Monday, October 20, 2008
Hunting The Mild Bore
Yes, still the "Top of the Charts" for the ????th Week for all things fiscal/political, Paul Krugman nails it yet again.0 comments
Thankfully, Krugman brings back an important word for our times: plutocrat.
If you are reading this, you can safely assume that you are not a plutocrat.
I'll save you the time, here are a few dictionary definitions of "plutocrat."
[Greek ploutokratiā : ploutos, wealth + -kratiā, -cracy.]American Heritage Dictionary:
1. Government by the wealthy.
2. A wealthy class that controls a government.
3. A government or state in which the wealthy rule.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition:
Government by the rich. The term is usually one of reproach.
The Republican National Committee:
"I see rich people."
The GOP has one constituency and one constituency only—the Big-Money White Guy—a plutocrat. That Guy, the plutocrat, "Mr. Moneybags" from the 1930s, is and has always been the Republican Party.
***So, Black Guys, Brown Guys, Foreign Guys and all Women (excepting a very few women born to, married to or sleeping with, the Big-Money White Guy)—regardless of status, income, wealth, education or achievement—have wisely come to grasp and fully understand that they really have no seat at the table under the GOP Big Tent. That their best hope under GOP rule is for whatever may slide off the plates of the assembled Big-Money White Guys—which can be sizable and impressive, indeed (just ask the Beltway/mainstream media types).
These various groups have realized that their fortunes are tied ultimately to the success of the Democratic Party, as they'll never actually be accepted by the plutocrats—but merely used.
The only one missing from that line-up, you've noticed, is the No-Money White Guy.
And, alas, many No-Money White Guys still don't get it, poor dears.
This is where things get awfully confusing for everyone. So, we need a definition here:
No-Money White Guy (if not a group mentioned in paragraph [***] above): You. And me. The rest of us.
See? Easy. Clear.Is anyone shouting more loudly, and throwing more vile epithets at the Democrats at Sarah Palin's rallies this year than the white guy in the crowd without a pot to piss in, who has been screwed over by every GOP move since Richard Nixon (or perhaps, U.S. Grant)? The GOP keeps selling the No-Money White Guy on champagne and women, but he keeps finding that he's still drinking his beer all alone. It can't be HIS fault, he thinks, so it's gotta be someone else's. Someone has to pay for all this! But before he can point his ire upwards, the plutocrat (or, better, his operative, like Palin) smilingly taps him on the shoulder and coo's in his ear, "Look at all 'those' people. Looks like 'they' took your share, doesn't it? You were lucky just to get out of high school, sure, but 'he' took your spot in college because of Affirmative Action, didn't 'he'?" Hmmmm, yeah... hey, wait a minute...! (Cue the KKK Express.)
Krugman courageously attempts to take the blinders from the eyes of the No-Money White Guy using only plain numbers and Barack Obama's tax plan:Mr. Obama proposes raising rates on only the top two income tax brackets — and the second-highest bracket for a head of household starts at an income, after deductions, of $182,400 a year.
Ummm, hey, that's not what our Pro-America Hero John McCain and the Republicans are saying! McCain tells us it's "$42,000"! Yeah, that $42,000, a whole lot of us can see ourselves in that, right? Sure. But that's the wrong number. McCain had to twist some actual Senate votes into a pretzel to pull that one out of his own plumber butt.
Oh. Ummm..., can we look at what Krugman said again?... starts at an income, after deductions, of $182,400 a year.
That's not $42,000. Could Hero John McCain be lying? Yes. "Could" and "Is." Remember, McCain's working for the plutocrats, not for you.
After deductions? Yes.
Hmmm, that would mean: AGI. Adjusted Gross Income. Yes, it does. AGI (a/k/a, taxable income). OK, go grab your tax return copy for this year. We'll wait. (...)
OK, good. Look at the line where all your income sources are totaled. Now, look at all of your deductions. Every single penny you squeezed hard to reduce your taxable income and lower the amount of taxes you owed. Much lower, right? Kinda lower? You got it pushed down there pretty well, didn't you?
THAT IS THE NUMBER that has to be over $182,400 before you pay any more in taxes under Obama's plan. If that number is below $182,400, your taxes will go down. What was your number? $30,000, $60,000, $90,000...$100,000? AFTER DEDUCTIONS? Hey, you're doing pretty well, hunh? But your taxes are going down!
Yeah, but aren't you "rich" at $100,000 AGI? At that point, aren't you a plutocrat, too?
Nope.
If you think that small, you'll never get to be a plutocrat.
This is a plutocrat.
You and I don't even come close to being "rich," not in GOP terms. And, in the modern GOP, plutocrats only need apply. Plutocrat is also a mindset, a state of being, for them. Sorry. Ever notice professional athletes who are in, or talk about going into politics? From Jim Bunning (Phillies, Tigers, Senate, R-KY) to Al Lighter (Mets, Yankees, Bloomberg political acolyte) they all sail far over $182,400 AGI. Other than Bill Bradley (Princeton Tigers, Knicks), they're mostly Republicans, looking to hang onto every dime.
"Rich" merely begins if your number sits comfortably over $182,400. Even then, you'll have to work your way up the Rich Ladder through "well off," "comfortable," "a little" rich, "kinda" rich or "sorta, but not really" rich, just to reach the point where you can catch your breath at "rich." Even at that point, you're still only skimming off the margins of the Big-Money White Guys.Now, the only deluded soul who doesn't seem to get all this is, yes, the No-Money White Guy. He thinks somehow, that HE is going to find someway, somehow to climb over that $182, 400-after-deductions plateau and fly up that ladder. So, he doesn't want anyone raising taxes on that level, so he won't have to pay them when the day comes that he's on that level.
In your dreams, bub, if you're McCain's mythical Joe the Plumber. Or in any other profession for that matter. No viable shot unless you're Krugman's Richie the Hedge-Fund Manager. Now, Richie may well take a bit of a tax hit, yes. But do you really care? Richie's doing really well, even on the bottom rungs of that Rich Ladder with an AGI of over $182,400, and he can afford to pay some back.
Are you really willing to pick up Richie's tax tab today and let him skate on his fair share of taxes, just so that you can dream of maybe, somehow, someway, someday being on Richie's level, too?
Or should Richie pay his fair share today (and you paying yours, if that somehow/someway/someday thing ever works out)? That way, your kids can have a school today that's not crumbling around their ears, the roads you drive on today won't tear your overpriced car to pieces, your local police force today can attract better candidates who aren't just thugs and bullies and you can have a host of other things you need today to simply get your family through next Tuesday.
Remember, whether you're Joe or Richie or anyone else, the plutocrat will still run things, and will always be laughing at you, the No-Money White Guy. Because you still keep working hard and keep struggling, yet still keep voting Republican. You're THAT easy to dupe. And, they're betting, you always will be.
Also, keep an ear out for the phrase, "Class Warfare," and keep in mind that the only ones who use that phrase are the ones who have the most to fear from it: the ones who have something to lose. You don't have anything to lose, nor do I, so we're OK. But, the Big-Money White Guys have plenty to lose. There are 300 million of us and only 3 million of them, which they're well aware of. So, they'll pay top dollar to keep you and me and the rest of those 300 million Americans pointed in the wrong direction.
Unless you wise up, of course. And me. And the rest of us, who aren't in one of the groups mentioned above [***], who already get it. Our enemy is the plutocrat, not the poor schlubs who are struggling as hard as we are to feed their families. At this point, the No-Money White Guy is the only one who doesn't see that.
As always, George Carlin, as he always should, got the last word.
George Carlin - Who Really Controls America
posted by Gotham 11:49 AM
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