dagblog - Comments for "Hunting the rich?"

Congrats, AD, and very

Bruce Levine — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:18:14 +0000

In reply to Thanks for letting me know.

Congrats, AD, and very well-deserved.

Am mixing it up a bit with an

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:55:09 +0000

In reply to I'm trying to figure out who

Am mixing it up a bit with an amazon review commenter (on Robert Frank's new book, The Darwin Economy, which I disagree strongly with on at least one point, have significant questions about on others, and think is a provocative and very worthwhile read) on the tax issue here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1EDI2IZUIDDWP/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0691153191&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=#wasThisHelpful

S/he exhibits movement libertarianism in its full frontal ugliness, which appears to necessitate a bunker mentality, and, arguably, a generic contempt for most of one's fellow citizens. Of course true movement libertarians in my experience tend, operationally if not explicitly, to agree with Thatcher that there is no such thing as "society", only individuals. Given that view it's hard to see what concept of "citizenship" can follow.

It's really a great philosophy for true misanthropes (not the apparent ones one sometimes finds around these parts--scratch the surface of their cynicism and most of them are probably just depressed and/or fatalistic idealists).

I'm trying to figure out who

Verified Atheist — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:37:04 +0000

In reply to As an addendum on this topic,

I'm trying to figure out who to feel sorrier for, NFL players or CEOs...

As an addendum on this topic,

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:18:29 +0000

In reply to Hunting the rich?

As an addendum on this topic, near the end of last night's Ravens-Jets NFL broadcast, Al Michaels made a throwaway joke about how Warren Buffett wants one of the players in the game who'd gotten a big contract to pay more taxes.

I've long thought that Al is a great broadcaster. I have to think he puts in a hell of a lot of time and care into preparing for his broadcasts. The likely lack of time Al has to devote to reading up on various perspectives on relative burdens of US taxation policies, coupled with his generous compensation package (some--unconfirmed, I wish to stress--reports have his net worth at $20 million or thereabouts, with annual salary at $2-3 million; either way it's probably safe to say he's not having trouble meeting his mortgage payments) may give some context for the gratuitous barb directed at Buffett late in the broadcast.

It's just Al's politics I don't care for. I have to say I wouldn't mind if he spared his audience those views and stuck to his night job instead. He has maxed out to GOP candidates during some election cycles when I've checked the publicly available information on that--and not, as many large companies and wealthy interest group lobbies do, also given to Democrats in order to be able to ensure access to whomever the voters elect. Which he has every right to do. As do I to share that publicly available information. Maybe the U.S. Supreme Court will give us a second generation Son of Citizens United decision, whereby even that information will no longer be publicly available.

Thanks for linking to the

EmmaZahn — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:08:01 +0000

In reply to Hunting the rich?

Thanks for linking to the article. Good read.

I would say more but do not think the powers that be want me to since they disappeared my two attempts during composition. :D

Thanks for letting me know.

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:46:58 +0000

In reply to Hey Dreamer, Wolfrum featured

Thanks for letting me know. I feel honored that he thought it worth linking to at such an esteemed site. I figured there had to be some explanation such as that for why it got a relatively high amount of hits overnight and into today. Or maybe it was the semi-obligatory, or at any rate seemingly inevitable, invocation of I-P. Had to happen.

Hey Dreamer, Wolfrum featured

Michael Wolraich — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:35:29 +0000

In reply to Hunting the rich?

Hey Dreamer, Wolfrum featured your piece at Crooks & Liar's: http://crooksandliars.com/william-k-wolfrum/mikes-blog-round-15.

Thanks Chicken, ain't gonna

Bruce Levine — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:32:21 +0000

In reply to What an ugly and uncalled for

Thanks Chicken, ain't gonna ruin AD's thread. xo

Truth hurts.

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:14:28 +0000

In reply to What an ugly and uncalled for

Truth hurts.

this blog post is talking

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:13:12 +0000

In reply to It's offensive to call it

this blog post is talking about the rich playing the victim card. The rich won't get very far with it

If so, then I confess I've been wrong for many years now. I'd thought, based on the data and the policy outcomes we've seen, that they've gotten away with it for most of the past 30 years. Look at the continuing high and growing levels of inequality in the U.S. Look at which portion of the income and wealth distributions have accrued vast increases during that time as median incomes and living standards have stagnated or declined. The data on this is so overwhelming that even occasionally honest conservatives (David Brooks is the person I'm thinking of now) acknowledge it, while usually disagreeing with raising taxes on uber wealthy people as one means to address it. I would have thought it would be difficult to avoid exposure to this data for any reasonably aware citizen. But then again I have to remind myself how easy it is for people to expose themselves only, or mainly, to views they already agree with, and screen out the inconvenient or unpleasant ones to hear.

As for Israel...sigh. You have a point that since I made a point about victim envy it's fair to explore its wider applicability, or not. I've written on I-P before, not a whole lot, as I tire of the subject more readily than I used to. I see Israel, both historically and now, as both a victim and a victimizer. It's pretty typical of human behavior to focus much more on the ways one is the former and not the latter. If and when that changes we'll see more justice in this world.