Posted on 04/22/2012 5:52:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
A question for the rich: if President Obama successfully breaks the backs of the working middle class, is that really good for you?
And how about this: if over half of your fellow Americans pay no income taxes and are quite happy to have you foot the bill for our wasteful bloated government, will that be good for your portfolios or anybody elses?
Were less than seven months away from selecting either four more years of Barack Obama, or a new President named Mitt. At this point President Obama isnt running on his track record, so much as he is running against his own characterizations of Congress and his Republican presidential opponent. But is that the stuff that leadership is made of?
The President portrays the Congress as though it is inept and obstructionist. Despite his own partys control of the entire U.S. Senate, Congress is preventing further progress, Mr. Obama tells us, and it is threatening the hope and change that he has already created.
As for Mitt Romney well, hes a creature of wealth and privilege, according to President Obama, a man defined by his greed. Ivy League law school grads Barack and Michelle understand the struggle of the middle class, but Mitt and Ann are incapable.
But look whos funding the Presidents campaign overwhelmingly its the richest among us. According to a New York Times report last year, Obamas top donors included many Silicon Valley executives, hedge fund managers, entertainment executives, and former supporters of Hillary Clintons presidential campaign.
Today the Presidents campaign is aggressively seeking low-dollar donors, soliciting contributions as little as $3.00 and raffling dinner with the President opportunities. Yet his financial support among middle and lower income Americans is miniscule, while wealthy Americans who are willing to pay up to $40,000.00 for dinner and a photo continue to flock to his side. Yes, theres been a slowdown in the big-dollar donations, as the headlines indicate, but Barack Obama is still the presidential candidate of choice for rich folks.
And why? Are wealthy Americans so easily charmed by the thrill of hanging with a U.S. President that theyre ambivalent to the agenda theyre funding? And what part of the Obama agenda do rich people believe is strengthening our country or even their own personal fortunes?
Consider the recent unemployment data. Thus far this year the U.S. Department of Labor has issued 14 reports on unemployment benefits claims, and 14 times the Department of Labor has revised the number upward, after the initial report was released. The Obama Administration grabs headlines with what appears to be a decrease in government benefits, then after the fact reports that the dependency is increasing. Is this what attracts the rich folks?
And how about the sharp decline in the number of people who are actually trying to work? The labor pool is shrinking (not just the number of available jobs) and the Presidents solution to the problem is clear: more free services for the lower and middle class, and higher taxes for the rich. But is this our pathway to prosperity?
Reports about fewer people wanting to work have been dismissed as right wing spin. Yet it was none other than the Congressional Budget Office that predicted this phenomenon, after the Obamacare bill was signed in to law.
Douglas Elmendorf, the Director of the non-partisan C.B.O., a federal agency within the legislative branch of our government that employs people to analyze government policies, predicted 2 years ago that, given the generous enhancements to Medicaid and the supposed universal coverage of Obamacare, lots of us would simply choose to no longer work for a living.
Elemendorf said as much at a little noted conference in October of 2010, held at the University of Southern Californias Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. Nobody paid much attention to him then, but it appears now that what he predicted then is now beginning to happen.
Less productivity and higher taxes on the rich what part of this spells success for rich folks? Its perplexing that there arent more wealthy Americans like Steve Wynn, the successful C.E.O. of the publicly traded Wynn Resorts, Ltd. Last July, Wynn caught national attention for daring to disagree with the Presidents agenda.
The headlines at the time stated Wynn Slams Obama On Business, but if you had read or listened to any of Wynns actual remarks at the time, you would have concluded to that there really wasnt much of any slamming going on.
More accurately, Wynns comments seemed very accurate, rational and fair as if he was simply stating the obvious.
Speaking with a calm tone during a corporate conference call with his associates, Wynn said, among other things: This administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime my customers are frightened of this administration Everybody complains about how much money is on the side in America those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President. And a lot of people don't want to say that. They'll say, God, don't be attacking Obama. Well, this is Obama's deal and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America
More government entitlements and less productivity. Is this good for rich Americans? Is it good for anyone?
. black is good...whitey is bad..
..some of the "rich" are terrified of being called a racist, therefore will risk their life, liberty and property in order to avoid being called one (even if they are)
This is about power. It's about perceiving oneself as The Elite. We really are heading into a new age of serfdom, and the people who believe that they can (and should) play the part of Lords really like Obama.
It's Fascism. The government helps the rich, and the rich help the government. The government receives a lot of tax revenue [from the rich] and the rich receive preferential treatment [from the government].
This is also why political parties don't matter. Obama is an Elitist. Romney is an Elitist. They want power above all else. Political differences are pretty negligible.
Feed the beast. Maybe it’ll eat you last.
There’s an easy answer: $40k is a bargain basement price tag when the gubermint is for sale and what better party to sell it than the RATs? Good grief, add it up ... you shell out in the thousands and down rain the billions. It is just the price of doing business if you don’t have any scruples and again, what better party to approach under those circumstances than the RATs?
I agree somewhat with all the sentiments expressed so far. But what a lot of the rich want is to reduce social mobility. Now that they are in the lifeboat, or yacht, they don’t want to have to worry about competing with all the strivers out there. One effect of Obama’s policies is to freeze people into economic castes.
You may have as much money as you need, but your status is threatened when others strive to have even more than you.
I think you are pretty close to the truth.
In the case of Hollywood liberals they are enthralled with themselves and seek Obama and his presence so that it makes them feel important. Most of them are real life idiots who became rich over night and thinks it makes them smart.
Has anyone gone to jail for any part of the 2008 looting of the US. The case of Don Corzine is instructive. Stole 1+ billion, handed a good part of it over to Morgan and still bundles for Obongo. For the rich, what’s not to like?
Easy question.
First, we note that the 1% in some fields are disproportionately supporting Obama. This means that they are supporting the one who promises to discomfort them with higher taxes and verbal attacks, and who will undermine the system which enabled them (and the rest of the country) to prosper. So why?
It is because people hold opinions which have little to do with the plain evidence before their eyes. Even intelligent and talented people do this. Political belief is a form of religion in today’s world, and one become enculturated in it. I know many smart people, very sensible in their own fields, who have a brain disease when it comes to understanding politics and the larger world. You could explain things to them endlessly, and they do not get it. They substitute for thought parroted lines from the NY Times.
This is why the polls show so few real swing votes. The country can go to the devil, and very few people actually change their minds. The swing votes, such as they are, represent people who know even less than the others, and are not even paying attention. We might as well register for voting a gigantic heap of dice, which will be thrown on election night to determine the outcome.
Elections mean very little, and certainly tell us nothing about truth. The electoral system is useless in running a big, complex government. That is why the only real solution is a very restricted, simple government, with most of it decisions made locally. We have long since outgrown the field of efficiency for the electoral system. As an example, watch the French elections this weekend, and see if you think that they will solve any of the obvious problems confronting that country. You will find that it really makes no difference which of the four parties wins.
The Russians give us an example: after some seventy years of horror and irrational, hellish government, still a large number look back on Stalinism with nostalgic affection. You obviously should not put any trust in people like that. They are still human beings, but culturally sick and feeble ones.
The Chinese had a mass-murdering tyrant as their ruler, who killed as many of the best farmers as he could, dressed everyone (male and female) in blue uniforms and sent them out to build backyard smelters and construct giant dams by hand and yet they keep his ridiculous flag, and his hateful visage appears on their currency, even after they have almost totally abandoned his teachings. There is almost no one in China leading a Maoist life, and yet almost no one opposes his party and its rule.
So, it is not surprising in this country that many smart people (especially those conscious of their intellect) are unable to sort out politics, even those politics is actually a very simple game, when you get down to the fundamentals.
Agree with both of you. Enlightened self interest in some cases, mass delusion in many others.
I could have written this myself, perhaps less elegantly. This bears rereading and repeating.
It's all spelled out in 'Atlas Shrugged'. '
What John Q. Public sees is just the tip of the iceberg. Few are aware of the vastness of waste, mismanagement, lack of accountability and duplication of effort. This is due in large part to a liberal media that is loathe to report on the failings of their beloved big government even though information is routinely available on the topic.
It's all spelled out in 'Atlas Shrugged'. '
What about the rich doctors...they do not like or trust Obama. Mine are seething over obamacare. I’ve never seen such anger from them.
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I think it was Michael Medved who described this attraction well. The rich and powerful who want to stay that way and prevent others from reaching that level want big government to stymie others and bail them out. Those trying to work their way up cannot buy votes and don’t want government to constrain them.
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