Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
Almost lost amidst all the blather from the Left on the proposed Obama-McConnell tax deal was this choice nugget from New Jersey Democratic senator Frank Lautenberg:
“I point out once again without meaning to brag – I had a very good business career, and I don’t give a damn about a tax cut.”
Right. So the nation’s fifth or sixth wealthiest senator, with a fortune (excluding personal homes) of between $50 and $100 million, doesn’t care if his taxes go up – and for that reason thinks it’s perfectly okay to raise taxes substantially on millions of other people who will never approach his level of wealth.
It’s probably not worth the effort, but could someone try explaining to this buffoon that the difference between a plutocrat with $75 million parsed out (no doubt) among various hedge funds and a young professional or small business owner making $250-300,000 a year dwarfs the difference between said young professional or small business owner and a plumber or bus driver pulling in $40-50,000?
I think Democrats like Lautenberg (and nowadays they pretty much all seem to be like this) make a major blunder when they try to lump the upper middle class in with “the rich.” America is a dynamic, rather than a static, society – a point the Democrats seem to have lost sight of somewhere along the road from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama. People aspire, for themselves or their children. And what millions and millions aspire to is – the upper middle class. (Almost everyone dreams of becoming truly rich, but the vast majority recognizes that this is just that – a dream. But the upper middle class is something one can actually aspire to and work towards.) So while the upper middle class may be numerically small-ish, and therefore a tempting target for redistributionist bullies of the Lautenberg type, the number of Americans who have an interest in the continued existence and prosperity of this “class” is in fact pretty large. And all the Lautenbergs of the world are going to do is make them more and more Republican.
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Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
Bravo, Steve. I hadn't see Frank's statement. Thank you for sharing.
Jul '10
Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
Dear Frank,
We're glad to hear you had a very successful business career. We're all so proud of you, and it's nice to know that you've provided for yourself and your family.
But Frank, some of us haven't done so well. We're kind of struggling, actually, and we really don't need an additional burden placed on us.
Now, we know your heart's in the right place. As a successful businessman, you're probably looking at all the spending and the deficit and saying to yourself, "Self, we'd never stand for this kind of a loss in my successful business. We'll have to raise our prices and get more income!" So you'd raise the price of your product, and lose market share, and increase your losses and go into Chapter 11, and . . .
Say Frank, how did you become a successful businessman?
Sincerely,
Actual People
Edited on Dec 8, 2010 at 12:49pmMay '10
Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
Isn't the real point that what he has is capital, not income? His Senate income is below the threshold no matter what, and he can largely control whatever other income he elects to realize. So what he pays in taxes, as with all other lefty plutocrats, is largely a choice.
May '10
Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
There is no argument sufficient for a Lautenberg. They want a tax increase because it is a power increase. It is less money under my discretion, more under the government's discretion. It is a fool's errand to try to devise a logical argument that they would find persuasive. That isn't their orientation.
Aug '10
Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
Thanks for this insightful post.
The disjunction you identify between Lautenberg (whose income places him in the upper class) and upper middle class types who pull down low six figures, is reminiscent of the great Paul Fussell's analysis in his still-fascinating and hilarious satirical book Class.
Fussell emphasizes this gap between the middle class and the upper class: the latter's great wealth permits its members to hold social views that are actually in accord with the lower class -- in other words, uppers like Lautenberg (and John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi and oh, Lord, the list goes on!) can take a financial hit to feel good about putting themselves up as 'saviors' of the lower classes, since the uppers won't really notice the higher costs anyway.
You also identify one of Fussell's most useful axioms: very few ordinary people aspire to be upper class wealthy. It's too big a leap. It's the upper middle class that's held up as the goal. Fussell also notes that upper middle tastes and mores are widely held up as standards to aspire to -- so the way in which upper middles conduct themselves resonates far beyond their numbers.
Edited on Dec 8, 2010 at 5:07pmAug '10
Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
To quote the noted philosopher Christopher Rock on the question of pre-nuptial agreements in the specific context of the OJ Simpson case:
"Everybody needs a pre-nuptial agreement. People think you gotta be rich to get a pre-nup ... oh no. If you got $20 million, and your wife wants $10 million -- big deal, you ain't starving. But if you make $30,000, and your wife wants 15 -- you might have to kill her. 'Oh, you think I'm moving back to my mama's cause you ain't in love? You gonna have to die'."
The relevance to Lautenberg's comment is, I hope, clear.
Oct '10
Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
Can I point out to him that, I don't mean to brag - I'm broke as a joke and have never made any real money, and I don't give a damn about a handout.
Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
Beautifully stated, Robert--just beautifully.
Jun '10
Re: Keep Up the Good Work, Frank
These class warfare fools are always talking about millionaires and billionaires. But what they are trying to do is raise taxes on income starting at $250000. How is someone making 300 grand, living in, let's say Chicago, with three kids in college, a millionaire? And, yes, of course, the difference between wealth and income is never in the discussion. They think we are all idiots...and many of us are. The dumbing of America, by the Democratic Party. They oughta write a book.
The Republicans should have countered with a billionaire tax. They should never have agreed to more spending in exchange for the status quo. They should have demanded a 3% tax DECREASE for those incomes between 60 and 350 K and then use the Dems own distortionist lingo and say they would increase the taxes on billionaires to pay for it. In light of this last election, to allow Obama to create another 100 billion in deficit spending is outrageous. Never, never, never do they discuss spending less. And yet, cutting the cost of government is the only solution.