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President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party have led increasingly successful efforts to pit Americans against one another through the politics of hate and envy. Attacking CEO salaries, the president -- last year during his Midwest tour -- said, "I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."
Let's look at CEO salaries, but before doing so, let's look at other salary disparities between those at the bottom and those at the top. According to Forbes' Celebrity 100 list for 2010, Oprah Winfrey earned $290 million. Even if her makeup person or cameraman earned $100,000, she earned thousands of times more than that. Is that fair? Among other celebrities earning hundreds or thousands of times more than the people who work with them are Tyler Perry ($130 million), Jerry Bruckheimer ($113 million), Lady Gaga ($90 million) and Howard Stern ($76 million). According to Forbes, the top 10 celebrities, excluding athletes, earned an average salary of a little more than $100 million in 2010.
According to The Wall Street Journal Survey of CEO Compensation (November 2010), Gregory Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, earned $87 million, Oracle's Lawrence Ellison ($68 million) and rounding out the top 10 CEOs was McKesson's John Hammergren, earning $24 million. It turns out that the top 10 CEOs have an average salary of $43 million, which pales in comparison with America's top 10 celebrities, who earn an average salary of $100 million.
When you recognize that celebrities earn salaries that are some multiples of CEO salaries, you have to ask: Why is it that rich CEOs are demonized and not celebrities? A clue might be found if you asked: Who's doing the demonizing? It turns out that the demonizing is led by politicians and leftists with the help of the news media, and like sheep, the public often goes along. Why demonize CEOs? My colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell explained it in his brand-new book, "The Thomas Sowell Reader." One of his readings, titled "Ivan and Boris -- and Us," starts off with a fable of two poor Russian peasants. Ivan finds a magic lamp and rubs it, and the jinni grants him one wish. As it turns out, Boris has a goat, but Ivan doesn't. Ivan's wish is for Boris' goat to die. That vision reflects the feelings of too many Americans. If all CEOs worked for nothing, it would mean absolutely little or nothing to the average American's bottom line.
For politicians, it's another story: Demonize people whose power you want to usurp. That's the typical way totalitarians gain power. They give the masses someone to hate. In 18th-century France, it was Maximilien Robespierre's promoting hatred of the aristocracy that was the key to his acquiring more dictatorial power than the aristocracy had ever had. In the 20th century, the communists gained power by promoting public hatred of the czars and capitalists. In Germany, Adolf Hitler gained power by promoting hatred of Jews and Bolsheviks. In each case, the power gained led to greater misery and bloodshed than anything the old regime could have done.
Let me be clear: I'm not equating America's liberals with Robespierre, Josef Stalin and Hitler. I am saying that promoting jealousy, fear and hate is an effective strategy for politicians and their liberal followers to control and micromanage businesses. It's not about the amount of money people earn. If it were, politicians and leftists would be promoting jealousy, fear and hate toward multimillionaire Hollywood and celebrities and sports stars, such as LeBron James ($48 million), Tiger Woods ($75 million) and Peyton Manning ($38 million). But there is no way that politicians could take over the roles of Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and LeBron James. That means celebrities can make any amount of money they want and it matters not one iota politically.
The Occupy Wall Street crowd shouldn't focus its anger at wealthy CEOs. A far more appropriate target would be the U.S. Congress.
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Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.
COPYRIGHT 2011 CREATORS.COM
October 19, 2011 @ 7:14 am
I agree with many things stated in this article, although, I must admit that in all my life I have never witnessed any president that has divided this country more than Obama. Envy has been with us since the beginning of time, but what this president has managed to do in the short time he’s held office is astonishing. History provides us with enough information to know that class warfare has been used to divide nations and gain control for many dictators, but Obama is in a class of of his own. Why? Because he appears to always be the “nice guy,” the quiet, controlled man who everyone seems to like. He manages to convince people of his genuine concern for them while methodically urging them to come to his defense and “march on” in his behalf. A community organizer who uses people for his own personal gain, and here lately, has even encouraged the violence that this mob has participated in. He, along with Van Jones, and the rest of Obama’s minions have planted the seeds and purposely let it grow in the hopes of being able to get re-elected and continue on with the “Dreams From my Father.” It’s pathetic that this wild, envious mob, has not even a clue that they are being used to gain, none other, than power and profit for those who have encouraged them to continue the fight!
October 19, 2011 @ 8:31 am
When Obama makes statements like;
“I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”
Obama is just playing the part he has rehearsed to so well. He is playing God. What next?
“I do think at a certain point you have had enough children so abort any more than one” is just what is coming next like his Communist Red Chinese brothers in Socialism. They have already persuaded Americans to flush 45 million children down the toilet, and along with it, the very strength of America’s future that would have kept their Socialist faux Social Security Ponzi scheme alive to finance another generation of retired seniors.
In the distorted liberal mind it is OK to dress up like Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson or any other secular mind bended Hollywood Geek who throws his wealth destroying, and moral code destroying income money away on drugs to kill the voice of his conscience reminding him of the perversions accomplished in the darkness of their private lives,,,,,,yet let some hard working American keep his nose to the grindstone to create real jobs that create real wealth and security for employees and other American citizens, and Obama and his Socialist cabal of wealth re-distributors are right at the scene with teleprompter at hand and microphone at mouth condemning them and their efforts to make this world a better and more secure place for themselves and others. Those guys that stole Obama’s truck with his teleprompter and microphone should be issued Congressional medals of Honor.
The difference between real Americans like George Washington who was seen on his knees praying before battle, who twice refused the crown offered him by his troops,,,and Self-God dictators like Napoleon, who grabbed the crown from the Cardinal to crown himself, Is men like Washington cried “Liberty, Equality, and FREEDOM, which they believed came from God and blessed America for generations. Socialist Secular Self-Gods like Napoleon, Robespierre, cried Liberty, Equality, FRATERNITY (Edification of man and brotherhood) which only gave us dictatorship and the Guillotine. Men like these and our current President forget that is God from whom all our rights originate and from whom all our blessings must flow and when we turn to guys like them to protect our rights and secure us our blessings, it is only the empty rewards and empty promises from empty headed finite men that end up emptying our purses, our moral bank accounts and our lives. What follows in their wake is that our United States become the Divided State of Liberal Insanity.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:50 am
” I have never witnessed any president that has divided this country more than Obama.”
It’s more than that. I have never seen a President more un-Presidental than Obama. He acts like he’s still shaking down rubes in Chicago. Earlier this week he was talking about his latest bogus jobs plan saying it was too complicated for the Republicans to understand. They have to break it up in little pieces he said in a mocking tone. When I heard that I thought, I have never heard a President of the United States talk like that. He brings the office down to the gutter with his cry baby style. He’s one sick dude.
October 19, 2011 @ 10:45 am
I agree. Has anyone ever seen a more divisive man, let alone the president!? I can’t remember a president ever trying to divide this country, at least not in my lifetime. And since when does one tell the American people that there should be limitations on the amount of money one should be able to make?! What in the world is that about?! I believe that this man in our White House grew up hating and envying the rich and probably made a vow when he was a little boy to “get even” if he was ever given the chance. The fact that he is actually getting on television and encouraging these protests against Capitalism is unthinkable for any decent American. Most of the people who are protesting Wall Street and holding signs that say, “Down with Capitalism!” obviously don’t have jobs or they would not be sleeping in the park for weeks on end! So what would they like to replace Capitalism with? Should we all be living in poverty?! Would that make them happy! But when Mr. Obama’s bank account gets to the level of, “enough” will he continue to write books and gather wealth or will he, when he reaches that enough level, will he be redistributing his overage?! Good grief! What in the world kind of upside down thinking is this!? November 2012 can’t come soon enough for this American woman. Get this arrogant, envy/hate filled man out of our White House! If he wants to live in a socialist/communist country he and all the nuts with him can go live somewhere like Russia or wherever, just get the heck out of our country!
October 19, 2011 @ 11:29 am
I can’t add anything more than my agreement with Newsjunky, the ever illuminated Inluminatuo, Dirtstrat and Carol. Walt puts it in a straight forward and an easily digestable way, and these follow-ups give me a confidense that the blithering blind and misguided anger that is being so revered by the MSM and leftist politicals will eventually be revealed for what it is: A class envy grab at what has not been earned by those too lazy to perform.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:16 pm
No doubt celebrities and pro sports people are overpaid as well. And I haven’t seen anyone try to claim that they aren’t…..But overpaying them in most cases doesn’t deny anyone else better pay, or eliminate jobs that could otherwise be created if they weren’t paid so much.
It also doesn’t prevent reinvesting in the company, rewarding shareholders, or lowering the price of products or services so that the company can better compete in the global market….. And what about the millions spent lobbying congress. Wasted money ? Yes or no ?
In 1965, U.S. CEOs in major companies earned 26.0 times more than an average worker; this ratio grew to 36.5 in 1978 and to 71.7 in 1989. There was a huge jump in the 1990s as the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay surged to 310.0 at the end of the recovery in 2000. And in almost every industrialized nation in the world, the ratio of executive pay to the average employee is below 100 to 1……
Now if you feel celebrities are overpaid, then how can you look at statistics such as those and say that CEO’s aren’t overpaid and that employees by and large are in fact underpaid ?
This isn’t class warfare. This is simply reality. Like it or not….
October 19, 2011 @ 3:27 pm
Pres. Obama has not been the one dividing the country, it’s been the GOP and their ilk. I find it amazing the so many of you can be so duped by thier lies. I am a independant voter myself and I do more then just listen to one side of an arguement. The rich have really gotten richer and are not the so-called job creators the the GOP say they are. Those same CEO’s are the one who will ship US jobs overseas to increase their bottomline. I don’t see the rich telling their kids to join the miltary and risk getting maimed or killed. Dick Cheney took 5 deferrments in oder to not serve doing the Vietnam War. Many of you will not be happy until the GOP has finished getting rid of the middle-class. They only want 2 classes and that is rich and poor. When that happens don’t be surprised when most of the poor turn on them and revolt. You all seem to forget the French Revolution and it’s causes. The poor suffering and rich enjoying better life. Didn’t go to well for the rich then did it? When you take even hope away from people they will lose their fear of the oppressers and turn on them.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:57 pm
Hey pup…..the leftwing dems want 2 classes too, the magistrates and the proletariat. I don’t think you’re so independent either. Watch out…your CPUSA card is showing?? LOL. Military?? So the rich don’t have any cadets at West Point, Annapolis, Running Springs?
October 19, 2011 @ 4:05 pm
alaska, you need to ask the peanut venders, ushers, ticket takers and janitors at sporting events how much they don’t make. The top ten celebrities make an average of over $100 million a year. The top ten CEO’s make an average of $43 million most of which is in stock options. You can find this info at Forbes. Oprah makes $290 million a year. That is thousands of times more than the average person makes. So how can you demonize CEO’s and let Celebrities have a free pass? I have to conclude that you must be a liberal.
pup081, The only one being dupe is you. Obama has done more to destroy the middle class than the previous 10 presidents. Businesses are the ones that made it possible for people to rise out of poverty and the government has destroyed the chances for more people to rise out of poverty by over burdening businesses.
You sir seem to forget the consequences of the French revolution. The government that replaced the previous rulers were more totalitarian. That is how they got Napoleon. That was worse than the King they replaced.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! !
October 19, 2011 @ 9:27 pm
I keep trying to tell you guys that “community organizer” is just PC for WARDHEELER, and in good old Democrat-ridden Illinois, that’s about as low as you can get in “The Machine,” in fact, it”s entry level.
I knew that you Kidz would agree with the article because IT’S TRUE. Excepting alaska and pup of course. A house divided is easy meat, and a house divided will fall. Take your pick. Either way Obummer’s got to go in 2012 before he realizes HIS dream of a socio-communist playground for the ruling Politburo (and I’m sure he’s slated the top spot for himself).
October 20, 2011 @ 11:55 am
onewildman
So you are willing to acknowledge that celebrities and pro sports players are overpaid. And you don’t see that as demonizing them. But when I simply point out some facts regarding the history of executive pay in this country and elsewhere in the industrialized world, and who that effects. I’m accused of demonizing ?
Now if you had read what I actually posted you would have noted that nobody disagrees that these people you mention are overpaid as well.
And I get the fact that you don’t like Obama, and to be honest I don’t see that he has been any different than any other president when it comes to pandering to Wall Street and large corporations. Corporations that have posted 7 straight quarters of record profits. Yet still aren’t hiring…. And don’t give me the old excuse of regulations. According to the Dept. of Labor less than two tenths of 1% of the jobs lost can be attributed to regulations. There truly is no hope for this nation as long as we stay so divided along political lines and are unable to engage in civil discourse. I can at least say I tried….
October 20, 2011 @ 2:33 pm
alaska, The fact is that over paid sport figures and actors do effect everyone. example: The show Friends. The main actors all conspired to get the same amount per episode. This caused the show to end early causing every one on the series to loose their job. They were not equals in their abilities to act and did not deserve the same pay but they got it. that is what caused the series to end.
I did no more to demonize celebrities than you did to CEO’s. So get off your high horse. As for not liking Obama, I haven’t like a Democratic president since JFK. it’s not the person it’s their politics and no president has ever spent so much of his time blaming other people for their own failures. he is the worst person to ever hold office. Even worse than Andrew Johnson the President who rescinded the order that gave blacks their mule and forty acres. He also order all the land and mules that had already been given to the Blacks be returned.
Obama made a statement at one of many stops where said “Why can’t we make batteries in America”? The answer the Government regulated them out of the country. That is why we don’t make batteries here. Not all corporation are showing large profits. There are over 3,000 corporations and very few CEO’s make millions of dollars a year. The ten lowest paid CEO’s of the top 500 corporations average less than $1,000,000 a year..
If you honestly believe that Obama is not acting any different than all the other presidents before him you need to seriously do some research.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! !
October 19, 2011 @ 7:46 am
When dscussing CEO’s compensation, that word should BE compensation, not salary.
CEOs are compensated with cash, yes, but most of their compensation is in stock/ownership of said company. Stock that they cannot sell. WHY? To keep the CEO heavily invested in keeping the company profitable and more 8importantly…growing.
The average person does his/her 8-10 hours a day and goes home. CEOs are responsible for sometimes many hundreds of people and therefore their families. They are on duty a lot more than 40 hours a week, 5 days a week. Their entire lives revolve around the company.
Their compensation is directly tied to their enormous responsibility. The guy pushing the broom is paid less than the secretary whose office the cleaner is cleaning. The secretary makes less than her boss who might be running the factory in which he makes more than the builder of widgets. The salespeople make more than…..get the idea? Understand now?
October 19, 2011 @ 8:34 am
Hollywood is comprised of the most greedy people in the country. They would never shin the light on just how much they make. i know you hear about blockbusters but what about the movies where these actors get paid up front more money than the picture makes on top of the fact that all movies are over priced to see and own. That is why there is so much piracy. They charge so much more than the movies are worth both in owning or watching at the theater. It is easy to make a living hocking bootleg DVD’s.
I kinda got off topic. The fact is the people protesting are more greedy than those they are protesting against. They envy and covet others wealth and are so greedy that they want others money without working for it. They want everything for free!
They are the dregs of our society and they are controlled by liberals like puppets and they have no more brains than puppets. The liberals will use them until they have full control and then they will be discarded like the rubbish they are.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! !
October 19, 2011 @ 11:21 am
Funny. The Hollywood Machine I have seen up close. If you are inside the loop, “the pipeline” as I called it, the pressure flow of money is amazing and you are treated like royalty. (It is wickedly alluring to be so treated.) But if you are outside said loop, or pipeline, count on being manipulated, marginalized, a meatpuppet and the first to be cut out to ah, maintain the budget. And accounting practices? Hell is likely brimming full of Hollywood Accountants squeezed in by the sleazy Casting Couch owners. Reminds me to be good…
So it is funny to see how so many (not all) of the Hollywood Elite line up and do the Liberal Socialist Ra Ra Chant and to remind all that they are so compassionate… but as their operations go you would think you were working for some even more malevolent Ebeneezer Scrooge or Mister Potter.
Since the Hollywood Machine churns out so much culturally destructive rubbish, I guess that is why not a peep about them per the protesters or that Fraud, Obama. And of the Sports Gladiators? Crickets! They are the players for the Bread & Circus games for us lowly Plebeians and are Gods.
Any merit worthy issue that could have ever been made was instantly LOST by these shabby rabble bubble-heads in their discombobulated sophomoric reasoning and greatly misdirected, selective, Bolshevik flavored rants. No doubt Hollywood is looking to do a film… .
October 19, 2011 @ 1:28 pm
The reason Obummer is not going after the Hollyweed crowd, for the obsene amounts of money that they make, is that you don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Ask yourselves, how many millions of dollars have been and will be donated to Obummer’s reelection campaign by Hollywood wackadoos?
An example is Opra Winfree, who has donated millions to Obummer and continues to do so.
I can just see Obummer telling Opra, It’s time now to give it away, you have made enough. Yeah, right.
October 19, 2011 @ 8:46 am
PROTESTERS! YES< YOU< PROTESTERS! Those celebrities walking with you are those multimillionaires you hate (in your speeches)…..
Poor imbeciles, spreading PROPAGANDA of their leftist professors……………
think before you act.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:22 am
“Useful Idiots” serving a communist cause…Vladimir Lenin
Let’s add to the list of Occupy America accomplishments:
No U.S. flags at rallies
Rampant theft
Drug use
No permits for their rallies
Thousands of arrests
No coherent message
They aim their ire at corporations instead of the government, who is supposed to regulate corporations and was responsible for the mortgage meltdown using the Community Reinvestment Act
…
Useful Idiots. A bunch of spoiled rotten babies who wouldn’t know the first thing about work ethic and opportunity.
I hear some conservative saying that part of their message resonates with Americans. Really? Not this one. It’s a bit hard to hear the message when the delivery is so vulger. And this will get violent before they go away.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:57 am
Look into the faces of these these disoriented people, look at the heaps of trash they leave in their wake and you have looked into the face of our Community organizer President who organized them into being and has left our economy as disoriented and trashed as these demonstators.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:49 pm
That’s odd, because at the rally I attended there were families, blue collar and white collar workers. And quite a few veterans with flags. Even one in his late 80′s with a walker that served in 3 wars. Could you look into the face of a veteran of 3 wars and call him a useful idiot ? I know I couldn’t…..
October 19, 2011 @ 4:59 pm
Well – I have checked out 3 – because I am radio talk show host. Nothing like what you describe alaska. Lots of smells, lots of looting and vagrancy. Google theft at occupy rallies and you will see. $2,500 was stolen from a soup kitchen at 1 rally. Most of those attending are worthless rable. Uniformed college brainwashed morons who can’t get a job because they have worthless skills.
Perhaps one day they will wash up, get haircuts, use deodarant and go look for a job. Oh wait. They won’t because they won’t lower themselves to entry level jobs like we all did when we started. These people need to stop sucking off of the teet of generous Americans and be productive citizens. Or they can rise-up and suffer the consequences of an electorate that has had enough.
Are there some well-intentioned people? Probably a few. But not the rallies I saw.
Yep – useful idiots. That’s exactly why Obama supports them.
October 20, 2011 @ 10:46 am
You are right. Actions speak louder than words and the actions of the “Occupy Crowd” speak volumes!
October 19, 2011 @ 9:25 am
Hollywood and Politicians—Have you ever heard of a poor Politician. Obama is drawing a salary from us as well as from George Soros!
October 19, 2011 @ 9:37 am
They don’t think. They know nothing other than what they’re told. Exactly describes the problem we have in DC as well. We have a president and his advisors that think they understand economics because a communist professor gave them an “A” on a paper about it.
Their model is unsustainable. It is not working anywhere else in the world, but for the support of this once-great nation that led the world for well over 100 years specifically by NOT looking or acting like every other backasswards country out there. We’re still propping them all up. Unfortunately it’s being done with printed money, which is also unsustainable.
When the rich have nothing left, the poor will be completely screwed and the government won’t have anyone to take from to save them. If these idiot protesters decide to turn violent and turn on the working public, I believe they’ll find, unlike the riots in other countries, that Americans are still willing to protect themselves, their fortunes and their loved ones…and a lot of us own the means by which we can do it.
October 19, 2011 @ 1:45 pm
Hitler confiscated all the guns, then demonstrated and violently opposed anybody who got in his way, all the while, scapegoating the Jews. When the blackshirts came, the people had no way to defend themselves. Six million plus, paid with their lives.
Obummer and his gang, are pushing gun control big time. If he gets his way, we will have no way to defend ourselves against these mobs of unruly morons, who will take whatever they want.
Mayor Blumberg is a spinless idiot, for allowing these scumbags camp out and filthy up everything they touch. The mayor will pay a political price, big time, not if, but when these unruly scuts get violent and innocient citizens start getting hurt.
If you live, work or own a business near where these scumbags are “demonstrating”, my advice to you, is to stay locked and loaded. Your life might depend on it.
October 19, 2011 @ 2:52 pm
Truthteller:
I see now they’re here in downtown L.A. They’ve set up tents on an entire block of Temple Street with the obligatory signs and posters, most of them pretty stupid. I guess they must sleep late, because I’m down there about 8:00 in the morning, and the protestors are nowhere to be seen. It seems Villaraigosa has about as much backbone as Bloomberg.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:33 pm
Hey truthteller, I guess Bloomberg is not worried about the anti-semitic doomsday visions you are seeing with these protests. He is Jewish after all.
October 21, 2011 @ 2:17 am
oooopss…this one was on the wrong thread. Moved it.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:45 am
A liberal “friend” once expounded on the huge salaries of CEOs. I used this same argument! I brought up Opra, and he responded that “she pays taxes and does good stuff like giving cars to people. I mentioned the huge salaries of certain entertainment people, and he repeted that they paid their taxes and did good public deeds. Another typical useful idiot.
October 19, 2011 @ 10:27 am
Does the “friend” not realize or care that CEOs pay taxes? Does the “friend” not know or care that most CEOs give money and time – sometimes tons of it – to charities and worthy causes? Does the “friend” not know or care that most CEOs do many, often unpublicized, good public deeds? People like your “friend” are much of the problem with our country today.
October 19, 2011 @ 10:38 am
I don’t believe anybody should limit salaries except the shareholders and board. HOWEVER:
I once worked on the floor for Lowe’s. I’m disabled retired and wanted something to do. Immediately, they noticed I did my job, was college educated, and good with the customers.
So, they offered me management. I declined because “I couldn’t be a manager over people who work hard but barely make minimum wage when our store makes millions”. Soon after that, I left.
It is a work ethic of mine that I demand from my piers. I always took care of my troops. I also protected them the idiots that were supposed to be supporting us. Hard but Fair.
October 19, 2011 @ 10:40 am
Let’s not forget it was Pontiac that gave away those cars – not opra. It just happened to be her show where they were given away.
October 19, 2011 @ 1:55 pm
Opera never does anything that won’t make her money or raise her ratings (make her more money) Just remember, It is Opra Winfree Inc. (Harpo productions) Opera didn’t get to be a billionare by giving things away with no direct or indirect benefit to her.
The one exception to this is she does pour millions down the Obummer rat hole.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:19 pm
Pontiac gives away the cars, Oprah and Obama grab all the credit as Obama gives away the Company called Pontiac who is no longer in business. Welcome to the twisted world of Socialism.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:37 pm
The Family had a Pontiac–Cadillac Dealership a long time ago. The geniuses that ran General Motors eventually ground up the individual Divisions into a hamburger like substance, repackaged it and marketed it as a whole “cow”. Accountants who got into management did assist in making short term profits off of the legacy of the various Divisions but the independent spirit of the car companies that Billy Durrant bought and merged into General Motors were eventually, greatly lost. Sadly, Pontiac like it’s parent of long ago, Oakland, died.
In this twisted world, bad management, corrupt unions helped kill the goose that laid the golden egg. The sad irony is that bad management was rewarded and the union bosses, well, they are doing just fine and could care less that Chief Pontiac is rusting in the junk yard of eventually, failed products.
October 19, 2011 @ 10:41 am
Politics is a “dirty” business and has always been such. It is hard fo a “good guy” to be successful in the kind of culture that has developed in our country when personal attacks seem to be the favored strategy of the progressives and their media allies. It was no more obvious then the unrelenting attack on Sarah Palin by just about everybody in the media including people like Bill Maher and David Letterman who took it to extremes.
The upcoming election is almost a fight to the death between our traditional American capitalistic based system that has been the envy of the world, and a socialist/communist system, which, when taken to the extremes, has always eventually failed. President Obama is the “closer” of this well planned progressive takeover of our country as he pushes his socialist programs. They will say or do anything necessary to be successful.
October 19, 2011 @ 12:10 pm
Why are you singling out the liberal media, the conservatives do it to their own. Or do you not remember G W Bush in 2000 before the South Carolina primary slandering McCain, a war veteran and hero, by saying that he sired an illegitimate black child. This virtually sunk McCain’s hope of the Republican nomination in 2000.
As far as our capitalistic system, the Germans do it better with their Socialist/Democratic system. Not only do they have superior manufacturing with BMW, Siemens, Daimler AG, Bosch, etc, they are supporting the rest of the faltering European Union.
October 19, 2011 @ 12:54 pm
“Socialist/Democratic”, now there’s an oxymoron.
October 19, 2011 @ 1:04 pm
I don’t agree with you say Germans have better manufacturing. I Know Siemens quit well and they produce a far less quality part. That is why they bought out the Square D Company back in the early 90″s they did not like being second and AG is part of Siemens . After they bought Square D the quality went down and the jobs went to Mexico and other countries. As for BMW I know plenty of unhappy BMW owners.
As for McCain, I would not have voted for him. i don’t believe that anyone who has been a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton should ever have that kind of power. I base that decision on the fact that I know and knew dozens of people who went to Nam and have never been the same. I’m not saying it’s that way for all just enough to make me worry.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! !
October 19, 2011 @ 5:46 pm
PhillyDawg, there’s no oxymoron, it has a freely elected Chancellor, Angela Merkel at this point in time and the government provides a lot of services to its people to include healthcare and education. Look it up.
Onewildman, I suppose you were a yellow-belly coward sitting at home watching everyone serve their country (me included) collecting every government benefit you can before it dries up. If you have the audacity to talk **** about Vietnam vets I wonder what you have to say about our Iraq and Afghanistan vets. Square D was acquired by Schneider Electric a French company not Siemens. Try getting your facts straight before you post.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:20 pm
Hey Barb……it’s an oxymoron because in socialism there is NO VOTE or “elections” for the proletariate, nor is there any “currency” allowed. Democracy and socialism do not go together. They are opposites. Just because the Germans put in a few programs doesn’t make it socialist. Same for the UK.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:41 pm
Phillydawg, yet if the US wanted to put the same programs as the German government, like universal healthcare (which Germany has) its deemed socialist. Hmmm… So are the Germans socialist or democratic? If the US enacts the same programs as Germany such as universal healthcare and education, is it socialist or democratic?
October 20, 2011 @ 12:02 am
I think there’s a difference here on the healthcare issue. BO shoved Obamacare down our throats without even allowing congress to READ it. ie Nancy Pelosi, ”you have to pass it first before we let you see what’s in it.” OY! NOR did the American public get to read it or “vote” on it, thus this plan being forced on us in a dictatorial way makes it socialistic. If the Germans voted and agreed to pay for whatever programs they put together that’s democratic to me. Fact is, the US doesn’t want Obamacare yet BO and his followers think it neccessary to force it upon us because they think “they know better”. The fact that the dem ruled congress blindly followed this dictator without reading the legislation also feeds into socialist practice. Not to mention tho that I bet the taxes, like the UK are sky high for all these “services”. Still…I call Germany and the UK ”democracies” because at least the people get to vote in general elections, and for their representatives, something that true socialism denies. AND for any “true socialism” to really work(which it never does) it has to be forced and the proletariate kept in servitude to the state. Something I will fight with all my might!
October 20, 2011 @ 12:12 am
I’ll also say this about government run healthcare. I might not know a lot about the German system right now, but I have first hand knowledge of the UK’s ****** NHS system, being married to a Brit for the past 31 years. It’s like going to the DMV. Long lines, long wait times of several weeks,etc. Father in law after over 30 years was finally “allowed” to get a heart bypass. Treatment for his angina up till last year was a nitro pill and a shot of whiskey at bedtime. Mother in law is dead because the “3 stooges” NHS couldn’t figure out what kind of abdominal cancer she had. By the time they figured it out she was too weak to operate on. NHS dental is just catching up to doing “root canals”, something that was denied years ago. Because of “costs to the government” they’d rather pull a tooth rather than do a root canal. Many people then in my inlaws’ generation including my inlaws, wear dentures because of this. So even more on an economic and “good care” front I’m against an NHS let alone any kind of “socialistic” label,etc.
October 20, 2011 @ 8:26 am
barbarossa03 You are the only yellow-belly coward on this site. I served as a volunteer not drafted. You talk like a liberal piece of ****. You have the nerve to call some a coward when you aren’t looking me face to face. I have never backed downed from anyone or anybody. Including you! How dare you say I don’t care about vets.
I have worked since I was 14 and been paying taxes since then. I pull my own weight and always have. Unlike you i do my part. You are just another liberal troll here trying to change the subject and stir the pot. Rot in hell you piece of festering scum.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! !
October 20, 2011 @ 8:45 am
You go, onewildman! Don’t back off an inch. All true patriots who love their country are behind you on this one. babarossa03 will need burn medication for eternity as far as I’m concerned.
October 20, 2011 @ 9:31 am
barbarossa03, One more thing stupid Siemens was part of group Schneider in 1991. I know what I’m talking about it is you who is clueless. I worked for Square D and we were sold out by the squared CEO who called us in for a meeting about the hostile take over. He convinced us to sign over our stock proxies so he would have more power to prevent the take over. That was a lie he just wanted it to push up the sale price per share. When it got to 84 a share he sold us down the river. Over half of my division was terminated because Siemens had people doing the same job. They are no longer part of what is now called Schneider Electric.
One other thing Schneider started as a German company.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! !
October 20, 2011 @ 12:14 pm
Phillydawg, shoved down our throats like the Patriot Act, a socialist, Orwellian piece of legislation under the auspices of Homeland Security, which just allows unfettered surveillance on US citizens. Good thing Congress let some of the provisions of this first step toward totalitarianism expire. Before you respond expounding the so called achievements of this policy, here’s a quote from Ben Franklin:
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-Ben Franklin
I wasn’t against universal healthcare and a public option. If when I reach age 55 (or whatever age I am deemed unprofitable for private healthcare) and private healthcare are going to raise my rates astronomically pushing me toward Medicare where I become the governments “problem” or “profit drain” like millions of other senior citizens why can I not be part of Medicare at a younger age and pay my fair share into the system. You know why because I’m too much profit to miss out on right now as I only go for annual check-ups right now. The rest of my premium paid per month is pure profit.
As far as Socialism not working, you only have to look to China, who holds billions of dollars of our national debt. Communism is a subset of Socialism. How can 1 Billion people be wrong?
October 20, 2011 @ 12:27 pm
Onewildman, I would do the same thing face to face if you were obliged to give a location so I could do it. I never said you didn’t care about Vets, that came out of your minds I. I would suggest go back and read what I wrote. Sure I guess that’s what occurred with Siemens in YOUR revisionist history
October 21, 2011 @ 2:20 am
Barbg….Wow…nice change of subject eh? I never brought up the patriot act.
You tho apparently like and defend totalitarianism with China. China?? OMG?? Are you freaking kidding me?? Their communism is NOT working so now they’re bringing in/allowing some capitalism slowly but surely. Of course the “polit bureau/magistrates are the capitalists using peasant slave labor. China?? We’re talking about the majority of inland poor hand to mouth peasants starving to death. That’s ”working”?? China? You mean the country that harvests livers, kidneys and other body parts from freshly executed political prisoners that they shoot in the back of the head every month? ($1 to an old 20/20 report) Their “great communist” government will no doubt fall like the soviets because it’s too profitable to go capitalist. The proletariate will only take so much government control till they revolt for freedom. Tienamin square was just the tip of the iceberg. I suppose you think North Korea’s system is working too….wow.
October 21, 2011 @ 2:47 am
Barb said…
“As far as Socialism not working, you only have to look to China, who holds billions of dollars of our national debt. Communism is a subset of Socialism. How can 1 Billion people be wrong?”
Wow…you make it sound like these people “voted” for communism?? You think Mao allowed a “vote”??? Cmon!
Communism is “forced socialism” which is socialism in it’s purest form according to the manifesto. I think you have it backwards. Really socialism in it’s “free liberal” form(like what many on your side seem to ”like”) is a subset and precurser TO forced socialism or communism. I say “1 billion people” are in bondage and many are trying to protest for their freedom. Those “1 billion” people are in poverty. The only moguls allowed are mostly from the coasts according to those I know who’ve visited China. They don’t even have toilets inland! Only in the hotels the tourists stay in or towns the tourists travel to.
October 21, 2011 @ 8:22 am
Phillydawg, Just wanted to add a few things. The Social Revolution in China was in 1967. Most of the Chinese who participated regret their actions. it was a very violent revolution and like our civil war it pitted son against farther and brother against brother. Some are just now trying to have relations with family members.
As for the executed prisoners, they send a bill for the bullet to persons family.
China realized that socialism did not work and China was falling behind the rest of the world. They started slow but like a snowball they have been getting bigger and faster. Without capitalism they would have remained stagnant.
They did not vote for Socialism they brainwashed the young and turned them against anyone who had any kind of wealth and forced it on them.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! !
October 22, 2011 @ 11:45 pm
Phillydawg, I don’t know where you get that the Chinese are allowing “capitalism” because their system is failing. The last time I checked the Chinese government dictates to businesses how they will operate, or did you not here about Google having to bow down to China’s demands to censorship – yeah that’s Capitalism alright. As far as poor living hand to mouth you only have to look in America’s back yard, even in the streets of Philadelphia. Those working at “slave labor” wages, I guess, as Capitalism would put it, are those people who did not apply themselves for further education, kind of like those who work minimum wage to flip burgers here in America. Not everyone can be doctors and lawyers. And again, China holds the vast majority of our debt, so essentially a Communist country is financing a Capitalist country, interesting. And no you have it backwards, Communism is a subset of Socialism.
I like the fact that you devote two whole posts to the last three lines to my last post but nothing to the previous, interesting as well.
October 19, 2011 @ 10:53 am
This article is right on the money. While Americans have always argued with each other ever since Obama entered into politics it has been by using class warfare. I dearly wish that people would wake up to see this poison for what it is, a distraction from the truth. I have never seen one good thing come out of hatred and this guy just seems to shower the country in it.
As far as the people who fall for this type of thinking and the lack of thinking to swallow it I would ask who is next? It happened in France and it happened again in Germany. You keep the demonization going on. It keeps the masses distracted from what is going on. Look at the OWS crowd. Listen to the anti-semetic discourse going on there. Inevitably it will progress into something more ugly. As it is you can control people better if you have them divided among themselves as opposed to united for each other.
The “leaders” that put the title reverend in front of their name should be ashamed of themselves. What they preach is not Christ but a bastardization of His gospel. It is a self-agrandisement in the name of justice meant only to deceive. If there was no money or power involved in their “cause” they would not be in it now.
October 19, 2011 @ 6:26 pm
barbarossa03:
No kidding! Aren’t they all! (Comment showed up in wrong place. Reference to his remarks about Reagan having an economic adviser.)
October 19, 2011 @ 11:15 am
I remember hearing a Reagan quote about the effects of punitive taxation. He said it more eloquently than I could, but I will attempt to paraphrase.
He said that if he made one movie and got paid a million dollars he could live on that money for the year. If the tax rate on money made over one million is 90%, there is no incentive for him to make a second movie. He barely notices the loss, but the studio and all the people who work there will be the ones that suffer. His point is that by penalizing hard work the government discourages business, which ultimately hurts the lower income workers most.
If anyone has a link to that quote I’d appreciate it.
October 19, 2011 @ 11:48 am
NY Graham:
I searched the net and couldn’t come up with the quote you referenced, but if I ever do, I’ll send you the link.
October 19, 2011 @ 12:42 pm
I to couldn’t find the quote, but in my search came across his Biblical explanation of taxation, pertaining to the subject. I also didn’t realize he was a proponent of a Flat Tax same as me. You might have to copy and paste the address as it’s not fitting the post area. sorry.
http://books.google.com/books?id=z28JXb_oWGoC&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=in+one+
1962+speech,+reagan+spent+four+lengthy+paragraphs+eviscerating+
the+american+tax+system,+especially+the+50+to+91+percent+tax+brackets&
source=bl&ots=mkoKGEAXMc&sig=oR-l0CIkTtvzzULy5CbE8DkvkwA&hl=en&ei=tgyfT
verL42NigKulYEw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA
October 19, 2011 @ 6:13 pm
It wasn’t Reagan who came up with this principle, he wasn’t smart enough, look at trickle down economics – that’s a laugh. He was actually paraphrasing the principles of the Laffer curve promulgated by Arthur Laffer. He was obviously helped by his economic advisers on this.
October 19, 2011 @ 6:26 pm
You’re a liar. Laffer just received his BA in 1962 when Reagan gave the speech with his principles. Why would Reagan follow a grad student. Give it up Doofuss.
October 19, 2011 @ 6:39 pm
You are the true Doofus here Geniesal, Arthur Laffer was part of Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board for both Reagan’s terms – why don’t you do some research for once and quit talking unfounded stupidity. You obviously don’t know what you are talking about! He’s a conservative you should know about him! I challenge you to look him up and tell me that I’m wrong, but you don’t have the integrity to admit that you are wrong.
October 19, 2011 @ 6:49 pm
I’ll wear that as a badge of honor coming from those of your ilk. Thanks much.
Reagan gave that speech in 1962 and Laffer received a BA degree in economics from Yale University in 1962.
He wasn’t on the panel til much later so Reagan had formulated his own views and Laffer must have agreed
with Reagan.
Laffer who first gained prominence during the Reagan administration as a member of Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board (1981–1989)
Notice the date differences. Try a different learning curve, one that you can handle, better than that I think you might qualify for a full time
position in the Obama organization for you.
October 19, 2011 @ 7:28 pm
It’s funny that 5 posts ago you say you cannot locate the quote in question now you are saying with certainty it was given in ’62 when he was still in Hollywood. Hmmm! I guess you are the same as every lunatic fringe conservative eventing data to support your flimsy arguments.
October 19, 2011 @ 7:49 pm
Boy Barbarossa is a good name for you. (Red beard Pirate)
never mind 03 if you can’t keep up then I won’t waste my fingertips. Good luck on your flaming and TROLLING.
Ayeeee Matey!
October 19, 2011 @ 9:20 pm
Geniesal, it’s actually for Fredrick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany (1122-1190). He embarked on the massive and fatal 3rd Crusade. I can see where you can get the Red Beard the Pirate thinking with Pirates of the Caribbean and Jake and the Neverland Pirates, the same fantasyland settings you get your facts from.
October 19, 2011 @ 11:24 am
This president has an uncanny ability to twist and distort truth, justice and the American way like no man before him. He is also exceptionally skilled at denigrating and deflecting blame onto his opposition. He is the master of deceit. I question where he acquired these attributes. Was it his Marxist upbringing, his radical associations, Harvard Law School or his community organizing in the corrupt city of Chicago? Mark my words, when these Wall Street protesters (whom he now supports) turn ugly and violent (and they will) he will find a way to disassociate himself from them and cast blame for their actions onto his political opponents.
October 19, 2011 @ 12:44 pm
He was taught all of those twists and distortions by everyone involved in raising him to adulthood. He never associated with anyone who did NOT reinforce those twists and distortions.
He is pure anti-American in every aspect …
October 19, 2011 @ 12:14 pm
Wow. Celebrities make a lot of money so CEOs should too. Is that really your argument?
On its face, it kind of makes sense. One group of people draws an exorbitant salary, so it’s okay for anyone to draw an exorbitant salary. Except, when you dig deeper, you find that these “celebs” as you call them, whether they be actors, singers, or athletes are all paid by someone else. For some, it’s the movie studio. For others, it’s record and concert ticket buyers. For others still, it’s the owner of the team they play for, along with the companies of the products they shill for (Gatorade, Nike, Chrysler, et al). When it comes to so many CEOs, they are the ones rigging the pay for themselves. There may be a board of directors who actually sign off on the salaries, but we’d all be fooling ourselves if we said that the CEO didn’t play a major role in the arrangement of the internal compensation.
I’m sure most Americans have no problem with a CEO getting his fair share. One name Walter dropped was Lawrence “Larry” Ellison, otherwise known as the CEO and founder of Oracle. If not for Ellison, Oracle wouldn’t even exist. I, and most people I know, have no problem with any kind of compensation he receives – even though his net worth is valued at over $40 billion. Same goes for the late Steve Jobs. He single-handedly led Apple to record breaking profits. Without Steve Jobs, there is no Mac, no iPod, and no iPhone – so whatever kind of compensation he was drawing is okay by me.
The problem comes when a CEO at a company that is failing or restructuring (read: laying off employees by the hundreds or even thousands) is pulling down crazy compensation. How is it possible that these people can earn so much? Because they are essentially the people writing their own checks. And that’s the difference between entertainers/athletes and CEOs: One group is compensated from outside sources (free market) while the other group pulls strings and gets his/her buddies on the board to approve crazy compensation.
October 19, 2011 @ 12:41 pm
You obviously have not been reading the paper lately with regard to professional athletes who have two things going for them, first, an agent who helps negotiate contracts that the top athletes coming in out of college or otherwise need, and the unions that represent the professional athletes. The reason that the NBA is late in getting started this year is the union negotiations and the salaries and benefits of for all of the athletes, not just those at the top that get outrageous salaries for being born with physical talents that allow them to become great athletes. The cost of a ticket these days to a ballgame or whatever is so expensive that the typical family cannot afford to attend many games any more.
Those that run companies of all sizes cannot get to that level of income right off of the street like a pro athlete or actor. It takes a solid educational background and hardwork to rise to these executive levels in most companies. The most talented ones end up at the top just like the most talented athletes or actors because they have the mental abilities and business sense coupled with leadership skills that give them the ability to operate at these complex executive position levels. They all are hired by the Board of Directors and have employment contracts just like the top athletes, and they can be fired just as easily as they were hired. They do not have tenure or anything other then what was negotiated in their employment contract to fall back on if they are fired. Yes, the best ones have the best contracts and severance packages, and justifiably so.
These CEO jobs are 24/7 hour jobs and pressure packed. Many of them are brought in through executive search agencies to save a company that is in trouble and have track records that warrant their consideration for the job. Yes, in some cases, the company has to be reorganized and streamlined to survive, and that means layoffs and that is not something that anyone likes to do.
The idea of somehow demonizing those at these levels of our companies is something I have to believe is out of ignorance of how the majority of our corporations operate. Yes, there are exceptions, but most of our corporations have human resource policies and structures that are good for the employee including good employee benefits (not comparable to public service jobs, however, by a long shot). The salary structure is set all the way up to the corporate level and the incentive programs are ususally stock oriented, not cash. This motivates those in the company to keep the company successful or the stock would dump and they would lose a lot of money.
Americans invest their savings in these companies and the Board of these companies want the shareholders to get positive returns on these investments and so they work hard to make that happen including paying good salaries to get the best talent they can find to run their company.
Other then entertainment, what positive contributed value comparable to food, products and technology, and other needs of the American people does any of these overpaid actors and athletes provide for the American people? The American people could survive well without any of the products of these two industries, so, in terms of “value added” what these people get paid (like Oprah or Tom Cruise, etc) is way over the top. So you think that Oprah should make ten times what Steve Jobs made in terms of contributed value to our country?
So get off of this class warfare nonsense and stick to the critical issues surrounding the beginning of the demise of our country as it slides more and more toward an unaffordable socialist structure that, in the end, the majority of Americans are not going to like.
October 19, 2011 @ 12:52 pm
You don’t think Oprah writes her own checks? Also your last sentence can be also said of congress. They vote and pass their own pay raises quite often off the tax payers dime.
Now of course I’d agree with you that if a company is failing the CEOS at the top have to take the hit too, but the point of this article is quite telling that these “protesters” on one hand demonize a CEO and on the other leave demagogs like Oprah and celebrities alone is staggering.
October 19, 2011 @ 12:58 pm
Sureshot…go to the top and scroll to my post…it explains compensation of CEOs.
And why DO you care what someone else makes? Are you working for said failing company whose CEO “makes too much money”?
Do you have ANY idea how a board of directors operates or what a CEO even does on a daily, weekly and monthly basis? BODs are generally made up of investors, people who have sunk a lot of money into the business. Ya realllyyy believe they just hand a big fat paycheck to a guy who is simply their buddy, as you called a CEO?
Sureshot…go look at a company balance sheet. Then come back here and tell us CEOs just handed money by his buddies.
October 19, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
@ SURESHOT 32-Sounds like your argument should definitely apply to CONGRESS! Talk about voting themselves crazy compensation that is not availble to the people who pay their salaries —TAXPAYERS!
October 19, 2011 @ 2:10 pm
Who said my comment shouldn’t apply to congress? Those guys (and gals) are some of the biggest buffoons in the business, screwing up this country left and right.
Let no man say that I support the awful job congress is doing. No man.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:08 pm
sureshot…..my comment about congress was more in keeping with your slighted comparison of CEO’s writing their own checks. Both can be a “good ole boy” phenom, but I’d agree more with JDZ and RW. I don’t think CEO’s just get handed a check that they and their buddies agree on or write their own checks. Congress DOES write their own checks tho when they vote for increases,etc.
October 19, 2011 @ 6:25 pm
Celebrities are not complaining about having to pay a higher tax! For you people who say that it’s about jealousy of the have nots, the unemployed, and dirtbags of society, how do you explain WARREN BUFFET, a self made billionaire, coming out and saying that it is not fair that he pays at a lower tax rate than his secretary, and he pays taxes on capital gains at 15%, the same capital gains that CEOs pay as many on this thread have been quick to point out. People like to point out Soros, but how about Buffet. One of you right-wing liberators of the unlimited money, no tax movement explain this to me don’t just leave a negative vote. Here’s a news snippet:
Buffett, who is estimated to be worth more than $47 billion, called on Congress to commit to “shared sacrifice” and raise taxes on people earning more than $1 million. Buffett said the rich are “coddled” by Congress “as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species.”
“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,” Buffett wrote in a Sunday New York Times Op-ed.
October 20, 2011 @ 8:41 am
barbarossa03, get your facts straight. Warren Buffet only pays income tax on his $100,000 salary. He has to pay tax on other things like stock transfers and dividends and he owes almost a billion dollars in back taxes. He only wants to prevent anyone from achieving as much wealth as him. Even with the rich getting tax breaks they still pay a thousand times what you pay in taxes. You are just envious of what others have and are not willing to work to get your own.
All stars do not all pay their taxes. They just like other rich people hide their money in off shore accounts. The difference in them and the others is the movie stars point the finger at people for the same things they themselves do. let’s not forget politicians like Carey and Rangel.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! ! !
October 20, 2011 @ 12:32 pm
Onewildman, I am bewildered in your inability to read or comprehend what you read. Where in my commentary, until now, do I mention Buffet paying an income tax?
And if Warren Buffet is not wanting other people to be a rich as him why is he willing to redistribute his wealth?
October 20, 2011 @ 4:01 pm
barbarossa03, Buffet said he didn’t pay as much income tax as the people in his office including his secretary. you said “coming out and saying that it is not fair that he pays at a LOWER TAX RATE than his secretary, and he pays taxes on capital gains at 15%”. if it’s true that Secretary is paying 33%, that means her annual income is upwards of $175,000 a year and she has no deductions. Normally you pay a little less than 17% on that income with the standard deductions.
Where did buffet say he was going to redistribute his money? He isn’t he didn’t even pay all his taxes. I have not herd him say when he will pay his back taxes. This is the man who buy’s companies that are in probate and the surviving family members can’t afford the death tax without giving up the business. Yeah he is a great guy, NOT!
I will be the guy that is 6 feet tall 210 pounds long hair and beard with the motorcycle jacket on. Any time you want.
IMPEACH OBAMA NOW! ! ! !
October 20, 2011 @ 4:14 pm
We provide this site for discussion of politics and reasonable disagreement is fine.
Do not post addresses, phone numbers or email addresses.
Keep it civil, please!
October 20, 2011 @ 5:18 pm
Onewildman, the last company that Buffet bought shares in was Bank of America trying jump start a should have been left for dead bank. B of A doesn’t look family owned to me.
“Redistribution of wealth” is what I have heard raising taxes called on these posts so I figure I would keep with the jargon. but to simplify it for you he said taxes on the wealthy should be raised.
October 19, 2011 @ 1:36 pm
Way back when people were calling Obama a narcissist (before his election) I was calling him a malignant narcissist.
The difference is clear, a narcissist loves him or herself and has an unshakable opinion that he/she can do no wrong. The malignant narcissist has a serious mental illness!
October 19, 2011 @ 1:47 pm
Beware it’s catchy, not the saying, but the disease and it’s spreading rapidly!
October 19, 2011 @ 2:34 pm
I’ve been married to both…the malignant narcissist lets no one and nothing stand in his way of getting what he wants, when he wants it. That kind is truly dangerous because they have zero conscience. There is no right or wrong for him, only does he want something or does he not.
October 19, 2011 @ 1:45 pm
If anybody is overpaid in this country it’s Politicians, and they’re not even in it for the payroll. They’re in it for the power and the non-payroll monies that their power can bring to them and their cronies.
October 19, 2011 @ 6:32 pm
You finally made a point I could agree with you on, but there’s no power without the money to support it. Who bankrolls this non-payroll monies. It’s not the middle class or the poor. So who’s left? This I got to hear
October 19, 2011 @ 3:29 pm
This site will never post anything that doesn’t agree with them.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:54 pm
This post made it? I think the same thing can be said about comrades Maddow or Olberhman’s blogs too.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:40 pm
Attacking CEO salaries, the president — last year during his Midwest tour — said, “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”
++++
Dear faux prez. Millions of Americans do think you and your liberal czars have spent enough money! And in fact your outlandish, obscene spending is far more damaging to the nation than ceo salaries! It also penalizes taxpayers for obeying the law even though you and your cronies, including your rich friends you party with at MV, do not seem to respect the laws of the land!
October 19, 2011 @ 4:45 pm
” Attacking CEO salaries, the president — last year during his Midwest tour — said, “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”
Well, just when will the President and his woman think they have made enough money? Oh, I guess it is one of those sayings, “Do as I say, not as I do”.
October 19, 2011 @ 7:01 pm
You know I love reading the loving and uplifting posts by barbarossa being such a warmhearted individual and all. However when talking about how Warren Buffet complains that his secretary pays a higher percentage than he does you must ask why. I mean after all that might be said as a boast but the issue comes when he is trying to appear to be pushing it as policy. I am not sure but it just may have something to do with owing the IRS $1 billion dollars in back taxes. If he was putting his money where his mouth is don’t you think he would pay the money owed? If he does not owe that much then don’t you think that he would donate the money to the US Treasury? If George Soros is such a great man then why did he manipulate the silver market a few years ago to cause an economic collapse that put many Britains out of work? He knew what he was doing. Ask yourself why is he manipulating the commodities market right now? I will give you a clue it is not for altruistic purposes.
October 19, 2011 @ 7:18 pm
I don’t believe that a man estimated to be worth 47 Billion dollars has problems paying a $1 billion dollar tax bill. I don’t know you do the math, do you think he can afford it? Sorry I’m not defending Soros, I mention him because everyone has mentioned him as opposed to Warren Buffet
October 19, 2011 @ 8:22 pm
1. Net worth does not equal liquidity. Just because he has a net worth of $47 billion does not mean he has $1 billion sitting around to cover a check for that amount.
2. He partially got to be worth that much money by NOT giving it up. He isn’t about to let go of it until he has no choice left.
3. The real reason his secretary pays a higher percentage than he does is because his secretary can’t afford those high-powered tax attorneys and super-smart CPAs to tell her how to get out of paying taxes. Also, she does not have access to the tax shelters that he does, tax shelters that require a ton of capital to get into.
4. Buffett is full of hooey anyway. He was saying that for the publicity value. He has no intention whatsoever of paying any more than he absolutely has to.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:08 pm
To Pres Obama: I do think at a certain point, you’ve f***ed the American People enough. Submit your resignation.
October 20, 2011 @ 12:50 am
COMMENT BY JR
OCT.20 2011 @12:43
I AGREE WITH SURESHOT.OUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES ARE A MONOPOLISTIC OMNIPOTENT CARTEL.THIS SHOULD NOT BE,ALSO FEDERAL OR PUBLIC WORKERS SHOULD NOT BE UNIONIZED,UNLESS THEY ARE GOING TO NEGOTIATE DIRECTLY WITH THE TAXPAYERS OR THOSE WHO HAVE TO PAY THEM.
October 21, 2011 @ 5:04 am
come-on people where is the middle ground where can point a and point b agree on name one good and one bad. there is got to be a middle ground somewhere