The Stinking, Dirty, Rotten, Stingy, Evil Rich

President Obama reached a compromise with the Republican Leaders of Congress over extending the Bush tax cuts.  Grudgingly, he agreed to include the “evil rich.”    Although Obama failed to use that exact term when he made the announcement, it was clear from his tone and his rhetoric that, over the next two years,  he intends to play the politics of “envy and greed” to the max.

“I am not willing to let working families across this country become collateral damage for political warfare here in Washington,” Mr. Obama said.   When progressives, i.e., liberal Marxists who believe that it is their sacred duty to redistribute wealth in order to achieve fairness or “economic justice,” use the term “working families,” it is clear they are excluding any family with a combined income of more than $250,000 per year.   They would have us believe that these people are undeserving, idle parasites, soaking up the wealth of the country at the expense of the rest of society.

Isn’t it interesting how so many Democrats fall into the “rich”  category, but they aren’t above using the politics of envy and greed to attain and hold on to their power?

While there was a period of time, when most people with high incomes came from privileged backgrounds and could be refereed to as the “idle rich,” that is just not the case today.  Recent studies in Canada and the U.S. by Armine Yalnizyan, and Emmanuel Saez, respectively, show that the majority of the income of today’s top earners comes from salaries, not investments.  Yes, most of today’s “rich” are working people.  They are highly paid employees or entrepreneurs who have not accumulated Rockefeller-size fortunes.

It might surprise Obama to learn that for the last 20 years are so,  most of those with incomes of more than $250,000 a year work very hard for the money they make.  In fact, most of these folks have worked hard for a very long time, perfecting a skill or acquiring knowledge, often at great personal sacrifice.  Then, they put those skills or that knowledge to good use.  They pull down those big salaries by working long hours, constantly meeting deadlines or facing other demands on their time that most people would reject outright.   Many take risks that others consider unacceptably high.

It is true that the U.S. has about a third of the world’s millionaires but the U.S. also leads the world in philanthropy.   A survey from Barclays Wealth shows us that, as a rule, these millionaires are not a stingy, money-grubbing lot.  In fact, a full 41 percent of these people listed philanthropy as one of their top three spending priorities:

Furthermore, a tax increase on the so-called “wealthy” would affect at least half of the income generated by small businesses, filing as individuals.   Those who run small businesses are not heartless.  In fact, most will tell you that one of the hardest things they must do is layoff employees when the government confiscates more of their money.  That is why they are reluctant to expand or hire when there is economic uncertainty. That is why this two-year compromise on tax hikes will not generate the kind of economic activity that we so desperately need.

Some tax cuts are more helpful to the overall economy than others, with the tax cuts that affect corporations and businesses by far the most important.  Republicans should get credit for trying to make that case,  even though it is a hard case to make to those who have never studied economics.

The accumulation of wealth is not a zero sum game.  The theory that “I am poor because you are rich” may make good political theater but it is simply not true.  JFK was right when he said, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world.  It doesn’t take an economic genius to understand why so many American jobs have vanished.

Also, taxing corporations and businesses is counterproductive.  Corporations and businesses do not pay taxes.  They pass them on to consumers.   When a product or a service becomes unaffordable, that business goes offshore or out of business.

Most working age Americans would much rather have a job, than another government handout.  We need the rich to spend, donate, invest and, more important, hire.

With unemployment hovering around 10 percent, the politics of envy and greed just may not play this time around.   Let the stinking, dirty, rotten, evil rich keep more of more of their money!   It benefits all of us.

8 thoughts on “The Stinking, Dirty, Rotten, Stingy, Evil Rich

  1. Jane, I read your article on WND today and I wondered if anyone has done research on the changing demographic of where people, who make over $250,000/year, are making their money. Your comment of “inherited” money has got me thinking that today’s “rich” are not the inheritors of money, but are the inheritors of opportunity given by the rich people who built companies with their money and thereby gave opportunities to the “rich” people of today.


  2. I agree with you that the current effort to identify wealthier people as somehow less deserving or as evil is absurd. I recently read a short letter to an editor questioning the wisdom and “fairness” of not extending unemployment benefits while not further taxing the “rich”. The message was clear – the unemployed are victims and the rich are “bad”.

    People forget that high-income people WORK for their wealth, generally, and that unemployed people are not working at all…and while some unemployed people are true victims of a bad economy, I live with an unemployed person and he has barely job hunted in over two years. He is certainly less deserving of others’ wealth that the rich are of their own wealth.

    Still, it seems unfair to not tax corporations, and, on a purely practical basis, it might make sense to tax the wealthy at a higher rate to balance the budget.

    I’m tired of hearing about the Bush tax cuts. Can’t someone in Washington determine what kind of taxes will best address America’s budget problems, irrespective of what Bush did 10 years ago in an entirely different economy?


  3. Jane you have such a gift …..get the point across in a short and sweet couple paragraphs. I love that about you.

    I have never studied economics formally….just read, and it doesn’t take tons of books….to get the general idea of economics. (“Road to Serfdom”, Hayek, “Free to Choose”, Milton Friedman)

    The frightening fact is….our “public servants” running this great nation, are ABSOLUTELY OBLIVIOUS to the facts. Facts which have been proven over and over again to be the only course of action if the desired outcome is financial success of a country. (Forgive my wording…..I get excited.) I am just a nurse…..and I get it. It’s sort of like 1 + 1 = 2
    My concern is we are paying these “public servants” huge amounts of money and they are sorely lacking….understatement, in a basic elementary understanding of economics, among other things. The age old argument accusing the evil rich of keeping the poor in poverty, well it just doesn’t work. Look around at your everyday encounters. The hard working people making poverty level wages are being suppressed…..absolutely! But not by the rich evil people. Has anyone looked at their paycheck stub lately? I am SHOCKED when I look at mine. I work very hard and with life and death situations, as do many others, and find it extremely discouraging to see over a third of my check go to taxes and then pay taxes everywhere you turn; auto registration, purchases… goodness do not purchase a boat because then you will have the unbelievable “luxury tax”, taxes on hotels rooms, taxes on car rentals, taxes on utilities, taxes on gas, it goes on and on ….and then when you die, they tax it all again.
    Don’t misunderstand me, I love my country and want to pay my taxes. I also want to know where the money is going. Specifically, I want to support our military. The purpose of government is to protects our borders and enforce contracts. Oops, think someone in DC got carried away because now we (government) run the schools, post office, trains, banks, auto industry…..what is the outcome? Nothing to be proud of for sure. The trains run on a deficit, Post Office at an all time deficit, our children graduate unable to read, write and do math (where are our future scientist?) And now, in order to “protect the American people”, we are humiliated at airports! This so reminds me of everything I read about Nazi Germany. The German people never dreamed Hitler would go to the extremes he went to….but he did and it happened…but by the time it was obvious, it was too late. If you spoke up against the regime you might as well know you were going to be arrested and most likely die.
    Sorry I get carried away because I just have so much to say and I’m so genuinely concerned that by the time we wake up, it will be too late. I’m surprised Americans are not rioting in the street when they see the gross inefficiency of our government (public servants) spending our very hard earned money!
    I want an accounting.
    Here is the heart of the problem: If it’s someone else’s money, well spend on!
    Don’t even get me started on health care.
    Anyway Jane…..I’m hurrying because on a 72 hour shift and don’t want to get a call as I write this.
    Gosh…..I just have so much to say.
    As I end just know I am very optimistic as most people I meet daily feel as I do. People feel they just do not have a voice nor does their vote matter. We need a grassroot movement with a voice able to bring Americans together to effectively make changes…fire most of DC, impeach most sitting judges…..get back to the basics and keep it simple. Americans are unique in that they will fight…..if motivated. I guess we are all too fat and happy at the moment.
    “If my people ……I will heal their land” 2 Chronicles 7:14


  4. Jane:
    It’s been a long time — 50 years — since I had a course in Economics, but most of that time has been spent a) in a military career, and b) in civilian employment, including helping many others get jobs.

    During the Clinton years, I had a sudden look at how jobs and the economy work. To wit:



    “What the politicians won’t tell you”

    In these days of macroeconomics, microeconomics, and a stock market that comes down with
    terminal illness when Ben Bernake sneezes, “Brown’s Laws of Economics” are continually
    overlooked. Actually, they are very simple, and do not take a computer to figure out. To wit:

    Browns’s Law #1 – A dollar is a dollar is a dollar.

    You are paid certain dollars by your employer because of the value of the work that you do, or
    the ideas that you contribute. Similarly, anyone employed is paid for the perceived value of their
    work. At the same time, your employer receives dollars for his product or service, because of its
    perceived value to the buyer, who parts with dollars earned through the value of his/her work.

    Brown’s Law #2 – There are no such things as State dollars, or Federal dollars, or
    County dollars.

    Each of those was once your dollar; the only difference is who extracts them from you. It does
    not matter whether you give it to Washington or Raleigh or Henderson County, it is taken from
    you. With “Federal Dollars”, there are more layers of “management” syphoning a few off before
    they get to the local level for use. Some we give willingly, because of the perceived value of the
    product or service it buys (Federal law enforcement, Military and defense, defense purchases
    from local industry, etc.). Some we give unwillingly, contributing only because of unpleasant
    alternatives, like going to jail!

    Brown’s Law #3 – All government expenditures are local.

    Tip O’Neill said “all politics are local”; similarly, all government expenditures are local. Federal
    highway dollars end up in the hands of local contractors; state education funds end up paying
    local teachers and bus drivers and teachers aides. The problem is that some of what is taken from
    us (Law #2) has to pass through the hands of a bureaucracy which siphons off some enroute to us

    Brown’s Law #4 – Compound interest is a wonderful thing, if you are on the right
    side of the curve.

    The Federal Debt hit One Trillion Dollars (or One Thousand Billion Dollars) shortly after Ronald
    Reagan became President of the United States. By the Rule of 72, that Debt would have doubled
    to Two Trillion Dollars by 1990 even if every year’s national budget had been in balance since
    then, which they were not. The debt is now in the neighborhood of $14 Trillion and running

    (The “Rule of 72” says that money invested at compound interest will double in the number of
    years resulting from 72 divided by the interest rate. If your mutual fund pays 7.2% and you
    reinvest the dividends, $10,000 becomes $20,000 in ten years. Similarly, if the Treasury
    bill/bond rate averaged 7.5% over that decade, the Debt doubles. Add in each year’s deficit as a
    deposit to the account, and the process goes much faster. Any good tax man or accountant can
    do the numbers for you.)

    Brown’s Law #5 – We need to find another turnip, this one is out of blood.

    At the local level (remember, all government expenditures are local…), we can pay for our
    governmental services, including the salaries of those who administer the programs, by taxation
    (sales, property or income) or by higher prices caused by taxes and fees on third parties. .

    So …

    End of Economics Lesson. Please write a paper on how we who demand or eagerly accept the
    services provided by government can pay for them without raising Federal, State or local taxes,
    or paying higher prices due to taxes/fees on manufacturers and merchants, or putting the
    governments further into debt, which at least at the state and local levels, is unconstitutional.

    For extra credit, discuss the growth of the national debt, how this growth can be reversed;, and
    how it can be paid off. An “A” in the course awaits the student who can identify those programs
    which can be cut, or administered by 15% fewer government employees at any level without
    impacting the taxpaying citizen.

    “… Don’t tax you and don’t tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree … ”

    There aren’t enough trees…..

    Charlie Brown, Hendersonville, NC


  5. For decades the liberals have castigated anyone who would make scapegoats out of Jews and minorities. It is apparent, however, that liberals are no better. They don’t make scapegoats out of Jews and minorities, but they have their own set of scapegoats. Leading the list are the rich.


  6. All this talk about the “filthy rich” is just a smoke screen to cover up the continued spending by all governments, local, state and federal. Until we are willing to put people in office who will actually cut spending, we will get more of the same pork to buy votes.


  7. STOP,STOP!! I am so fed up with this class warfare being dispensed through politicians and left wing media. Their hate of success seems to be a trigger to cause unrest. I ponder the war of words wondering if the purpose is to divide America and conquer through hate creating another third world society!!!
    We have become a milksop society which has been pampered for years to the degree many citizens/residents consider government handouts is their right. The old adage still stands “Money does not grow on trees.” We need rich successful entrepreneurs and they have my good wishes, the fact they have great wealth tells me they must be paying more taxes simply because they earn more.
    England lost many of their productive entrepreneurs back in the 1950s and 60s due to the high taxes of the English Government, many came to America because it was business friendly in those days.
    We need less spending and more fiscal responsibility. Less taxation would not fit in with Washington’s desire to tax to death and then rob the dead with death taxes.
    I am defined by Washington’s elite as a Neanderthal, Astroturf. My interpretation is I am fiscally responsible God loving American.


  8. “The Stinking, Dirty, Rotten, Stingy, Evil Rich” describes one man to a tee: George Soros! He’s a big culprit, to put it politely. Even Henry Paulson suspected Soros of pulling out a huge amount of his wealth out of the country at the time John McCain was leading Barack 0bama; I recall reading a story in Newsmax where Paulson said he tried to stop an electronic transfer of funds, only to find that the transaction locked him out of the system. The far left are happy to destroy America, with Soros financing their political acts of sabotage.


Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s