When Mitt Romney told his rich donors there are 47% of the American people who are slackers and free loaders, whose votes he will never get and doesn't really care about because these because those 47% are the slackers and free loaders who don't pay the income taxes, he was, of course, embracing the basic Republican ethos: We deserve what we've got. The poor people who are not paying income taxes,because they are making only $20,000 a year, and soldiers serving in Afghanistan, those people are parasites, and beneath contempt. Doesn't matter if they pay payroll taxes, they are parasites. Not like us. Not like me. Why, I paid 13%!
Mitt is slick about his con--saying the rich will pay the same 60% of total income tax collected in this country they now pay. but that still leaves individual millionaires paying only about 35% of their incomes. Of course, 60% is not nearly enough. We're not talking about the overall slice of the pie, we are talking about what an individual billionaire pays. And 60% may sound like a big share, but not when you look at the wealth pie--80% of all wealth and income in America go to just 20% of the people. So if the share of the billionaires rises to 70% or even 80% of the total, is that unfair?
Of course, it's not freeloading for the rich to have off shore bank accounts, to have their Congressmen in their pocket so that's legal, to arrange their income so none of it is "ordinary income" but comes from "capital gains" or some other category that doesn't get taxed. That is not government teat feeding, that's just the game.
But here's the ad I'd like to see:
Picture of Romney:
"Vote for Mitt:
1. End legal abortion
2. Lock in a Supreme Court owned by Republicans
3. Kill Medicare
4. Apply for your membership in Mitt's country club.
5. Hold your breath."
Something simple, like that.
Mad Dog,
ReplyDeleteI was talking back to my TV when debate Mitt proudly announced he wasn't going to lower the taxes for the top wage earners-what a sport! Why does he need to. Mitt's the guy who robs the bank, then assures us he won't return to the same bank and we should be grateful--gee thanks..That pie chart should be air dropped across the country like the Berlin Blitz so John and Jane Doe could finally get a visual of what the President is talking about-but would they believe it?
Are you planning on watching Obama on the Daily Show tonight? Should be good..
Maud
Maud,
ReplyDeleteWill stay up or record it.
Had a really disquieting experience watching the 2nd episode of the 4th season of The Wire tonight, "Soft Eyes."
Mad Dog is a rabid fan and owns all 5 seasons and replays while confined to the basement. In this episode, Tommy Carcetti, the white challenger to the incumbent black mayor (of Baltimore), springs a surprise on the Mayor during a debate by decrying the murder of a witness on a Baltimore street, for which he holds the mayor responsible. The mayor is sent reeling and his response is feeble. The reaction of his own troops shows how visibly they are shaken by his inability to respond.
But what was really stunning, is the cut aways to the various characters we are following, who are the people of Baltimore, surfing to the debate, watching for a moment and surfing on to a football game or a video game, paying no mind.
According to the blogosphere, Romney was surging before the first debate and what the debate did was to allow people who were not going to vote for Obama, but were embarrassed to be voting for Romney to respond to polls they were in fact going to vote Romney.
Mr. Obama is a fan of The Wire, and I wonder if he was prepared for that attack from Romney about the Libya killings by seeing that scene. He did respond, as Mayor Royce did with the line, "I am offended..."
Mad Dog has been accused of being unable to separate current reality from The Wire. He begs forgiveness.
Mad Dog
Mad Dog,
ReplyDeleteWhat transgression leads to you being confined to the basement,to much barking at the TV, digging in the yard? I have friends who were big fans of The Wire and had told me to watch it but I never got around to it-maybe I'll check it out.
So do you think the idea that these new Romney supporters were going that way anyway has merit? Seems like it could. The good news is they're hopefully not strongly committed supporters so one good Romney blunder before 11/6 could swing them the other way perhaps.We know Romney still has a hundred blunders left in him, if he can only stumble before 11/6. Time to get out the Romney voodoo dolls..
Back to the Wire, I'm curious, who ends up winning the mayoral election -the incumbent or the challenger? Should we be hoping life imitates art or not?
Maud
Maud,
ReplyDeleteThe Wire would predict Romney, as the white candidate beats the Black, on a death of a witness the mayor failed to "protect," a la the death of the ambassador Mr. Obama "failed" to protect.
Yes, Maud, you owe it to yourself to lock yourself in a nice room, with refreshments and a flat screen TV and watch an entire season of The Wire, starting with Season One. Click on the subtitles--the Black Baltimore dialect is tough to acquire. Watch the first three episodes and you will need no more encouragement from me, if you can get past those.
It's not that there is much violence, or offensive images: It's the steadily rising sense of danger, dread and impending doom which makes it hard to watch. What carries you along is the Black Humor, in every sense of that phrase. (From street hopper to the top drug lords, these folks have among the funniest lines ever written for actors--Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde, Neil Simon are as paupers in the company of David Simon's writers.)
If Obama loses this election, it will help understand why. Should he win, you can ponder why it's one of his favorite shows.
--Mad Dog