RSS FeedObama Plan Only Hurts Stupid-Rich
This is a posting about the proposed budget that includes a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. If the spirit of this budget fails, then we truly have lost the “exceptional” tag de Tocqueville gave us in the 1800s. I also need someone to find me the author of a theory about empires that endure.
LAS VEGAS, NV (February 27, 2009) – I miss Mike Green, one of my best friends. He died suddenly in 1991 at the age of 46 as Police Chief for Cromwell, Connecticut.
Mike was a big, tough guy with a big smile and always a quick, funny, and bawdy quip. Besides being the town’s top cop, Mike would ump baseball and ref basketball games for the community. He was a cop’s cop who also understood the community side of being a good cop.
Mike was also one of those Americans that de Tocqueville described in the 1800s as “exceptional.” He didn’t tolerate the stupidity or greed of politicians. Heading to the bathroom he would shout, “I’m giving birth to a politician.” (I wonder how de Tocqueville would have written that.)
He didn’t suffer complainers either. If another guy was whining Mike would respond in a most politically incorrect way, “Take off the panties and bra.”
That’s why I wish today’s Republicans and conservatives would have known Mike Green. They need to (with apologies to the feminists) take off the panties and bras or else they’ll be flushed down the political toilet.
Take the whining over the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.
First, they won’t take affect until 2011.
Second, they only affect families making more than $250,000 a year.
Third, the tax cuts go back to Clinton era rates. For those who don’t remember, that’s when we had a budget surplus.
Fourth, this is a redistribution of wealth. So were the Bush tax cuts; they took away from the poor and middle class.
Remember when Republicans were fairly smart. For instance, they demanded welfare reform from President Clinton – and they got it. And those work-fare reforms worked.
Their reasoning was: don’t coddle people and they will be forced to find work and sustain themselves. In other words, push yourself to be a better person; that’s the American way. As a result, many people pulled out of poverty. The 1990s became a decade of prosperity.
That theory works for the wealthy too.
Let’s look at it economically. Take Warren Buffet. The wealthiest man in the world says the tax structure is unfair. While he makes $7 billion, he pays fewer taxes than his secretary who makes $70,000.
I’m no Warren Buffet, but I know how to legally cut my tax bill. I have the greatest accountant here in Las Vegas. His name is Matt Swan. And he was brilliant in setting up my corporations – especially when I began my national TV career earning money all over the country.
I have to think there are other people out there with CPAs like Matt Swan or competent tax attorneys.
This is one theory I’ve always had:
No matter what the economic situation, the smartest people will make money and thrive.
I still believe it even in today’s environment.
The whining you’re hearing from the GOP and the conservatives are from what I call the Stupid-Rich. These are people who are just like the loafers who want to stay on welfare and not work.
Sure, these wealthy people made money and admirably risked their own money on ventures. However, chances are they were either lucky to have had the market conditions, the Bush hand-outs, or someone left them with a bundle of inheritance.
Wow. That sounds a little callous.
Not really. If they were smart and they knew what they were doing, they’d simply succeed again. If they can’t, then they were lucky even while while being stupid.
How come after I was a ratings success in TV I was always told, “So what are you going to do for me next?” or “Kid, you’re only as good as your next gig.” It’s the same for the wealthy. You need to go out and earn it again.
What the whiners won’t admit is this. The world economy is changing. And they’re too lazy to adapt. Big business in America continues to complain that taxes are too high, but they don’t want to mention corporate welfare that comes from taxpayers.
Come on, you wealthy and business folks. This is a challenge. This is something to look forward to. These tax increases on the wealthy and the business community will spur innovation – just as the drying up of welfare checks spurred people to go out and find a job.
True, the tax increases will not create new jobs. That’s fine. Most businesses wouldn’t be hiring anyway. As technology evolves, fewer jobs are being created. Technology allows businesses to hire less while being more productive.
The lack of jobs, on the other hand, will spur even more innovation among those who are out-of-work.
Now let’s look at it politically. I’ll need your help here for a reference.
There is a theory about the survival of empires. It goes like this. The empire or society that survives is one where the upper class has as much to lose as the lower class. For example if the poor only live in the lowlands and the flood area while the rich live safely up on hills, then with one massive flood the society is left with only the upper class to do the work.
I think it’s a sound theory. If you know who championed that theory, let me know.
But it makes sense. Look at the social misery Hurricane Katrina caused. Mr. Bush was labeled a racist. I doubt he is; but his policies were.
Let’s take a baseball analogy. If Major League Baseball allowed the teams free reign over how much they could pay players, then most likely only the wealthiest of teams would win or make money.
We saw this in the late 1990s when there was no luxury tax on free-spending baseball teams. The New York Yankees were building another dynasty. The Yankees’ income from the more affluent New York City market dwarfed all other teams, allowing them to sign the best free agents.
Major League Baseball, though not the many myopic Yankee fans (yes I’m part of Red Sox Nation), realized that if this laissez-faire business model continued the Yankees might only be playing a few teams since teams in smaller markets that might not be able to compete. Or if they did compete, the competition wouldn’t be worth anyone paying to see.
In short, to keep baseball thriving the Yankees and other big-spending teams are paying a luxury tax that keeps teams like the Rays and the Royals competitive. My late friend Mike, a Yankee fan, I know would agree with this.
Unfortunately, the Bush years weren’t like that for all of America. We were becoming a nation of have’s and have-not: a few Yankees and too many Montreal Expos – a team which doesn’t exist.
The Obama Administration is boldly trying to change that.
As a result, there will be upheaval over the next ten years. Businesses are already changing the way they produce, market, and distribute products and services. For anyone not preparing for the future or hoping for a return to the Bush years, they will fail miserably. For example, if you’re a bricks-and-mortar business refusing to use the internet, then you deserve to fail.
Will the Obama plan give us record deficits? Absolutely. I’m a fiscal conservative who doesn’t like over-spending. But economic theory tells us now is not the time to tighten government spending.
If in two years when the economy improves and we continue to over-spend, then I have a problem.
If we don’t take care of Medicare and health costs in two years, then I have a problem.
What if it doesn’t work? What if the economy is tanking after all this spending? It might happen.
But by doing nothing, we learn nothing. By doing something, we learn lessons.
I’d rather take the chance of doing something that might work in this new economic matrix rather than sitting and hoping the old failed ways might work.
In short, I’d rather be bold and daring than be a Republican.
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