuban and Nick Hanauer among others, all members of the 1% who have made their feelings about paying their fair share known.

Now it’s Stephen King’s turn and based on his passion in this article, I’ll venture to say he’s had enough! Be warned, he is very very passionate.

The Koch brothers are right-wing creepazoids, but they’re giving right-wing creepazoids. Here’s an example: 68 million fine American dollars to Deerfield Academy. Which is great for Deerfield Academy. But it won’t do squat for cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where food fish are now showing up with black lesions. It won’t pay for stronger regulations to keep BP (or some other bunch of dipshit oil drillers) from doing it again. It won’t repair the levees surrounding New Orleans. It won’t improve education in Mississippi or Alabama. But what the hell—them li’l crackers ain’t never going to go to Deerfield Academy anyway. Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.

Here’s another crock of fresh bullshit delivered by the right wing of the Republican Party (which has become, so far as I can see, the only wing of the Republican Party): the richer rich people get, the more jobs they create. Really? I have a total payroll of about 60 people, most of them working for the two radio stations I own in Bangor, Maine. If I hit the movie jackpot—as I have, from time to time—and own a piece of a film that grosses $200 million, what am I going to do with it? Buy another radio station? I don’t think so, since I’m losing my shirt on the ones I own already. But suppose I did, and hired on an additional dozen folks. Good for them. Whoopee-ding for the rest of the economy.

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Paul Ryan Politics wealthy

House Republicans Pretending The Senate Approved Paul Ryan’s Budget

House Republicans have all agreed and passed the Paul Ryan Budget – a budget that takes $5.3 Trillion from services that helps the poor and transfer $4.3 Trillion to the rich in the form of subsidies and tax cuts.

Knowing that the Democratically controlled Senate will never approve such a dumb and draconian budget, House Republicans are now pretending that the Senate did just that. Included in a House Resolution (H.RES.614) this week was this little provision:

Pending the adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2013, the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 112, as adopted by the House, shall have force and effect in the House as though Congress has adopted such concurrent resolution

In other words, we know the Senate didn’t approve and would never approve this Paul Ryan Republican budget (House Concurrent Resolution 112), but this provision allows us pretend and act as if they did. Yay for Paul Ryan!

Just another day in the life of a Do-Nothing Republican House of Representatives.

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Politics Tax weekly address

President Obama Once Again Ask Rich America to Pay Their Fair Share

And yet another call to our elected leaders to do what’s right for the huge majority of Americans and not just the richest among us. President Obama once again called on Congress to pass the Buffett rule, a law that would make our tax system more fairer requiring the richest 2% of Americans – those making over $1 million in yearly income – to pay a more appropriate percentage of their income in taxes.

The President;

Over the last decade, we’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars on what was supposed to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest two percent of Americans.  Now we’re scheduled to spend almost a trillion more. Today, the wealthiest Americans are paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years.  Warren Buffett is paying a lower rate than his secretary.  Meanwhile, over the last 30 years, the tax rates for middle class families have barely budged.

That’s not fair.  It doesn’t make any sense.  Do we want to keep giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans like me, or Warren Buffett, or Bill Gates – people who don’t need them and never asked for them?  Or do we want to keep investing in things that will grow our economy and keep us secure?  Because we can’t afford to do both.

Now, some people call this class warfare.  But I think asking a billionaire to pay at least the same tax rate as his secretary is just common sense.  We don’t envy success in this country.  We aspire to it.  But we also believe that anyone who does well for themselves should do their fair share in return, so that more people have the opportunity to get ahead – not just a few.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney – My Friends Own NFL Teams Too

Okay Mitt, we get it now. No need to keep pushing it in our faces. Yes, you are rich, very rich. So rich you are Mr. Romney, that your friends are owners of NASCAR race teams and you making $10,000 bets is nothing especially when you collect hundreds of thousands of dollars at speaking engagements.

Yes, we get it, but apparently you still have more you want us to know.

Appearing on Alabama sports commentator Paul Finebaum’s radio show this afternoon, Romney was asked about which team he thinks quarterback Peyton Manning will sign with. Romney said he wasn’t sure, but noted that he has some very good friends who own NFL teams:

FINEBAUM: You are a Patriots fan, I know that you’ve had a lot of support from that family. Having said that, the most coveted free agent in NFL history is Peyton Manning. I know you want him somewhere away from New England, where do you think he ought to go?

ROMNEY: Well, you know I’m surprised to hear that Denver’s thinking about him, they’re — I don’t want him in our neck of the woods, lets put it that way, I don’t want him to go to Miami or to the Jets. But I’ve got a lot of good friends, the owner Miami Dolphins, and the New York Jets —both owners are friends of mine. But let’s keep him away from New England, so that Tom Brady has a better shot of picking up a championship for us.

We wait on pins and needles for your next revelation and the economic boost this information will surely have on our economy.

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Politics

A Rare Moment – Charlie Chaplin Speaks – Must See Video

Born in 1889 in London England, Charlie Chaplin is known today for his silent shows and movies. But in the clip below, the voice of Charlie Chaplin is heard speaking to us all. Speaking truths that are just as needed today as they were back then.

Listen to his words and apply what he said to our present economic and political environment.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney – “[I’m Worth] Between 150 and 200 some-odd million”

At an event sponsored by Univision, Mitt Romney was put on the spot and had to put a figure on his worth. Mr. Romney, a man who thinks his ticket to the White House in 2012 depends on how many voters he can fool into thinking he is “one of us,” tried to downplay his net worth for the Latino audience.

Jorge Ramos, who interviewed Mr. Romney, pressed him on his wealth and on his taxes, and asked him directly how much money he had.

“Between 150 and 200 some-odd million,” Mr. Romney said, looking a bit uncomfortable and referring Mr. Ramos to the financial disclosure reports that his campaign has filed.

Mr. Ramos noted that Mr. Romney’s father was born in Mexico and asked whether Mr. Romney could claim to be Mexican-American.

“I don’t think people would think I’m being honest if I said I was Mexican-American,” Mr. Romney said, laughing. But he added: “I would appreciate it if you could get that word out.”

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Mitt Romney Politics republican candidate

Romney Went From “Growing Up Rich” To “Having No Toilets” In 24 Hours.

Mitt Romney wants you to see him as an average man. After tarnishing that ‘average man’ image in the debate on Saturday, where he offered Rick Perry $10,000.00 on a bet, Romney is now trying to revise the public’s view of him. But is it too late? Can Romney flip-flop one more time to save his campaign?

In the last debate, a viewer asked the candidates if they ever had to give up any of  life’s  necessities to make ends meet. In today’s tough economic times, the question was and is very valid. The average voter wants a president who they can identify with, someone who can relate to their daily struggles. All the other Republican contenders in Saturday’s debate had a story to tell where they “struggled”, but when it became Mitt Romney’s turn to relate, the multi-millionaire couldn’t come up with any such experience.

“I didn’t grow up poor,” Romney answered. “If somebody is looking for somebody who has that background, I am not that person.” This admission by Romney came on the same night he offered Rick Perry the $10,000.00 bet… like it was nothing… pocket change!

After the debate, Romney saw how inappropriate his responses were. He told reporters that his wife came to him and said she enjoyed the debate, but his bet offer was not his strong point.

And sure enough, that Sunday Mitt Romney had to do what Mitt Romney does best – the flip-flop.

Asked by another voter in Iowa the very same question he previously answered, “I didn’t grow up poor,” to, Romney magically did  remembered a poor moment in his life when he was 19 years old and went to France to do missionary work.

Living on no more than $110 a month in France – which Romney said was the equivalent of $500 or $600 in today’s dollars – the former Massachusetts governor said he learned to live simply when he left for France in 1966 at the age of 19, stretching those dollars to cover food, clothing and rent over two and a half years in France. He lived in a series of apartments with little or no plumbing or amenities like refrigeration.

“You’re not living high on the hog at that level,” he said. “A number of the apartments that I lived in when I was there didn’t have toilets – we had instead the little pads on the ground – OK, you know how that works, pull – there was a chain behind you with kind of a bucket, bucket affair. I had not experienced one of those in the United States.”

Romney said he and his fellow missionaries showered once a week at a facility where you could pay a few francs to bathe – “Or if we were got lucky, we actually bought a hose and would hold it there on the sink … and wash ourselves that way.”

Let’s see… a debate on Saturday, where he answered he didn’t grow up poor, so couldn’t share any moments of hardship, then less than 24 hrs later, he was so poor, he was only able to shower once a week and had no toilets. From one extreme to anther in the span of 24 hours?

This has to be a record flip-flop… even for Mitt Romney.

Categories
Politics tax cuts

Billionaire Says Rich People Are Not “Job Creators”

He is a billionaire. He is responsible for starting, or contributing to getting many corporations off the ground. If anyone knows about job creation and who creates them, it’s him. His name is Nick Hanauer, and it is his belief that tax cuts to the rich does not create jobs. And I agree with him 1000%!

I’m a very rich person. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, I’ve started or helped get off the ground dozens of companies in industries including manufacturing, retail, medical services, the Internet and software. I founded the Internet media company aQuantive Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2007 for $6.4 billion. I was also the first non-family investor in Amazon.com Inc.

Even so, I’ve never been a “job creator.” I can start a business based on a great idea, and initially hire dozens or hundreds of people. But if no one can afford to buy what I have to sell, my business will soon fail and all those jobs will evaporate.

That’s why I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is the feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion a virtuous cycle that allows companies to survive and thrive and business owners to hire. An ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than I ever have been or ever will be.

Still, we’ll hear the Republican talking point that the only way to create jobs in America, is for the rich to continue getting tax cuts and subsidies. Since George Bush became president, he went on a tax cutting frenzy for rich people, and during his entire eight years in office, only 1.09 million jobs were created. This, after the rich saw their taxes drastically reduced during the time Bush was in power.

But don’t tell this to Republicans in Congress. Although the facts don’t back up their claims, Republicans will go to their graves demanding more tax cuts for the rich in order to “create jobs.”

Categories
pay Politics taxes

The Rich Goes To Congress Begging To Pay More Taxes

Republicans in Congress have pledged their lives to Grover Norquist and his efforts to protect the rich. Norquist managed to get just about all the Republicans in Congress to sign his pledge not to raise taxes on the rich. And although the economy needs all the help it can get, Norquist and his Republican goons are sticking to their pledge, thus, sticking it to the American people.

But even the rich is seeing through the Vail of deception perpetrated by the Republicans and their pretense of patriotism, and their willingness to see the economy crash and burn for political reasons. And they, the rich,  have come to save the day.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lobbyists for a day, a band of millionaires stormed Capitol Hill on Wednesday to urge Congress to tax them more.

They had a little trouble getting in. It turns out there are procedures, even for the really rich.

But once inside, their message was embraced by liberals and tolerated by some conservatives — including the ideological leader of anti-tax lawmakers, who had some advice for them, too.

“If you think the federal government can spend your money better than you can, then by all means” pay more in taxes than you owe, said Grover Norquist, of Americans for Tax Reform, a group that has gotten almost all congressional Republicans to pledge to vote against tax hikes. The IRS should have a little line on the form where people can donate money to the government, he suggested, “just like the tip line on a restaurant receipt.”

One of the millionaires suggested that if Norquist wanted low taxes and less government, “Renounce your American citizenship and move to Somalia where they don’t collect any tax.”

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occupy wall street Politics

Next Republican Debate To Focus On Protecting The Rich – Video

Sticking to their usual talking points, the next Republican Presidential Debate will be in accordance with all that Republicans hold dear… how to protect the rich at the expense of middle class America.

The video below is a promo for the debate which will be held on CNBC. Listen to the announcer.

Categories
democrats Politics

Lifestyle Of The Rich And Famous – In Congress

“Few federal lawmakers must grapple with the financial ills –unemployment, loss of housing, wiped out savings — that have befallen millions of Americans,” said Sheila Krumholz, the Center for Responsive Politics’ executive director. “Congressional representatives on balance rank among the wealthiest of wealthy Americans and boast financial portfolios that are all but unattainable for most of their constituents.”

That was taken from a new report on the rich folks in Congress. You know, the ones we hire through our votes to represent us. They are supposed to be the folks working for our best interests, for a better America. But this report by the Center for Responsive Politics confirmed what every American already knew – that politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, are members of the MeFirst Society.

The report continues;

When averaging lawmakers’ minimum and maximum potential wealth for 2009, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) tops the list with holdings exceeding $303.5 million. Issa (pictured right) is followed by a fellow Californian, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), with $293.4 million. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) places third at $238.8 million.

Issa, Harman and Kerry realized wealth gains of nearly 21 percent, 19.8 percent and 14.3 percent respectively.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Rep. Vernon Buchanan (R-Fla.) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) round the list of lawmakers who in 2009 recorded an average wealth of at least $100 million.

So where is all this income coming from. At a time when the American people are losing their homes, their jobs and their families because of a lousy economy, and at a time when congressional approval is at an all time low of 9%,  how are these same leaders making all this money?

They do it by serving and catering to their true constituents – no, not you the people, but Corporations… the people.

Corporations spends tens of millions yearly to lobby their favorite politician. They also provide amazing stock options these politicians find irresistible.

With 82 current members of Congress invested, General Electric tops this list. It’s followed by Bank of America (63), Cisco Systems (61), Proctor & Gamble (61) and Microsoft (54).

Apple, with 42 current congressional investors, edges IBM, with 41. Coca-Cola’s 39 congressional investors pop it a notch above PepsiCo, with 36.

And at least 20 current members of Congress were also last year invested in companies that found themselves the subject of congressional or federal agency inquiries, including Goldman Sachs and BP.

Furthermore, the companies behind a number of lawmakers’ favorite investments played key roles in lobbying Congress on two of the most critical legislative initiatives of the past two years: health care reform and financial regulatory reform.

Among health care-related companies, at least 20 current lawmakers reported owning stakes in Pfizer (49), Johnson & Johnson (39), Merck (27), Abbott Laboratories (25), CVS/Caremark (23), Bristol-Myers Squibb (22) and Amgen (20).

As for financial firms, Bank of American and Goldman Sachs are joined by Wells Fargo (45), JPMorgan Chase (38) and Citigroup (24).

Champagne wishes and Caviar dreams.

These ladies and gentlemen, are the people who feel your pain. They are the ones who know the devastation you face as you lose your home.

These millionaire politicians from the MeFirst Society, are looking out for your best interest.
Sure!

Categories
occupy wall street Politics

Best Sign Yet From The Occupy Movement

Best sign yet. As the “Occupy” movement spread across the nation, the bottom 99% are finding some very impressive ways to describe their frustrations. If awards were given out for ‘Best Sign In A Protest Movement’, this one should have no problem winning.

From ‘Occupy Austin’

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