April 22, 2014

Shockingly, a Pro-Marxism Book by a Leftwing French Economist Has Taken America's Don't-Call-Them-Socialist Progressive Establishment By Storm
— Ace

I haven't read the book and don't plan to. I further don't believe I'd be able to critique it as I did-- while the book is written in layman's language, one would still need an advanced understanding of economics and statistical analysis to say it's right or wrong.

But it's a huge thing now, especially on the We're Not Socialists But Boy Do We Love Socialism left, so I thought I should at least post about it.

It's almost entirely about -- wait for it...! -- income inequality, and why that's bad, and why it will get worse unless we Do Something About It.

Robert J. Samuelson wrote about it, more or less approvingly, if a little skeptically in the end:

Piketty presents Scandinavian countries in the 1970s and ’80s as examples of “low inequality.” Still, the richest 10 percent commanded about 25 percent of national income and the poorest 50 percent got only 30 percent; the “middle class” — the 40 percent below the top 10 percent — received 45 percent of income. These days, the distribution in the United States is far more unequal. In 2010, the top 10 percent received about 50 percent of national income, and the bottom 50 percent got 20 percent; the middle 40 percent got 30 percent. European nations are typically in between, with the top 10 percent taking 35 percent of income.

What Piketty also shows is that in the last 30 years, inequality has exploded almost everywhere, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. This finding disproves the so-called Kuznets Curve. In 1954, American economist Simon Kuznets (1901-85) argued that income inequality would fall as societies modernized. Workers would move from low-paid farm jobs to better-paid industrial jobs. Gaps would narrow.

This seemed to have happened in the United States. From the 1920s to the 1950s, the income share of the richest 10 percent fell from around 50 percent to about 35 percent. But now itÂ’s rebounded to the late 1920sÂ’ level. This stunning fact, published previously in academic journals, helped make inequality a big political issue.

Piketty's big suggestion (more about this later) is that we tax yearly incomes of $500,000 (or $1,000,000; I guess he isn't sure on the threshold) at an 80% rate, and tax accumulated wealth at similar rates.

He is ideologically opposed to gaining wealth by investment -- he uses the word "rentier" as a derogatory term for such people.

Though Piketty is an economist, his book is essentially a work of political science. He objects to extreme economic inequality because it offends democracy: Too much power is conferred on too few. His economic analysis sometimes seems skewed to fit his political agenda.

Sameulson quibbles with some of Piketty's claims, such as (wait for it...!) that confiscatory tax rates on high incomes and accumulated capital won't reduce growth rates, but, as you can see, he's largely impressed with the work.

Now for some people who aren't so impressed.

Clive Cook headlines "The Most Important Book Ever Is All Wrong."

It's hard to think of another book on economics published in the past several decades that's been praised as lavishly as Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century."

...

So what's the problem?

Quite a few things, but this to start with: There's a persistent tension between the limits of the data he presents and the grandiosity of the conclusions he draws. At times this borders on schizophrenia. In introducing each set of data, he's all caution and modesty, as he should be, because measurement problems arise at every stage. Almost in the next paragraph, he states a conclusion that goes beyond what the data would support even if it were unimpeachable.

This tendency is apparent all through the book, but most marked at the end, when he sums up his findings about "the central contradiction of capitalism":

The inequality r>g [the rate of return on capital is greater than the rate of economic growth] implies that wealth accumulated in the past grows more rapidly than output and wages. This inequality expresses a fundamental logical contradiction. The entrepreneur inevitably tends to become a rentier, more and more dominant over those who own nothing but their labor. Once constituted, capital reproduces itself faster than output increases. The past devours the future. The consequences for the long-term dynamics of the wealth distribution are potentially terrifying ...

Every claim in that dramatic summing up is either unsupported or contradicted by Piketty's own data and analysis. (I'm not counting the unintelligible. The past devours the future?)

Cook goes on to note that Piketty's own findings contradict his central hypothesis. Piketty argues that when r (rate of return on investment) is significantly higher than g (economic growth rate), it results in a sort of Climate Change-like feedback loop in which r grows more and more outsized compared to g. The system becomes unstable; more and more money flows to the "rentiers."

But that's not what his data shows, at least not in some very important cases:

The trouble is, he also shows that capital-to-output ratios in Britain and France in the 18th and 19th centuries, when r exceeded g by very wide margins, were stable, not rising inexorably.

Cook also notes what Samuelson did-- that this is more of a political tract than an economic text:


As I worked through the book, I became preoccupied with another gap: the one between the findings Piketty explains cautiously and statements such as, "The consequences for the long-term dynamics of the wealth distribution are potentially terrifying."

Piketty's terror at rising inequality is an important data point for the reader. It has perhaps influenced his judgment and his tendentious reading of his own evidence. It could also explain why the book has been greeted with such erotic intensity....

At the WSJ, Daniel Schuman focuses on that "80% tax rate" business.

He notes Piketty shares the idea with Barack Obama that confiscatory tax rates are not primarily about bringing in money to the state, but rather about simply destroying other people's wealth. For Justice, you understand.


A professor at the Paris School of Economics, Mr. Piketty believes that only the productivity of low-wage workers can be measured objectively. He posits that when a job is replicable, like an "assembly line worker or fast-food server," it is relatively easy to measure the value contributed by each worker. These workers are therefore entitled to what they earn. He finds the productivity of high-income earners harder to measure and believes their wages are in the end "largely arbitrary." They reflect an "ideological construct" more than merit.

...

While America's corporate executives are his special bête noire, Mr. Piketty is also deeply troubled by the tens of millions of working people—a group he disparagingly calls "petits rentiers"—whose income puts them nowhere near the "one percent" but who still have savings, retirement accounts and other assets. That this very large demographic group will get larger, grow wealthier and pass on assets via inheritance is "a fairly disturbing form of inequality." He laments that it is difficult to "correct" because it involves a broad segment of the population, not a small elite that is easily demonized.

But that won't stop them from trying.


So what is to be done? Mr. Piketty urges an 80% tax rate on incomes starting at "$500,000 or $1 million." This is not to raise money for education or to increase unemployment benefits. Quite the contrary, he does not expect such a tax to bring in much revenue, because its purpose is simply "to put an end to such incomes." It will also be necessary to impose a 50%-60% tax rate on incomes as low as $200,000 to develop "the meager US social state." There must be an annual wealth tax as high as 10% on the largest fortunes and a one-time assessment as high as 20% on much lower levels of existing wealth. He breezily assures us that none of this would reduce economic growth, productivity, entrepreneurship or innovation.

Schuman has a couple of funny barbs in there, like Piketty's use of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" as an economic text (proving something about the mad scramble to marry rich) and about his distinction between those who don't really earn their outsized fortunes -- CEO's -- and those who just might possibly actually earn their fortunes, such as entrepreneurs and, as luck would have it, academics who write best-selling Marxist economics texts.

Incidentally, and I'm sure this is entirely coincidental, but as socialism is on the rise in America, middle-class after-tax incomes are falling.

The American middle class, long the most affluent in the world, has lost that distinction.

While the wealthiest Americans are outpacing many of their global peers, a New York Times analysis shows that across the lower- and middle-income tiers, citizens of other advanced countries have received considerably larger raises over the last three decades.

After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans.

Instapundit suggests that there is a top-and-bottom coalition against the middle class.

The bottom wants to take the middle class' stuff because they just want stuff. The top earners want to take the middle class' stuff because the middle class threatens their status.

And this is all going on as America partially embraces Piketty's prescriptions.


Posted by: Ace at 11:28 AM | Comments (373)
Post contains 1589 words, total size 11 kb.

1 Book? Anything longer than a tweet is beyond my attention span.

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 11:30 AM (mizYg)

2 "to put an end to such incomes." Or as Ten Years After put it, Tax the rich Feed the poor Til there are no Rich no more

Posted by: JPS at April 22, 2014 11:32 AM (9ziuC)

3 Mr. Piketty urges an 80% tax rate on incomes starting at "$500,000 or $1 million." This is not to raise money for education or to increase unemployment benefits. Quite the contrary, he does not expect such a tax to bring in much revenue, because its purpose is simply "to put an end to such incomes." I've always argued that the Laffer Curve -- which strives to MAXIMIZE government revenue -- is actually a liberal concept. (Because the goal of it is to fund a bigger government). But that was the old days, the '70s and '80s, when there were such things liberals. Now, what we have is Punitive Socialists. THe goal is taxation is no longer to raise funds. It is to hurt people you resent. Socialism: The Politics of Resentment was never so true an aphorism as now.

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 11:33 AM (mizYg)

4 Yes, because taxing people at incredibly high rates has done so smashingly well in France-They're all leaving and taking jobs with them.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 22, 2014 11:33 AM (XyM/Y)

5 Taking a wild guess here, but I'd say the state of France today, AFTER IMPLEMENTING THIS BULLSHIT, should be more than enough proof of what a colossal and utter failure this economic "plan" is.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at April 22, 2014 11:33 AM (APuJ7)

6 THe goal is taxation = The goal of taxation

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 11:34 AM (mizYg)

7 Ah, a French economist. What could go wrong?

Posted by: tu3031 at April 22, 2014 11:34 AM (nsQhi)

8 Yeah, we're totally not Socialists -Axelrod, going to run a socialist's campaign.

Posted by: AMDG, who will never really graduate at April 22, 2014 11:35 AM (eFytx)

9 Sounds like a fitting bookend to Das Kapital ja?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 11:36 AM (DlqJm)

10 Didn't Hollande try the confiscatory taxation approach ? Didn't go so well . . .wealth literally fled the country

Posted by: McCool at April 22, 2014 11:36 AM (nCSwS)

11

And by all means we should strive the successes of the French culture and economy over the last 50 years.

French culture seems to be based on resentment. Resentment of the Germans, resentment of the British and resentment of the Americans. Rather than strive to be better, they come up with theories to bring everyone down to their level of mediocrity.

Look, I think outside of American academia, his ideas simply would not receive serious backing in the US.

Posted by: nc at April 22, 2014 11:36 AM (/KrYu)

12 And the author has given away 80+% of all royalties, wages and payments exactly where?

Posted by: USA at April 22, 2014 11:37 AM (Sg02p)

13

"strive to emulate" I meant.

Posted by: nc at April 22, 2014 11:37 AM (/KrYu)

14 Is there anything in there about us all going on strike about every two weeks?

Posted by: tu3031 at April 22, 2014 11:37 AM (nsQhi)

15 Hahaha!!!!!



People are listening to a FRENCH economist?!?!?!



HAHAHAHAHA!!!!


Posted by: EC at April 22, 2014 11:38 AM (GQ8sn)

16 If we are going to have confiscatory tax rates, let's start them at 1% above the mean income. Why should those who make over $100,000 get off easier than those who make over $500,000.

Posted by: SH at April 22, 2014 11:38 AM (gmeXX)

17 I'm sure this author would love to redistribute some of his wealth to me

Posted by: MilitarizedThugCopJoe at April 22, 2014 11:38 AM (VdNG6)

18 14 Is there anything in there about us all going on strike about every two weeks? --- No, but I believe there is something in there about an epidemic of deaths from a heatwave to all the doctors taking a month off for vacation.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at April 22, 2014 11:38 AM (APuJ7)

19 If there was a way to do gestures on the Internet, I'd wordlessly enact Margaret Thatcher's all-time classic silent rebuttal of a socialist MP; First she placed her hands about 12 inches apart, but with raised arms -- indicating that under capitalism there is a wide disparity in wealth, but both top and bottom classes are comparatively high. Then, in contrast, she placed her hands about three inches apart, but with arms lowered, to indicate that under socialism there is almost no "inequality," but both top and bottom are much lower. Socialism: So lame, you don't even need words to rebut it.

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 11:39 AM (mizYg)

20 Of course, it goes without saying that the best way to attack income inequality is to reduce single parenthood and support marriages.

Posted by: MTF at April 22, 2014 11:39 AM (LISuA)

21 You can tell Obama listens to this guy.

Posted by: Dr Spank at April 22, 2014 11:39 AM (5UteM)

22 Income inequality is not a problem; it is a wonderful thing.  Income     inequality is      primary motivator.    You want to be higher on the scale?  Make yourself worth more.   

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 11:39 AM (aq5Dc)

23 Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a malignant traitor.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 11:39 AM (PYAXX)

24 Bastiat wept.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 11:40 AM (PYAXX)

25 Ah.  So the economic science is settled now.  The debate is over.  577 pages of truthiness says so.  I'm just waiting for the first time I am called an income inequality denier.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 22, 2014 11:40 AM (sjdRT)

26 I wonder if the genius with the mellifluous name that sounds very correct as if it were made to be used by snobs to prove their ultra cool worth understands that 500k is an arbitrary number that indacates differing values. If he did, he would lie.

Posted by: rev dr der commisar miller at April 22, 2014 11:40 AM (NQrhT)

27 These people want mass graves in the worst way.

Posted by: rickl at April 22, 2014 11:40 AM (zoehZ)

28
If this seems oddly familiar:

By last December, as word of PikettyÂ’s book, already out in France, began to spread, inequality as a political topic had undergone a transformation of its own: from pet obsession of the liberal left to bipartisan priority. That month, President Obama devoted a major speech to the subject, calling inequality "the defining challenge of our time." Prominent Republicans, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senator Marco Rubio, soon followed suit, delivering speeches that invoked, however cautiously, income inequality (RubioÂ’s on the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. JohnsonÂ’s "War on Poverty" address)

http://tinyurl.com/k5skqfg


#OpportunityForAll

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 22, 2014 11:41 AM (kdS6q)

29 my guess is that the deep meaning of the book is that "I spend years writing a book like this and make next to nothing while Stephen King scribbles a book every couple of months and makes a ton of money. Clearly that is unjust and the situation needs to be corrected." I would suggest that rock stars and movie stars not be allowed to earn more than 500K a year. This might provoke some debate among the "Ready for Hillary" crowd.

Posted by: mallfly at April 22, 2014 11:41 AM (bJm7W)

30 Every self-described Socialist I know is a millionaire and/or a trust fund baby. They all hate greedy rich people who don't pay their fair share in taxes. 'Rich' in their world defined as: More money than me.

Posted by: mugiwara at April 22, 2014 11:41 AM (W7ffl)

31 Didn't go so well . . .wealth literally fled the country Posted by: McCool at April 22, 2014 03:36 PM (nCSwS) Remember, they think they should be in charge of the whole world.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 11:41 AM (PYAXX)

32 It turns out that 12 percent of the population will find themselves in the top 1 percent of the income distribution for at least one year. WhatÂ’s more, 39 percent of Americans will spend a year in the top 5 percent of the income distribution, 56 percent will find themselves in the top 10 percent, and a whopping 73 percent will spend a year in the top 20 percent of the income distribution.

Posted by: #OccpyAthonyWeinersShort at April 22, 2014 11:42 AM (e8kgV)

33 Kevin Williamson wrote a must read piece on this at NRO...

Posted by: CJ at April 22, 2014 11:42 AM (9KqcB)

34 Remember, they think they should be in charge of the whole world. --- Put them in charge of the whole world and someone will figure out a way to colonize another planet to get the fuck away from them.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at April 22, 2014 11:42 AM (APuJ7)

35 30: People that don't earn what they have, and have a lot tend to think that everyone got their money handed to them and it's not fair at all. They feel guilty for being lucky, and want to punish people who weren't lucky, but good.

Posted by: Cato at April 22, 2014 11:43 AM (4cRuH)

36 I consider myself the inspiration for many of these ideas . . As we say on the reservation "Sometimes, you've made enough wampum"

Posted by: Lizzie Warren at April 22, 2014 11:43 AM (nCSwS)

37 New Improved Socialism! Now with even more prosperity and equality!

Posted by: WalrusRex at April 22, 2014 11:43 AM (wTgwx)

38

So where does this confiscated wealth go by the way? More to the point, wouldn't your overall tax intake actually go down. Frankly to support a large welfare state, I think you would want to have a number of people making over a million dollars a year and taking them at reasonably but not confiscatory rates.

If you tax at confiscatory rates, people will have no incentive to make money -- which I presume would eventually cause tax revenues to decline. Which I presume would impact the availability of government welfare programs.

Posted by: nc at April 22, 2014 11:43 AM (/KrYu)

39 Or as Ten Years After put it, Tax the rich Feed the poor Til there are no Rich no more Followed by: I'd love to change the world, but I don't know what to do So I leave it up to you. Typical Leftist. Throw the bomb and leave others to clean up the mess.

Posted by: Citizen X at April 22, 2014 11:43 AM (7ObY1)

40 The entire book refuted in one link: http://bit.ly/1idjy9x

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 11:43 AM (PYAXX)

41 tax accumulated wealth at similar rates There's the pull quote. Leftists love to do this little hand-wavey trick when they're talking about "income inequality". They'll switch seamlessly to talking about the capital/wealth disparity, which is not at all the same thing. Right now there are a whole bunch of comfortably wealthy people who opted out of working harder for less money. If you start taxing their wealth that's a whole new dynamic.

Posted by: bonhomme[/i][/b][/s][/i][/b][/s] at April 22, 2014 11:43 AM (IoTdl)

42 Why call them socialists when they are full on communist?

Posted by: Bob Dole's four hour woody at April 22, 2014 11:44 AM (Zdgjo)

43 Making sure everybody's house has the same shit in it. Seems I read about that somewhere.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 22, 2014 11:44 AM (gOoFi)

44 Scandinavian countries of the '70s and '80s:
bottom 50%: 30%
next 40%: 45%

US now:
bottom 50%: 20%
next 40%: 30%

Wow, those ratios are identical. I don't particularly care what the top 10% earns, our poor are doing as well compared to the middle class as in the model he compares us against.

Posted by: red sweater at April 22, 2014 11:44 AM (oATMN)

45 It's French economists like this that make me weep for humanity.

Posted by: Darcy D'Arcy at April 22, 2014 11:44 AM (v/jkV)

46 He is ideologically opposed to gaining wealth by investment -- he uses the word "rentier" as a derogatory term for such people. So wait -- it should be illegal, or at very best, strongly discouraged, to invest in projects? We do this officially today through something called the stock market. But if this behavior is banned or severely penalized, then what? One of two options: investment will go underground, with venture capitalists funding startups with cash; or the American economy will collapse to Cuba levels or worse. Sheer insanity.

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 11:44 AM (mizYg)

47 More to the point, wouldn't your overall tax intake actually go down Yes. And I've not read the book either, but I'm pretty sure this doofus sees that as a feature, not a bug.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 11:45 AM (PYAXX)

48

"Once constituted, capital reproduces itself faster than output increases. The past devours the future. The consequences for the long-term dynamics of the wealth distribution are potentially terrifying..."

 

___

 

 

This is how Henry Ford made     automobiles     so that nobody     would be able to afford them, and Bill Gates made software too expensive for the masses.

 

I    think some intellectual has made a small error in his calculation somewhere along the way.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 11:45 AM (aq5Dc)

49

"taxing them at reasonable but not confiscatory rates" I mean.

 

My spelling is off today.

Posted by: nc at April 22, 2014 11:45 AM (/KrYu)

50 An 80% tax rate is a novel idea for a Frenchman. I fully expected a call for a general strike to paralyze the economy.

Posted by: Roy at April 22, 2014 11:45 AM (tiOTz)

51 I demand that Thomas Piketty redistribute all of his book sale money to ME. What's that, Thomas Piketty? I can't heeeear yooooou.

Posted by: Citizen X at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (7ObY1)

52 Of course, it goes without saying that the best way to attack income inequality is to reduce single parenthood and support marriages.

Posted by: MTF at April 22, 2014 03:39 PM (LISuA)

 

We'll have none of that, thanks. We've called a truce on social issues, remember?  Social issues are for losers. Only losers think social issues are important. If we focus exclusively on economic issues, we're bound to win in the 2014 midterms AND BEYOND! All hail Ayn Rand! Harumph! Harumph!

Posted by: A True Fiscal Conservative at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (V9ol4)

53

I don't know from french socialists, but this topic is essentially covered in its entirely by Robert Reich's movie (I don't think he made it, but it's  largely  about him)  "Inequality for All." 

 

I would highly recommend everyone here watch it.  You need to know what  they  are basing their next moves on.  This movie doesn't tell you what the plan is, you may need to read the french book for that, but it tells you how they indoctrination will go. 

Posted by: BurtTC at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (TOk1P)

54 Please to be making my income equal to that of Bill Gates.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit [/i][/s][/b][/u] at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (0HooB)

55 577 pages??? You know none of those twats will read it. How is that 80% taxation working for Fwance?

Posted by: Sir Pug A Lott at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (8c12T)

56 I guess Piketty wants us to surrender to the notion that Socialism is awesome and run away from Capitalism as fast as we can.

Posted by: Dr Spank at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (5UteM)

57

The inequality r>g [the rate of return on capital is greater than the rate of economic growth] implies that wealth accumulated in the past grows more rapidly than output and wages.

 

We used r and g for different values in business school, but this shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the rate of return on capital.  All financial investments (not investments in art, or puppies) are valued at the discounted net present value of their future earnings. 

 

Greater uncertainty lowers the value people place on future revenue streams.  Greater expectations of earnings growth increases such value.  All successful investing depends on accurately anticipating where real growth will occur.  There is no good return on capital in a stagnant economy.

Posted by: Frumious Bandersnatch at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (JtwS4)

58 Quite the contrary, he does not expect such a tax to bring in much revenue, because its purpose is simply "to put an end to such incomes."

Mr. Piketty should present his ideas to those fine young Obama supporters in the NBA and NFL.

(How many million guaranteed did Aaron Hernandez get before his arrest?  Start there, Mr. Piketty.)

Posted by: HR at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (ZKzrr)

59 Instapundit suggests that there is a top-and-bottom coalition against the middle class.
***
That is exactly how the ideological ancestors of the modern left stopped the development of representative government in Germany.

The aristocracy - literally in the Second Reich and the governing class in America are more then willing to trade a small amount of their income, and a large amount of the productive class's income, in the forms of bribes to the lower class to make sure that they get to control society as a whole.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (78TbK)

60 And the author has given away 80+% of all royalties, wages and payments exactly where? He means everybody else. Not him.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 22, 2014 11:46 AM (gOoFi)

61 Is 'rentier' French for Joooos ? or is it a dog whistle ?

Posted by: McCool at April 22, 2014 11:47 AM (nCSwS)

62 Once constituted, capital reproduces itself faster than output increases. First off... what? Second- even if that were true, why would it be bad?

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 11:47 AM (PYAXX)

63

A book by a french socialist  unironically  made a best seller list in America

 

I no longer recognize my country.

Posted by: @johntant at April 22, 2014 11:47 AM (eytER)

64 The entire purpose of the book, and the "income inequality" meme the left has been pushing, is to distract people from the failures of lefty economics - here, France and everywhere else. They don't care if we prove them wrong on this or not. Now all the pundits and followers are talking about this instead of that. Mission accomplished. "Income inequality" is a strong point for lefties to talk about - even if they caused it. When we talk about that, they win.

Posted by: 29Victor at April 22, 2014 11:47 AM (ES9R7)

65 How is that 80% taxation working for Fwance? --- It's single-handedly bringing back conservatives as a force in the country.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at April 22, 2014 11:47 AM (APuJ7)

66

Class envy like this has the French economy working like a charm!

Dial it up to an 11, M. Piketty!

Posted by: M. Hollande at April 22, 2014 11:47 AM (v/jkV)

67 The more socialist a state becomes....especially the ones that have the fortune of evil capitalists protecting their interests, the greater the income inequality. Good to know.

Posted by: resist we much at April 22, 2014 11:47 AM (u0wJh)

68 how should I say this: Birds of a feather, flock together Fellow Travelers Common Cause Comrades 5 Year Plan Cancer from within

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 22, 2014 11:47 AM (t3UFN)

69

And in my next book i'll prove that we need to kill everyone who turns 70 since it isn't fair that some of you live so much longer than others, unless you've got tenure

But Of Course...

Posted by: Thomas Piketty at April 22, 2014 11:48 AM (SO2Q8)

70 Did Krugman write the dedication?

Posted by: Jeb Bush at April 22, 2014 11:48 AM (thLL8)

71 Piketty has also proudly almost never left Paris. But never leaving Paris means you're worldly and not parochial like all those dumb hicks that never America.

Posted by: Costanza Defense at April 22, 2014 11:49 AM (ZPrif)

72 60 And the author has given away 80+% of all royalties, wages and payments exactly where? He means everybody else. Not him. Exactly. Socialism for thee but never for me. John "Imagine no possessions" Lennon Broooce "Working Man's Zillionaire" Shitstain and all the rest of 'em. Fucking hypocrites. Fuck them all. Sideways.

Posted by: Citizen X at April 22, 2014 11:49 AM (7ObY1)

73 How many million guaranteed did Aaron Hernandez get before his arrest? Start there, Mr. Piketty. --- Hernandez didn't make his big money in New England. He made it at the University of Florida... everybody knows that!

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at April 22, 2014 11:49 AM (APuJ7)

74 Socialist, Communist, just pedantic hairsplitting, there is no difference between the two no matter what the other side claims.

Posted by: Cato at April 22, 2014 11:49 AM (4cRuH)

75 "A professor at the Paris School of Economics, Mr. Piketty believesÂ…" Allow me to share a surreal experience I had some twenty years ago. I spent some time in France (was in a relationship with a French woman) and went for dinner at the house of some family friends. The wife of the couple was some high bureaucrat in the Ministry of Culture. These people lived like rich people do here. The respect she was accorded, on account of her senior position in the ministry, was something like what we on the right would accord a successful entrepreneur (who hadn't leaned on the state to get there). And a big part of the dinner conversation concerned the hope of one set of parents or the other that their son could come and work for the government. And I thought, this society is completely fucked. The prestige job is to go work for the government. This is what parents want for their kids, and this is the kids' highest aspiration: To go work in a ministry I don't think should exist, living large at other people's expense. THAT's some inequality, how their senior government officials live compared to their average taxpayer. But I don't expect Professor Fairness or his new admirers to worry too much about that.

Posted by: JPS at April 22, 2014 11:50 AM (9ziuC)

76 30 Every self-described Socialist I know is a millionaire and/or a trust fund baby. They all hate greedy rich people who don't pay their fair share in taxes. 'Rich' in their world defined as: More money than me. Posted by: mugiwara Same is true here in the SF area. Wealthy = socialist. Or should I say: Wealthy - faux socialist who still wants to live a life of ease.

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 11:50 AM (mizYg)

77 Close the fucking borders. Importing socialist voters combined with a corrupt media and education system has changed America's voting patterns for AT LEAST a generation!!!!!

Posted by: Dan at April 22, 2014 11:50 AM (COpZ4)

78 Hey I don't know about this French economic theory but I have this here french rifle: Never been fired and only dropped once

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 22, 2014 11:50 AM (t3UFN)

79 Piketty is nuts and is going to get people killed with this bullshit. More on his side than ours, too. Hoof and Mouth disease cure, stat.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 22, 2014 11:50 AM (DcMS0)

80

40 -

 

Good stuff, thanks. 

Posted by: BurtTC at April 22, 2014 11:50 AM (TOk1P)

81 "Income inequality" is a strong point for lefties to talk about - even if they caused it.

And I posted this earlier, but much "income inequality" is the result of people's own shitty life choices.

http://is.gd/0nQuWD

Handicapping rich people isn't going to increase median household income in neighborhoods where most households consist of an unmarried uneducated woman with illegitimate kid(s).

Posted by: HR at April 22, 2014 11:50 AM (ZKzrr)

82 Yes, let's put the government in charge of how much money everyone can have.  Because the last hundred plus years of worldwide Marxist failures happened on a totes different planet.


Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 11:50 AM (Pson9)

83 One of the pluses working in the KGB is that their lunchroom is not decorated with portraits of past leaders of the KGB because almost all of them ended up with a bullet to the back of the neck. Quotas, comrades, quotas...

Posted by: Sir Pug A Lott at April 22, 2014 11:51 AM (8c12T)

84 Call me when a leftest makes a half-way compelling argument why some dude making 10x more than I do has the slightest negative effect on my own way of life.

Posted by: Serious Cat at April 22, 2014 11:51 AM (UypUQ)

85 Hey EC, have you started the paperwork to create that not-for-profit to keep us of the Horde nicely paid to do nothing?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 11:51 AM (DlqJm)

86 Piketty has also proudly almost never left Paris.
Posted by: Costanza Defense at April 22, 2014 03:49 PM (ZPrif)


Thank you, Lord.

Posted by: Noses Around the World at April 22, 2014 11:51 AM (W7ffl)

87 71 Piketty has also proudly almost never left Paris. But never leaving Paris means you're worldly and not parochial like all those dumb hicks that never America. --- My wife wonders why I am opposed to visiting Paris. Having visited Normandy and dealt with a lot of French citizens, I've come to the conclusion that there may be some cross-cultural friction between the French and Americans, but the Parisans are a special class of asshole because they hate EVERYBODY who isn't Parisian. For instance, I had a instructor in college who was from a decent sized French city and he told us about how he was seen as a provincial hick by Parisians because he wasn't from Paris.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at April 22, 2014 11:51 AM (APuJ7)

88 Hey I don't know about this French economic theory but I have this here french rifle: Never been fired and only dropped once Complete with a white fabric wrapping!

Posted by: rickb223 at April 22, 2014 11:52 AM (cB3Ay)

89 I salute this man's work : http://tinyurl.com/k7zv2so

Posted by: Dieudonné at April 22, 2014 11:52 AM (5UteM)

90 I thought calling someone socialist was straight up racist now?

Posted by: blaster at April 22, 2014 11:52 AM (BG5jZ)

91
.... also known as "The Maginot Line" of French Economic Theory.....

Posted by: fixerupper at April 22, 2014 11:52 AM (nELVU)

92 nc, #38: "More to the point, wouldn't your overall tax intake actually go down." Remember the last time someone in the press asked Obama a tough question? It was about his support for a reinstated, higher luxury tax, and how the last time around it put a real damper on the boat and small plane industries while failing to collect more money. The candidate answered that he would have to look at this anyway, for - wait for it - reasons of fairness.

Posted by: JPS at April 22, 2014 11:52 AM (9ziuC)

93 Though Piketty is an economist, his book is essentially a work of political science. He objects to extreme economic inequality because it offends democracy: Too much power is conferred on too few.>>

On this point I agree. Much to much power/wealth is conferred on Washington DC

Posted by: Buzzsaw at April 22, 2014 11:52 AM (tf9Ne)

94 Of course, whenever these clowns talk about "capitalism" in the US, they are talking about our current system of cronyism. What they might ask is why income inequality INCREASES, rather than decreases, the more crony socialism holds sway. Has inequality declined under Obama? LOL!

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at April 22, 2014 11:53 AM (dfYL9)

95

So imagine that Bill Gates leaves the USA for Canada...

U.S. inequality goes down.

Canada inequality goes up.

 

Which country is better off and which is worse off?

Posted by: Buzzsaw90 at April 22, 2014 11:53 AM (SO2Q8)

96 87 71 Piketty has also proudly almost never left Paris.
***

That's a good idea.  I would also go a step further and suggest keeping him in an airtight container.

Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 11:53 AM (Pson9)

97 I can discharge with this nonsense quite simply: Capital in not static. Never has been, never will be.

That's the willful and malicious lie that supports all of the leftists' schemes: They want others to believe that if Daddy Warbucks has a net worth of $5 billion, all of that money is sitting in a silo somewhere rotting.

Not in a bank loaning money to others so they can use it to build or buy houses.

Not in an investment fund so business can use it to buy equipment and fund their operations.

Nope.

It just sits there, doing nothing and no one else can have it or touch it.

But, the Socialist Super Taxman can swoop in and rescue that money, and Kind Government Bureaucrat will give it to the less well-off who really need it and can really use it--putting it back into the economy--goes the fairy tale.

Posted by: RoyalOil at April 22, 2014 11:53 AM (VjL9S)

98 Like Global Warming, the Left celebrates it not because it is right, but because it is (politically) correct.

Posted by: --- at April 22, 2014 11:53 AM (MMC8r)

99 And I posted this earlier, but much "income inequality" is the result of people's own shitty life choices.
***
Largely true, but the left created the culture that encouraged them to make said bad choices.

It doesn't mean that individuals aren't to blame, but realistically if we are to change things we'll need to change the culture first.

Oh, and if I were the Republicans I'd be making a lot of hay about those who have gotten rich/richer due to their connections with the Democrat party.

If the Koch brothers are a problem, why aren't we hearing about the various kleptocrats that control the Democrat party?

Posted by: 18-1 at April 22, 2014 11:53 AM (78TbK)

100 Hey socialism/communism is great because ya know Apple, Catipillar, John Deer, Microsoft, and Boeing are all Russian and French companies right?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 22, 2014 11:53 AM (t3UFN)

101 At least he's honest that he's doing it for punitive purposes. Ahhhh, yes. I'm a horrible terrible evil person for wanting a return on my investments and to keep that return. Not that I have a lot of money, because I don't, but I worked my ass off for years in a job I hated and that made me cry every morning before I went to work because I received a very generous indeed contribution to my retirement fund at the end of each year. That capital that's sitting on a beach earning 20%? I earned that money. Every cent of it. So dork the esteemed Comrade Piketty, dork him right in the squeakhole, for implying in any way that I am some terrible being for wanting to watch the fruit of my own labors grow. How about this? How about you sit and spin, Comrade. You go do that.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 11:53 AM (mf5HN)

102 Hey I don't know about this French economic theory but I have this here french rifle: Never been fired and only dropped once


Complete with a white fabric wrapping!

-----

Oooooo..... French MAS-36.   Count me in....

Posted by: fixerupper at April 22, 2014 11:54 AM (nELVU)

103 This NRO piece by Kevin Williamson, linked in the morning dump, mentions that 12% of Americans have at least one earning year in their lives that qualifies as members of the 1%:
 
http://tinyurl.com/mksj8xy
 
Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell also frequently mention this little factoid of life -- your economic status changes as you age. Plus there is lots of turnover at the top of the economic foodchain.
 
But facts like these are very inconvenient when your Progressive goal is Social Justice.

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 22, 2014 11:54 AM (wNF3N)

104 Fuck it. Let's ban all income not earned by work! Then we can get around to this problem I have with the "Bankers"

Posted by: Zakn at April 22, 2014 11:54 AM (Bvf82)

105

64 -

 

To the extent that income inequality is expanding, I would lay the blame directly on the victories, facilitated by willing governments, by the unions in the 60s and 70s. 

 

 

Posted by: BurtTC at April 22, 2014 11:54 AM (TOk1P)

106 Because we've all seen how generous and giving the left in this country is. No tax cheating, laundering, off-shoring, tax sheltering for them. No sir.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 22, 2014 11:54 AM (gOoFi)

107 All these pointy headed academics are deciding when and how much of my money they are going to take. Please tell me that we are not so far gone that there will be no pushback/revolt on this. I am so tired of the intolerant left pushing me and pushing me and pushing me some more. I am really waiting for the push back to start.

Posted by: Truck Monkey at April 22, 2014 11:54 AM (32Ze2)

108 Having visited Normandy and dealt with a lot of French citizens, I've come to the conclusion that there may be some cross-cultural friction between the French and Americans, but the Parisans are a special class of asshole because they hate EVERYBODY who isn't Parisian. Tell them to brush up on their German. Because next time........

Posted by: rickb223 at April 22, 2014 11:55 AM (cB3Ay)

109 Remember when we solved income inequality?  Moscow, 1917?  Worked great, didn't it?

Posted by: --- at April 22, 2014 11:55 AM (MMC8r)

110

42 Why call them socialists when they are full on communist?

---

You never go full on Communist

Posted by: Kirk Lazarus at April 22, 2014 11:55 AM (SO2Q8)

111 So obviously Monsieur Piketty has not ever slept in a Holiday Inn Express.  He comes by his hubris the old fashioned way, he's Parisian. 

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 11:55 AM (DlqJm)

112 WE  DEMAND  EQUAL MISERY FOR EVERYONE!!

Posted by: polynikes at April 22, 2014 11:55 AM (m2CN7)

113 Remember when we solved income inequality? Moscow, 1917? Worked great, didn't it?
___
This time it will be different.

Posted by: Bill Ayers at April 22, 2014 11:56 AM (78TbK)

114 I thought calling someone socialist was straight up racist now?
Posted by: blaster at April 22, 2014 03:52 PM (BG5jZ)



Only they are allowed to use that word.

Posted by: mugiwara at April 22, 2014 11:56 AM (W7ffl)

115 He's advocating for a global tax? Go fuck yourself. I am not paying more taxes and worse having itm funneled to islamic warlords.

Posted by: Sir Pug A Lott at April 22, 2014 11:56 AM (8c12T)

116 Mr. Piketty urges an 80% tax rate on incomes starting at "$500,000 or $1 million."







Barry: Sounds like a great plan to put into action. Exempting all of my rich pals of course

Posted by: TheQuietMan at April 22, 2014 11:56 AM (1Jaio)

117 WE DEMAND EQUAL MISERY FOR EVERYONE!!

EXCEPT US, OF COURSE!

Posted by: Your Betters in the Ruling Class at April 22, 2014 11:56 AM (ZKzrr)

118 The bottom wants to take the middle class' stuff because they just want stuff. The top earners want to take the middle class' stuff because the middle class threatens their status it allows the top earners to keep their stuff while giving the middles class' stuff to the bottom.

FIFY

Posted by: John P. Squibob at April 22, 2014 11:56 AM (xvLaQ)

119 577 pages??? You know none of those twats will read it. Yep. As proof I offer the Biographies of one Barack H Obama. They're easier to read and about their new hero. But nobody really read them. Otherwise we wouldn't have had so many shocking revelations three years after Obama was elected. He ate dog?

Posted by: bonhomme[/i][/b][/s][/i][/b][/s] at April 22, 2014 11:57 AM (IoTdl)

Posted by: John P. Squibob at April 22, 2014 11:57 AM (xvLaQ)

121 the French have a national academy ( in Paris, of course ) to train their upper-level bureaucrats:  the ENA, or Ecole Nationale d' Administration


they recruit ruthless, ambitious over-achievers from all over France to enroll, and churn out the New Class for the 88 departments ( that Napoleon created )


and they do love themselves--excessively

Posted by: Abdullah Abdullah ( not your grandfather's National Socialist ) at April 22, 2014 11:57 AM (JyjXt)

122 119-- Well-played.

Posted by: ace at April 22, 2014 11:57 AM (/FnUH)

123 Nothing but a lot of damn commie nonsense.

Random NonIdiot

Posted by: BackCover Suggestions[/i][/b][/s] at April 22, 2014 11:57 AM (DL2i+)

124 Tell them to brush up on their German. Because next time........
***
Now now, thanks to the American and Russian militaries the average German is now more "Sprockets" and less "Claus Von Stauffenberg"

Posted by: 18-1 at April 22, 2014 11:57 AM (78TbK)

125 He ate dog? --- To paraphrase Socrates, "I ate what?"

Posted by: Barry McFuckstick at April 22, 2014 11:57 AM (APuJ7)

126 Because next time........ Ummmm Hmmmmmm......

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 22, 2014 11:58 AM (gOoFi)

127 You know what would really help the global economy? Bringing back the McRib.

Posted by: Sir Pug A Lott at April 22, 2014 11:58 AM (8c12T)

128 Thomas Sowell's The Vision of the Anointed has this marvelous quote from Joseph Schumpeter. I know of no better description of socialism: "They went to work with unsurpassable efficiency. Full employment, a maximum of resulting output, and general well-being ought to have been the conse­quence. It is true that instead we find misery, shame and, at the end of it all, a stream of blood. But that was a chance coincidence."

Posted by: JPS at April 22, 2014 11:59 AM (9ziuC)

129 it allows the top earners to keep their stuff while giving the middles class' stuff to the bottom.
___
Also, do you know how much money middle class nannies and chefs want?

The GALL of these "people"!

Posted by: Your Average Upper Middle Class Liberal at April 22, 2014 11:59 AM (78TbK)

130 A professor at the Paris School of Economics, Mr. Piketty believes that only the productivity of low-wage workers can be measured objectively. He posits that when a job is replicable, like an "assembly line worker or fast-food server," it is relatively easy to measure the value contributed by each worker. These workers are therefore entitled to what they earn. He finds the productivity of high-income earners harder to measure and believes their wages are in the end "largely arbitrary." They reflect an "ideological construct" more than merit.
***

It was punchier in the original German pamphlet.




Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 11:59 AM (Pson9)

131 @127 I could go for a McRib or two. Assuming they don't cost $20 each once the new minimum wage hits.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 22, 2014 12:00 PM (gOoFi)

132 I hate  to say it but  everything you need to  know about economics in 257 words  beats the crap out of everything you need to know about economics  in 557 pages.

Posted by: polynikes at April 22, 2014 12:00 PM (m2CN7)

133 oh, off topic, but heap important email from Big Chief Bleach Blond: "When I was working on setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I met with a lot of members of Congress – both Republicans and Democrats. One Tea Party Republican I met with cut me off in the middle of my pitch for how the new consumer agency would protect millions of Americans. "I don't believe in government," the Congressman told me." I would like Warren to name that Republican Congressman, because I think she's full of crap.

Posted by: mallfly at April 22, 2014 12:00 PM (bJm7W)

134

124 -

 

I have predicted the next great Euro military expansion will indeed, be the french, and when they decide to kick a** and take names, it will  not be pretty. 

Posted by: BurtTC at April 22, 2014 12:00 PM (TOk1P)

135 ...but NO ONE takes French intellectuals seriously--not even the French


...especially the French, but lately many American Leftie douchebags seem to like quoting Frog "thinkers'.     =====Madness. 

Posted by: Abdullah Abdullah ( not your grandfather's National Socialist ) at April 22, 2014 12:00 PM (JyjXt)

136 I noticed that there's  some  large factors  not discussed that has put the American middle class in decline.  And that's the unbearable weight of government regulations  on business and industry.  Add in the unions, and then, of course Ocare, and  the brunt of this  socialist manipulation falls squarely on the  upward  mobility  which more or less defines the middle class.  

Posted by: Soona at April 22, 2014 12:00 PM (trhm+)

137 Discouraging people from investing. What could possibly go wrong with that?

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:00 PM (GXZgZ)

138 I hate to say it but everything you need to know about economics in 257 words beats the crap out of everything you need to know about economics in 557 pages.
___
257 words? TL R! Dude, that's a lot more then 140 characters.

Posted by: Your Average Upper Middle Class Liberal at April 22, 2014 12:01 PM (78TbK)

139 577 pages in this book.  .577 is the caliber of the T-Rex round.  Coincidence?

Posted by: Insomniac at April 22, 2014 12:01 PM (DrWcr)

140 I think the right needs to come up with a term to counter the "Inequality" canard.

Use the term "Standard of Living Gap". I'd wager the gap in general standard of living conditions have narrowed in the last 50 years even with widening income inequality.

All things else being equal, a family who has granite counter tops in thier kitchen does not have an appreciably higher standard of living than a family with laminate counter-tops.

Posted by: Serious Cat at April 22, 2014 12:01 PM (UypUQ)

141 2010 is an interesting data point to use when talking about income inequality. At this point, we are past tarp and beginning QE2. Hence, we see that the middle class hasn't rebounded from the 2008 crash, but the Wall St Obama donor has, as he is now able to make a profit by borrowing money at a near 0% rate from the fed and investing it in anything with a ROI >0%.

Posted by: taylork at April 22, 2014 12:01 PM (9bPUR)

142

The GALL[\s] Gaul of these "people"!

---

FIFY

Posted by: Buzzsaw90 at April 22, 2014 12:02 PM (SO2Q8)

143 If only it had been 256 words. Alas.....

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:02 PM (GXZgZ)

144 The left makes the argument that making drugs illegal has only caused the drug economy to go underground. It didn't stop drug usage. And then they turn around and try to claim that making investment or owning wealth illegal will in fact cause people to cease investing and cease having wealth. By their own arguments (in the drugs example), all the socialist policies will do is make entrepreneurs and investors go underground. It won't make them disappear. Let's ask Al Capone and Bugs Moran what happens when entrepreneurs are forced to strive for profit outside the law.

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 12:02 PM (mizYg)

145 But, the Socialist Super Taxman can swoop in and rescue that money, and Kind Government Bureaucrat will give it to the less well-off who really need it and can really use it--putting it back into the economy--goes the fairy tale. Yeah, but by the time that dollar makes its way back to Main Street, it's lost 40% of its value due to Agency Friction.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit [/i][/s][/b][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:02 PM (0HooB)

146

Because French economists have done so much for the French economy.

 

I guess selling arms and nukes to the scumbags of the world is a growth industry.

Posted by: --- at April 22, 2014 12:02 PM (MMC8r)

147 Discouraging people from investing A word, if I may.....

Posted by: Black Tuesday at April 22, 2014 12:02 PM (gOoFi)

148 but the Wall St Obama donor has, as he is now able to make a profit by borrowing money at a near 0% rate from the fed and investing it in anything with a ROI >0%.
___
You know, if we talked about that the Democrats might be in trouble.

I'm going to pre-emptively call that racist...everyone ok with that?

Posted by: The State Media at April 22, 2014 12:03 PM (78TbK)

149 You know what would really help the global economy? Bringing back the McRib.
Posted by: Sir Pug A Lott at April 22, 2014 03:58 PM (8c12T)
Or the McDog

Posted by: King Barack at April 22, 2014 12:03 PM (I9I9J)

150 I got mine!

Posted by: Emperor Baraka at April 22, 2014 12:03 PM (DdphP)

151 I hate to say it but everything you need to know about economics in 257 words beats the crap out of everything you need to know about economics in 557 pages. Posted by: polynikes at April 22, 2014 04:00 PM (m2CN7) When Ezra Klein can pwn your work, you need to sit down and deeply and truly and intently ponder your life choices.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 12:03 PM (mf5HN)

152 The only way you can claim the American middle class is poor--and I haven't read the study--is by defining the MC into a narrower band than the middle class themselves do. Look at your lifestyle. Do you consider yourself to be upper class? Is your retirement paid for? Do you own more than one car? The middle class is everybody who works (or did) that isn't in the 0.5% to stay. That's the way it is now.

Posted by: spongeworthy at April 22, 2014 12:03 PM (8Pg2o)

153 "Piketty presents Scandinavian countries in the 1970s and Â’80s as examples of 'low inequality'."

Um, also examples of low diversity. Extremely low. Monoethnic, monolinguistic cultures. Hence things like high levels of intrasocial trust. Required to minimize the problem of benefit cheating in a welfare state society.

Essentially completely inapplicable to the 21st century USA. Where intrasocial trust no longer exists at all, and where huge swathes of the population have a quite explicit ethos of gaming the system for all it's worth.

Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 12:04 PM (noWW6)

154 Remember that one time years back when a reporter actually mentioned to Obama how tax revenues increase when tax rares are lowered? I recall Obama's response was something along the line of, 'well yeah, but it's not about revenue, it's about fairness.'

Posted by: mugiwara at April 22, 2014 12:04 PM (W7ffl)

155 If Barack wanted to equalize the haves and the have-nots, he could cut the pay of overpaid gummint drones down to the level of the average American.

Posted by: --- at April 22, 2014 12:04 PM (MMC8r)

156 It was punchier in the original German pamphlet. Posted by: B I nominate for thread-winner.

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 12:04 PM (mizYg)

157

One Tea Party Republican I met with cut me off in the middle of my pitch for how the new consumer agency would protect millions of Americans. "I don't believe in government," the Congressman told me."

I would like Warren to name that Republican Congressman, because I think she's full of crap.

 

Posted by: mallfly

 

----

 

I would like the name, so I can make out a campaign donation.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 12:04 PM (aq5Dc)

158 "canard" is French for 'duck', btw.  The duck with feathers and funny feet, not the motion to avoid


There used to be a good magazine in France called ' Le Canard Enchaine', the chained duck.  Loses something in translation....


good skeptical critiques of French bureaucratic incroyable stupidity

Posted by: Abdullah Abdullah ( not your grandfather's National Socialist ) at April 22, 2014 12:04 PM (JyjXt)

159 If Barack wanted to equalize the haves and the have-nots, he could cut the pay of overpaid gummint drones down to the level of the average American.
___
But we have advanced degrees in under water basket weaving!

Posted by: Your Average Upper Middle Class Liberal at April 22, 2014 12:05 PM (78TbK)

160 All things else being equal, a family who has granite counter tops in thier kitchen does not have an appreciably higher standard of living than a family with laminate counter-tops. Precisely, which is *why* the left uses "Income Inequality." Because, you know, it's not fair that you make more money than me. Oh, sure, I have a roof over my head, food to eat, a car to drive, a cell phone (or two, or four), internet service, my gaming console of choice, satellite (or cable) TV, etc., etc. None of that matters because some person I've never met, and never will, has more disposable income than I do. And if you try to address this honestly, you're a hating hater who hates people.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:06 PM (PYAXX)

161 And of course also any comparison of the social economics of Scandinavia versus the USA is incomplete without the famous Milton Friedman story.

Friedman was debating a left-wing economist who pointed to Scandinavia's low unemployment rate as proof of the virtues of "middle way" Nordic socialism.

Friedman's devastatingly simple response was to point out that the unemployment rate for Scandinavians in America was essentially the same.

Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 12:06 PM (noWW6)

162 Further, I think that there is a geopraphic component to this which can probably be used to account for the varying cost of living accross the country (one will get a lot more from $200/month rent in NC, then NYC or DC). What good does owning a large chunk of the wealth do when it disappears due to inflated rents/mortgages? For instance, in my area in NoVa, just being in this area has a $400k additional cost premium to buy a 0.5-1 acre lot.

Posted by: taylork at April 22, 2014 12:06 PM (9bPUR)

163 Thomas Sowell's The Vision of the Anointed has this marvelous quote from Joseph Schumpeter. I know of no better description of socialism: Here's one: Socialism = people lined up for bread. Capitalism = bread lined up for people.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit [/i][/s][/b][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:06 PM (0HooB)

164 "But we have advanced degrees in under water basket weaving!" Yeah, somebody's got to shuffle those papers and write those regulations.

Posted by: D.C. Insider at April 22, 2014 12:06 PM (gOoFi)

165 How to refute Piketty and Klein in a two minute video.  It will probably incite them because its a 'trigger' video.

http://youtu.be/2auI6Uz3D8I

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 12:07 PM (DlqJm)

166 Envy is a bitch.

Posted by: Dang at April 22, 2014 12:07 PM (MNq6o)

167 Because, you know, it's not fair that you make more money than me.
___
I'd disagree a bit about where you put your emphasis...

Because, you know, it's not fair that *you* make more money than *me*.

Posted by: Your Average Upper Middle Class Liberal at April 22, 2014 12:07 PM (78TbK)

168 ...and it's still being published.  En Francais, mes amis

Posted by: Abdullah Abdullah ( not your grandfather's National Socialist ) at April 22, 2014 12:07 PM (JyjXt)

169 These days, the distribution in the United States is far more unequal. In 2010, the top 10 percent received about 50 percent of national income, and the bottom 50 percent got 20 percent; the middle 40 percent got 30 percent. ---------------------------------- This is why this poncy French bitch is so wrong. The rich don't "receive" income. They fucking EARN it. The bottom quintile, however, DOES "receive" income, as in it was handed to them by Uncle Sugar. Furthermore, the percentages are all wrong because like all liberal assholes, the presumption is that all income is owned by the government. How much of the nation's wealth do I own? Zero percent. I own 100 percent of MY wealth and you own 100 percent of yours. Get off your dead ass, get to work, improve your skills to command a higher wage or launch your own business, and YOUR 100 percent will get larger. Keep your hands off my stack or you're gonna be jackin' off with stumps, fucker.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 22, 2014 12:07 PM (CJjw5)

170 French economics worked for us!

Posted by: Mauritania at April 22, 2014 12:07 PM (DdphP)

171 "I would like Warren to name that Republican Congressman, because I think she's full of crap."

They met up during the annual Cherokee prairie crab netting. A tribal tradition.

Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 12:07 PM (noWW6)

172 @140: The "Inequality" canard was already countered quite well by Margaret Thatcher. She accused the Socialists in the UK government of not giving a damn if the poor were any better off as long as the rich were less rich. That's exactly how to do it, because it's true. They aren't interested in sharing the wealth, only the part where they confiscate it.

Posted by: Cato at April 22, 2014 12:08 PM (4cRuH)

173 A professor at the Paris School of Economics... Is that the school Pol Pot went to?

Posted by: bonhomme[/i][/b][/s][/i][/b][/s] at April 22, 2014 12:08 PM (IoTdl)

174

So what's the problem with income disparity?

What they try to imply is that person with billions keeps the person with hundreds from having any more.  Their idea is that there's a finite supply of wealth.  That's BS.

Posted by: --- at April 22, 2014 12:08 PM (MMC8r)

175 By their own arguments (in the drugs example), all the socialist policies will do is make entrepreneurs and investors go underground. It won't make them disappear. Let's ask Al Capone and Bugs Moran what happens when entrepreneurs are forced to strive for profit outside the law. Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 04:02 PM (mizYg) I believe the estimates are that something like 40-50% of the Italian economy is conducted off the books.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 12:08 PM (mf5HN)

176 When Ezra Klein can pwn your work, you need to sit down and deeply and truly and intently ponder your life choices. Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 04:03 PM (mf5HN) Piketty is French, so the ability to profitably ponder anything other than cheese and pussy is so limited as to be non-existent.

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:08 PM (yz6yg)

177 Socialism- I don't think it means what you think it does. It does not mean you have Twitter, Facebook, AND LinkedIn...

Posted by: Mr Wolf at April 22, 2014 12:09 PM (nRgwZ)

178 Italian tax police.

If they ask to see your receipt when you leave a store, and there is no receipt.  You think our IRS is bad...

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 12:09 PM (DlqJm)

179 It should also be said of most Socialist Countries that they don't pay too much attention to self defense, and therefore don't have to pay that much for it. The "savings" get plowed back into the government who dole out more goodies. The US will always protect them, right?

Posted by: Truck Monkey at April 22, 2014 12:09 PM (32Ze2)

180 The US will always protect them, right? --- Yeah, about that...

Posted by: Barry McFuckstick at April 22, 2014 12:10 PM (APuJ7)

181 Communists all, they are all Hostis Humani Generis, enemies of all mankind. Note they want to punish people and deprive them of property and liberty (for what is pursuit of happiness but ability to own what property we wish) just because THEY've determined their enemies deserve to be treated as non-humans, as slaves, as property of the State. They are in league and in step with all who diminish people as things such as Nazis and Royalists. Promoting socialism/communism/naziism, (aristocracy in other cloaks) is the same as enslavement. It is the same as sedition in our liberty-based Republic; it cannot be argued otherwise, and should be punished as a capital crime.

Posted by: Inspector Cussword at April 22, 2014 12:10 PM (Qp0nB)

182 or thoey just want a naion of non strivesrs, why should anyone strive towards security if you will be punished. we want All to stay living on the edge of poverty where one upset will destroy you. and we don't want you able to vacation at our favorite spots

Posted by: willow at April 22, 2014 12:11 PM (nqBYe)

183 What they try to imply is that person with billions keeps the person with hundreds from having any more. Their idea is that there's a finite supply of wealth The day I realized my brother (the librarian) would never understand economics: Bro: "The economy might not be a zero sum game, but it acts like one..." Me: *mental face palm* "Yes, because people value their money *exactly as much* as they value bread."

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:11 PM (PYAXX)

184 "After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans." I call BS on that. Maybe after **income** tax, incomes in Canada are higher. But what about after non-income taxes like sales tax (double in Canada), gas tax (500% higher inc Canada), etc?

Posted by: Mr. Moo Moo at April 22, 2014 12:11 PM (0LHZx)

185 I think sometimes the Founding Fathers messed up by changing 'pursuit of property' to 'pursuit of happiness.'

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 12:12 PM (DlqJm)

186 Yeah, about that... Posted by: Barry McFuckstick at April 22, 2014 04:10 PM (APuJ7) inorte???

Posted by: Billy Jeff at April 22, 2014 12:12 PM (GXZgZ)

187 "Mr. Piketty urges an 80% tax rate on incomes starting at '$500,000 or $1 million.' This is not to raise money for education or to increase unemployment benefits. Quite the contrary, he does not expect such a tax to bring in much revenue, because its purpose is simply 'to put an end to such incomes.'"

To put it bluntly, Piketty's goal is not to utilize wealth, but to destroy it. In the name of Justice and Fairness. Or as the Instapundit is fond of quoting, "They'll make us all beggars, 'cause they're easier to control."

I wonder how Obama's plutocrat supporters are taking all of this? Or do they simply assume that, come what may, they'll still be the ones holding the whip?

Posted by: Brown Line at April 22, 2014 12:12 PM (VrNoa)

188 I, for one, would be determined to work just as hard, maybe harder, for half as much as I earn  receive now, wouldn't you, comrade?

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 12:12 PM (aq5Dc)

189 "Blackadder: Would you like to earn some money?
Comte de Frou-Frou: No I wouldn't. I would like other people to earn it and then give it to me. Just like in France in the good old days!"

Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 12:12 PM (Pson9)

190 All things else being equal, a family who has granite counter tops in thier kitchen does not have an appreciably higher standard of living than a family with laminate counter-tops. Posted by: Serious Cat at April 22, 2014 04:01 PM (UypUQ) ------------------------------ What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms?

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 22, 2014 12:12 PM (CJjw5)

191

172 -

 

IF we had a real opposition party in this country, one of the obvious arguments would be simple:  how much  has the war on poverty  done to change the level of poverty in this country? 

 

The left knows the answer:  essentially, it's  done nothing.  Not a  dime of the trillions of dollars  that have  been spent to alleviate poverty  has done a nickel's worth  of work  to accomplish that. 

 

They will tell you  the war on drugs has been lost.  The war  on terror has not made us any safer.  How about the war on poverty? 

 

It's time to declare    the war over, call it a draw, and start over. 

Posted by: BurtTC at April 22, 2014 12:13 PM (TOk1P)

192 I think sometimes the Founding Fathers messed up by changing 'pursuit of property' to 'pursuit of happiness.' I pretty well always think that. Actually, it's not even "pursuit of..." It's just "Life, Liberty, Property."

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:13 PM (PYAXX)

193 What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms? Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 22, 2014 04:12 PM (CJjw5) People from Louisiana. Jus' sayin'

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:13 PM (yz6yg)

194 What they try to imply is that person with billions keeps the person with hundreds from having any more.

I'd like to note that your statement is actually true for some extremely wealthy people. Congressional Democrats. Obama's donors. They're actively preventing the "people with hundreds" from obtaining more (from non-handout sources).

And because that statement true for the progg heroes, proggs believe it's true for all people with high incomes/high net worth (not the same thing; confiscating income makes it harder to to accrue wealth; the super rich people agitating for higher income taxes already have theirs.)

Posted by: HR at April 22, 2014 12:13 PM (ZKzrr)

195

"The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans."

The poor in much of Europe AND America don't "earn" anything, they are wards of the state. The ones in Europe just get a larger take for their "work" of keeping socialists in power.  

Posted by: Scotty Dog at April 22, 2014 12:14 PM (G74SD)

196 anyway in a sane world these guys/gals would be laughed out of society. i know they cannot believe being poor is good for the people. although i'm sure it is for them and their controlling hopes for change to the lowest common denominator they can encourage

Posted by: willow at April 22, 2014 12:14 PM (nqBYe)

197 I believe the estimates are that something like 40-50% of the Italian economy is conducted off the books. Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 04:08 PM (mf5HN) Amateurs.

Posted by: The Greeks at April 22, 2014 12:14 PM (DdphP)

198

After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States.

Might have something to do with the fact that the Canadian dollar has passed the US dollar in exchange rates, thanks to devaluation.

Posted by: --- at April 22, 2014 12:14 PM (MMC8r)

199 My coffee table is a spool.

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:14 PM (GXZgZ)

200 It's just "Life, Liberty, Property."
***
All three of those are now considered evil by the American left.

Posted by: 18-1 at April 22, 2014 12:14 PM (78TbK)

201 It should also be said of most Socialist Countries that they don't pay too much attention to self defense, and therefore don't have to pay that much for it. The "savings" get plowed back into the government who dole out more goodies. The US will always protect them, right? Posted by: Truck Monkey at April 22, 2014 04:09 PM (32Ze2) Several years back, I was up in Canada visiting some friends when one of them went off on this gleeful rant about how the Canadian government stood up to the big bad US bullies and wouldn't let the US put troops idefk somewhere in Alberta I think. I sat there and listened for awhile and then asked how, exactly, did Canada expect to defend itself when Putin decided that hey those oil sands are mighty spiffy and I'll just be taking those kthnxbai. She blinked at me and said, with not a hint of irony, well America will protect us. I stared at her and said um why would we do that when you won't let us put bases where we can protect you, also, you want to be handing over the money to pay for that protection or shall we just take the oil sands. Then she got all mad and huffy and the (late, lamented) BFF started kicking me really really hard and mouthing shut up so I had to drop it. But, yeah, there's a whole bunch of the world who just assumes hey America will take care of it.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 12:14 PM (mf5HN)

202 What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms? Posted by: Empire of Jeff +50 Wordsmith Points for you. I propose we found the Sterno-Huffing Ragamuffin Party.

Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 12:14 PM (mizYg)

203 People from Louisiana. Jus' sayin' Posted by: Sean Bannion at April 22, 2014 04:13 PM (yz6yg) ------------------------------------ Rubber chickens at dawn, Bannion.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 22, 2014 12:15 PM (CJjw5)

204

IF we had a real opposition party in this country, one of the obvious arguments would be simple: how much has the war on poverty done to change the level of poverty in this country?

The left knows the answer: essentially, it's done nothing. Not a dime of the trillions of dollars that have been spent to alleviate poverty has done a nickel's worth of work to accomplish that.

 

--

 

No, but the      government contracts and associated kickbacks to the politicians have enriched a    few.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 12:15 PM (aq5Dc)

205 What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms?
***

Ohhhh, we used to dream of laminate countertops!

Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 12:15 PM (Pson9)

206 "The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans."
***
My memory is that the median income in Europe is equal to the median income of Mississippi...so if true that is a rather interesting stat...

Posted by: 18-1 at April 22, 2014 12:16 PM (78TbK)

207 Okay, have to share. My wife (now in Elk Rapids, MI) just sent this text (quoted directly): "Fuck buckets. It's snowing." Should I point out that it's nearly May? Even northern Michigan should be more or less done with snow. But "global warming."

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:16 PM (PYAXX)

208 My coffee table is a spool. What, are you bragging?

Posted by: Common Hobo at April 22, 2014 12:16 PM (gOoFi)

209 "Mr. Piketty urges an 80% tax rate on incomes starting at '$500,000 or
$1 million.'"

Since the millionaires' tax has worked out so brilliantly well under the Hollande administration in France.

Capital flight, motherfucker! Do you speak it?

Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 12:16 PM (noWW6)

210 "Fuck buckets. It's snowing." --- If it's snowing, then I don't think those fuck buckets are getting cleaned out anytime soon.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at April 22, 2014 12:16 PM (APuJ7)

211 What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms? Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 22, 2014 04:12 PM (CJjw5) You're on. But firstÂ….you will blow me.

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:16 PM (yz6yg)

212

What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms?

 

Them granite things make the trailer tip.

Posted by: West Virginia at April 22, 2014 12:16 PM (MMC8r)

213 So are the laminate or granite counter tops Assault Counter Tops?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 12:17 PM (DlqJm)

214 OT, but my Walmart had .22LR today - first time in about a year and a half I've seen it.

Posted by: blaster at April 22, 2014 12:17 PM (BG5jZ)

215 That's fucked up, Al G.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 22, 2014 12:17 PM (gOoFi)

216 I think sometimes the Founding Fathers messed up by changing 'pursuit of property' to 'pursuit of happiness.' I'm unpersuaded by that argument. The argument goes that if property were there, we'd all know that property was protected from confiscation by the gov't. Two points: 1. When has the Constitution's explicit wording prevented the gov't from taking liberties when they felt like it? 2. The socialists would then say that "See, the gov't is supposed to make sure everyone has property. You've got some, that guy doesn't. So I'mma just take that from you and give it to him."

Posted by: bonhomme[/i][/b][/s][/i][/b][/s] at April 22, 2014 12:17 PM (IoTdl)

217 "After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada — substantially behind in 2000 — now appear to be higher than in the United States. The poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans." I call BS on that. Maybe after **income** tax, incomes in Canada are higher. But what about after non-income taxes like sales tax (double in Canada), gas tax (500% higher inc Canada), etc? Maybe you can call BS on the after tax income, you can't call BS on the trend. It just isn't good for the middle class in the US the past decade. Whether the tipping point is now or later, the trend clearly shows the middle class is falling behind and is going to get wiped out if changes aren't made.

Posted by: Big D at April 22, 2014 12:17 PM (pOpEz)

218 Remember the little brat that never was satisfied with the flavor and/or amount of ice cream some other kids had? Give him an honorary doctorate in economics and age for 50 years, give or take a decade.

Posted by: WVinMN at April 22, 2014 12:18 PM (4Pleu)

219
Rag McMuffins????


.... sounds..... fibrous...

Posted by: fixerupper at April 22, 2014 12:18 PM (nELVU)

220 Those who complain about "inequality" never mention how much Oprah or Mick Jagger earn or how little their stage help is paid. Nor do they complain that Matt McGloin, the quarterback for the Los Angeles Raiders has a $108 million contract while one of his team's cheerleaders just sued the team over her pay of $5 per hour. It is hardly news that over 40 university presidents have pay packages that exceed $1 million, or that the heads of 11 charities in the US are paid over $1 million while their volunteers are asked to donate their time and money. So who exactly has the income that is proof of "inequality"? Times up: Apart from just railing against "the wealthy" as a nebulous group that excludes all rich liberals, they only complain about business leaders who earn a lot of money. Now why would that be? "Income inequality" joins Peak Oil and Global Warming as frauds of the left that are really aimed at advancing ideological agendas rather than advancing prosperity and liberty. Liberals are only interested in the liberty and prosperity they can coerce from others.

Posted by: theBuckWheat at April 22, 2014 12:19 PM (nmcha)

221 Them granite things make the trailer tip. oooooOOOoooh......trailer....fancy schmancy.

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:19 PM (GXZgZ)

222 How come these leftys aren't immigrating to North Korea in droves for the true socialist experience?

Posted by: Sir Pug A Lott at April 22, 2014 12:19 PM (8c12T)

223 So Sean, at the meet-up.  Will MWR be singing songs from My Fair Lady?  Or is BCochran's puerile fantasy of her reading from 50 Shades still holding true?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 12:19 PM (DlqJm)

224 “One of the strangest phenomena of our time, and one that will probably be a matter of astonishment to our descendants, is the doctrine which is founded upon this triple hypothesis: the radical passiveness of mankind,— the omnipotence of the law,—the infallibility of the legislator: this is the sacred symbol of the party that proclaims itself exclusively democratic.” ― Frédéric Bastiat, The Law

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:19 PM (PYAXX)

225 But, yeah, there's a whole bunch of the world who just assumes hey America will take care of it. Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 04:14 PM (mf5HN) One good thing about Obama destroying the US as a superpower will be the surprised looks on their faces.

Posted by: blaster at April 22, 2014 12:19 PM (BG5jZ)

226 right or wrong, once the liberal mind is invested in an idea, there is no mental bleach that can clean that stain. The liberal pathology states that once they hear it from Jon Stewart, they'll repeat that tidbit and never learn anything on the subject again.

Posted by: joeindc44 at April 22, 2014 12:19 PM (FQLT3)

227 "Should I point out that it's nearly May? Even northern Michigan should be more or less done with snow. But 'global warming.'"

An effective opposition party -- that mythological beast -- if it actually existed, might be funding some ad buys right now while media slots are cheap.

Bone simple stuff. Scripts which write themselves.

"Liberals tell us we're all at risk of the planet being cooked to death by global warming."

::: vistas of parched deserts through shimmering heat haze :::

::: screech of needle on record, image shatters :::

"Looked out a window lately?"

::: homeowner trudging out to shovel snow off driveway :::

Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 12:20 PM (noWW6)

228 Canadians also pay a ~20% VAT to pay for their free healthcare.

Posted by: --- at April 22, 2014 12:20 PM (MMC8r)

229 I propose we found the Sterno-Huffing Ragamuffin Party.
Posted by: zombie at April 22, 2014 04:14 PM (mizYg)



The past year I've lamented that the hardest part of coming up with a replacement party for the GOP is a catchy name that doesn't carry any baggage. I think we may have finally found a winner.

Posted by: mugiwara at April 22, 2014 12:20 PM (W7ffl)

230 Shockingly, a Pro-Marxism Book by a Leftwing French Economist Has Taken America's Don't-Call-Them-Socialist Progressive Establishment By Storm This is just the latest tool with which to identify the wannabe Commie douchebags in our midst.

Posted by: Blacque Jacques Shellacque at April 22, 2014 12:20 PM (vd7A8)

231 Maybe you can call BS on the after tax income, you can't call BS on the trend. It just isn't good for the middle class in the US the past decade. Whether the tipping point is now or later, the trend clearly shows the middle class is falling behind and is going to get wiped out if changes aren't made. Posted by: Big D at April 22, 2014 04:17 PM (pOpEz) _____________ No I call BS on the trend as well. When I start seeing empty parking lots at $100/seat NFL games or when I see mall parking lots overflowing on Saturdays or when you can't get a table at a Chili's or Applebee's without a 45 minute wait on a Thursday night....I'll hold off on pronouncing America's middle class dead just yet.

Posted by: Mr. Moo Moo at April 22, 2014 12:20 PM (0LHZx)

232 So Sean, at the meet-up. Will MWR be singing songs from My Fair Lady? Or is BCochran's puerile fantasy of her reading from 50 Shades still holding true? Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 04:19 PM (DlqJm) I won't even be there, but can I put in my vote for BC's puerile fantasy?

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:21 PM (PYAXX)

233 So Sean, at the meet-up. Will MWR be singing songs from My Fair Lady? Or is BCochran's puerile fantasy of her reading from 50 Shades still holding true? Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 04:19 PM (DlqJm) Is Beth going to have to affect a Cockney accent? (heheh, I said Cock)

Posted by: blaster at April 22, 2014 12:22 PM (BG5jZ)

234 What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms? Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 22, 2014 04:12 PM (CJjw5) People from Louisiana. Jus' sayin' Posted by: Sean Bannion at April 22, 2014 04:13 PM (yz6yg) Okay. Actual carpet vs. hardwood discussion time. Who the fuck carpets their kitchen? Seriously. Why would you put carpet in one of the rooms most like to have stuffed spilled on the floor?

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 12:23 PM (mf5HN)

235 "Just yew wait AllenG, just yew wait!"

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 12:23 PM (DlqJm)

236 Similarities between a WV Divorce and a Prairie Tornado? In either case someone is bound to lose a trailer.

Posted by: Truck Monkey at April 22, 2014 12:23 PM (32Ze2)

237 puerile..... fancy schmancy.

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:23 PM (GXZgZ)

238 Cato, #172: http://tinyurl.com/l36whpq "What the honorable member is saying is that he would the poor were poorer, provided the rich were less rich!" I heard her voice while reading excerpts of this book.

Posted by: JPS at April 22, 2014 12:24 PM (9ziuC)

239 I would be willing to brave the fierce inequalities of a capitalist country if only I could find one.

Posted by: somebody else, not me at April 22, 2014 12:24 PM (29vnO)

240 So Sean, at the meet-up. Will MWR be singing songs from My Fair Lady? Or is BCochran's puerile fantasy of her reading from 50 Shades still holding true? Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 04:19 PM (DlqJm) After BC is done with his 50 Shades dramatic reading, MWR is going to put his ball gag back in and ride him to the bar to make him buy drinks for the Horde. AtÂ….least that's what it appears to say here on this release form BC sent to me. And if it doesn't say that, it will in 10 minutes...

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:25 PM (yz6yg)

241 Shoot. "Would rather the poor were poorer." Sorry for the misquote. Margaret Thatcher, we miss you.

Posted by: JPS at April 22, 2014 12:25 PM (9ziuC)

242

Having travelled to many, many third world crapholes, I must point out a fundamental misunderstanding of big government liberals:  One can have a functioning economy without a government, but one cannot have a functioning government without an economy.

 

In other words, when a government decides to overrule the economic laws, they tend to get slapped by the invisible hand.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 12:25 PM (aq5Dc)

243 Who the fuck carpets their kitchen? Seriously. Why would you put carpet in one of the rooms most like to have stuffed spilled on the floor? When we were looking for our new house, Mrs. Tenther and I completely lost count of how many houses had carpet in the bathroom. Carpet. In the bathroom. Who does that?

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:25 PM (PYAXX)

244 Don't worry -- top Republicans are on it.

BTW, income inequality is as stupid a concept as "affirmative action".  Name one person who lived before the age of electricity who wouldn't want to suffer from I.I. *today* -- that is, with air-conditioning, a fridge, a microwave, and a big screen TV.

Posted by: SFGoth at April 22, 2014 12:25 PM (1+jGB)

245 Okay. Actual carpet vs. hardwood discussion time.
Who the fuck carpets their kitchen? Seriously. Why would you put carpet in one of the rooms most like to have stuffed spilled on the floor?
Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 04:23 PM (mf5HN)


My guess is people without a sense of smell who enjoy the company of roaches and rodents.

Posted by: mugiwara at April 22, 2014 12:25 PM (W7ffl)

246 190 What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms? Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 22, 2014 04:12 PM (CJjw5) *raises hand* Actually, the ones in my kitchen are original. People pay good money for 50's retro decor.

Posted by: rickl at April 22, 2014 12:26 PM (zoehZ)

247 i saw BC's puerile fantasy open for the Alan Parsons Project in San Antonio back in 1973

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at April 22, 2014 12:26 PM (Cq0oW)

248 When I was a kid we were so poor we couldn't afford holes in our shoes. We had to wait and get secondhand holes and then hand them down.

Posted by: WalrusRex at April 22, 2014 12:26 PM (wTgwx)

249 >>> But, yeah, there's a whole bunch of the world who just assumes hey America will take care of it.

"One good thing about Obama destroying the US as a superpower will be the surprised looks on their faces."

That's already starting, by the way. The looks on the faces.

A few weeks ago, Obama gave one of his typically empty and self-congratulatory speeches to a Euro audience, about security policy, and Russia absorbing Crimea. Then he stopped at the end, visibly expecting the response that Euro audiences have previously always given his empty and self-congratulatory speeches.

Except that this time... it wasn't there. And Obama was visibly discomfited by this lack of adulation. What the fuck?

The reality is that while Europeans have for many decades always vocally rubbished the USA as a bunch of illiterate reckless cowboy imperialists with too big a military for anyone's good, they nevertheless privately and quietly expect that if the shit really does hit the fan, and if they are at real risk, then the USA will come riding to the rescue, as always has happened previously.

Guess what, kids?

Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 12:26 PM (noWW6)

250 No I call BS on the trend as well. When I start seeing empty parking lots at $100/seat NFL games or when I see mall parking lots overflowing on Saturdays or when you can't get a table at a Chili's or Applebee's without a 45 minute wait on a Thursday night....I'll hold off on pronouncing America's middle class dead just yet. That would be a big mistake. The current ruling class has pretty much declared open war on the middle class and as in all socialistic/communistic/pick your favorite name for it they want the middle class gone since it is easier to rule. Believing that the middle class is not in danger and has not been wounded is ignoring a very important idealogical battle that must be won.

Posted by: Big D at April 22, 2014 12:27 PM (pOpEz)

251 Who the fuck carpets their kitchen? Seriously. Why would you put carpet in one of the rooms most like to have stuffed spilled on the floor? Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 04:23 PM (mf5HN) On a related topic, why are 95% of the kitchen and bathroom countertops in California made from tile? Srsly. You know how hard that stuff is to sanitize?

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:27 PM (yz6yg)

252 There must be a translation problem with the word "democracy". In English, democracy means that everyone's vote is treated equally. Apparently, since the French Revolution, democracy to them means that everyone should be literally equal. The line between communisim and democracy is exceptionally thin. This isn't limited to the French. There are plenty on this side of the pond who can't stand the idea that someone else has more than they do. Even if it means no gain to them, they believe justice isn't served until the person with more is brought down to their level. No one rejoices in the good fortune of others.

Posted by: jwest at April 22, 2014 12:27 PM (u2a4R)

253 Who does that?

My grandmother's house, built in 1974, had shag carpeting in the upstairs bath.

Men were expected to use the bare-concrete-and-cinder-blocks bath in the basement.

Posted by: HR at April 22, 2014 12:27 PM (ZKzrr)

254 Oooooh.... carpets VS hardwood. Put me down for Hardwood.

Posted by: Hairy Reed, Seachlights Noted Pederast at April 22, 2014 12:27 PM (32Ze2)

255 Who the fuck carpets their kitchen? Seriously. Why would you put carpet in one of the rooms most like to have stuffed spilled on the floor? --------------------------------- Probably the same people who put pink shaggy toilet seat cozies in the shithouse.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 22, 2014 12:28 PM (XJzMN)

256 225?
blaster?

"One good thing about Obama destroying the US as a superpower will be the surprised looks on their faces."

Yup....

Posted by: backhoe at April 22, 2014 12:28 PM (ULH4o)

257 Please, stop with the carpet/hardwood/laminate/etc. discussion. The wifey has watched HGTV almost non-stop the last two days and I want to puke.

Posted by: logprof at April 22, 2014 12:28 PM (DdphP)

258 Men were expected to use the bare-concrete-and-cinder-blocks bath in the basement. At least that would make sense. More than one had carpet in what was obviously a relatively young boy's bathroom.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:29 PM (PYAXX)

259 Sanitize? fancy schmancy.

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:29 PM (GXZgZ)

260 My grandmother's house, built in 1974, had shag carpeting in the upstairs bath. Not going to say how I read that with moron eyes....

Posted by: blaster at April 22, 2014 12:30 PM (BG5jZ)

261 I am so fucking sick of this socialist bullshit.  It's old.  Even in its current form, it was old when Bastiat complained about it in 1850. 

Plus, it makes no sense.  Income inequality?  It's like complaining about sex-inequality.  Some people get roughly 10,000 more sex offers than other people. 

Socialism is like saying that sex-inequality is bad, so people have a right to a minimum amount of sex. 

Now, naturally, giving sex to the under-sexed means that someone's going to have to GIVE these sex-starved losers sex THAT THEY WOULD NOT OTHERWISE GET IN A VOLUNTARY SEX REGIME.

Someone is going to have to be made into an unwilling sex-slave, in order to EQUALIZE the distribution of fucking. Some amount of INVOLUNTARY SEX is necessarily going to have to occur. 

That's what socialism is, only with money.  Someone has too much, someone too little, so force will need to be used to even things up. 

If this "solution" is obviously intrusive in the extreme when it comes to the forcible redistribution of sex, it should be equally repugnant when it comes to the forced distribution of money.  

Posted by: Phinn at April 22, 2014 12:31 PM (i5GO4)

262 Now, naturally, giving sex to the under-sexed means that someone's going to have to GIVE these sex-starved losers sex THAT THEY WOULD NOT OTHERWISE GET IN A VOLUNTARY SEX REGIME. Posted by: Phinn at April 22, 2014 04:31 PM (i5GO4) Workin' on it!!!

Posted by: Sandra Fluke [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:32 PM (yz6yg)

263 oh yeah..? well, when I was a boy, we were so poor than OUR chairs were plastic and decorated with "Please Return to your Friendly Dairyville Deliveryman"! Anyway, in Socialist Paradise, the Comrade in Chief is a worker just like everyone else. He's no richer than the common factory worker. Just because he lives in a palace means nothing, because it belongs to the PEOPLE.

Posted by: mallfly at April 22, 2014 12:33 PM (bJm7W)

264 Mmmmmm.......sex regime.

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:33 PM (GXZgZ)

265 Probably the same people who put pink shaggy toilet seat cozies in the shithouse. Fancy.

Posted by: rickb223 at April 22, 2014 12:33 PM (cB3Ay)

266

Posted by: Phinn at April 22, 2014 04:31 PM (i5GO4)

 

Don't give them any ideas about government subsidies for the Bunny Ranch.

Posted by: polynikes at April 22, 2014 12:33 PM (m2CN7)

267 I actually refer to this phenomenon as the "Corzine Democratic Curve of Equality."

Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at April 22, 2014 12:34 PM (lJLML)

268 I saw Sex Regime open for somebody somewhere.

Posted by: blaster at April 22, 2014 12:34 PM (BG5jZ)

269 grow wealthier and pass on assets via inheritance is "a fairly disturbing form of inequality." Talk about a sense of entitlement! Sheesh!!

Posted by: Every Kennedy Ever at April 22, 2014 12:35 PM (FcR7P)

270 Sad thing is that the Feral Gubmint couldn't run a whore house without losing money.

Posted by: Truck Monkey at April 22, 2014 12:35 PM (32Ze2)

271

[Ace:] ..."Cook also notes what Samuelson did-- that this is more of a political tract than an economic text:"

 

-------

 

Well yeah, Ace...it's Political Terrorism.

 

Barky is a Political Terrorist.

Hairy Reed is a Political Terrorist.

And so is Nazi Pelosi, political terrorist.

 

They cloak their political terrorism in flowery rhetoric, claiming that they're doing it to "help people".

 

But if you look at the damage that they do...it's terrorism, political style.

 

They've weaponized the government agencies and aimed them at their own people.

They use economics as another weapon to enslave people.

Posted by: wheatie, who hasn't read the comments yet at April 22, 2014 12:35 PM (fAjDo)

272 Don't give them any ideas about government subsidies for the Bunny Ranch. They'll run it into bankruptcy just like they did the Mustang Ranch

Posted by: rickb223 at April 22, 2014 12:36 PM (cB3Ay)

273 Posted by: Phinn at April 22, 2014 04:31 PM (i5GO4) I think the main disconnect is that Socialists (even the ones who are still "innocent" simply because they're young and stupid) believe that economics is something people created. Capitalists (real ones) understand economics as a way of describing stuff that just happens. It's not a question of capitalism vs socialism. Capitalism will continue regardless- people will use capital to create products with which they will enrich their own lives. No, it's a question of Liberty vs Compulsion.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:36 PM (PYAXX)

274

Speaking of God cursed socialists, this is a good article. (and no spiders)

http://tinyurl.com/lyoks9r

Posted by: maddogg at April 22, 2014 12:36 PM (xWW96)

275 Voluntary Sex Regime. That's a damned fine band name.

Posted by: t-bird at April 22, 2014 12:36 PM (FcR7P)

276 So what is to be done? Mr. Piketty urges an 80% tax rate on incomes starting at "$500,000 or $1 million."

... sure ... if you want to watch Guatemalan baseball games and films from Indonesia.

Posted by: #OccpyAthonyWeinersShort at April 22, 2014 12:36 PM (e8kgV)

277 I see three forces driving 'income inequality' in America... 1. High unemployment makes workers so replaceable that they cannot demand higher wages.... cause? Government. 2. High levels of Immigration, both legal and illegal, which drive down wages... cause? Government.. 3. Sweetheart deals via Crony Capitalism and buying Lawmakers.... I paid more in income Tax than General Electric did last year... I also paid more % in tax, than the President... even though I am considered the working poor.... cause? Government... So, as far as Income inequality and Wealth Gaps go.... Strike three Mr. Government.

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 12:37 PM (84gbM)

278 Jefferson did write, "Life, Liberty, and Property"--which he plagiarized from John Locke's "2nd Treatise on Civil Government"


Ben Franklin, who edited the Dec of I with John Adams, crossed out 'property' and wrote ' pursuit of Happiness'.  Late 18th Century hippie

Posted by: Abdullah Abdullah ( not your grandfather's National Socialist ) at April 22, 2014 12:37 PM (JyjXt)

279 Did Voluntary Sex Regime open for Pussy Riot back in 2010 in Smolensk?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 12:37 PM (DlqJm)

280 Did Voluntary Sex Regime open for Pussy Riot back in 2010 in Smolensk? Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 22, 2014 04:37 PM (DlqJm) Go on.

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:38 PM (yz6yg)

281 I saw Sex Regime open for somebody somewhere. Oooh, meme fumble. (I'm sure they opened for Joy Division, though.)

Posted by: Brother Cavil at April 22, 2014 12:38 PM (rt3TY)

282 One good thing about Obama destroying the US as a superpower will be the surprised looks on their faces.
***

The knots the MFM is tying themselves into over Ukraine is getting hilarious.  I heard a reporter at lunch on the radio breathlessly reporting that there are "still reports of unidentified soldiers in the Ukraine with Russian uniforms and Russian weapons".

That's because they're Russian soldiers, princess.

Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 12:39 PM (Pson9)

283 Sad thing is that the Feral Gubmint couldn't run a whore house without losing money. - Well, shit. There goes my idea for creating a Department of Sexual Equality and becoming Secretary of Ass.

Posted by: WalrusRex at April 22, 2014 12:39 PM (wTgwx)

284 I HATE hardwood/tile floors. Anywhere. After spending years traveling, and seeing mostly tile/wood floors even in Sadam's palaces, I have concluded only the truly deprived have cold, unfeeling floors. Carpet is so much more homey, warm, inviting and cozy. Yes, even in the bathroom. Tell me- ever seen what even ONE, dark, long hair looks like on a tile floor? Dirty. Now make it 3. Unkempt. Nope. I'll take carpet. Call me a muncher if you will

Posted by: Mr Wolf at April 22, 2014 12:39 PM (nRgwZ)

285 The wall to wall carpet in my bathroom is great for keeping my bare feet toasty warm on those cold winter nights if I happen to regain consciousness after drinking a bottle of valu-rite and need to make a golden offering to the porcelain god.

Posted by: Jaws at April 22, 2014 12:40 PM (eKZp1)

286
I assume he is making money off of this publication, we should take 80% from him.



As for the book, its subtitle should be Marx 2.0.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at April 22, 2014 12:40 PM (hJauc)

287 Fair? This dickhole wants fair? I'll tell you what fair is you dripping pustule of a totalitarian bastard. Fair is each person keeping what they rightfully earn from the fruits of their labors. I make a good living, but I don't care that Bill Gates makes infinitely more than I do. You know why? Because I didn't start a company that designed an OS used by fully 3/4 of the computers on this planet you diseased bell end. Oh but Dave, what about if you didn't make a good living? Well, cumbreath, I didn't always make a good living. Unlike you, I've worked in a variety of menial jobs, but you know what? When I was a waiter, or a landscaper, or a janitor, or a cook, or a cashier, I was paid commensurate to the value that my labor brought to the people I worked for and to society as a whole. I realized this, because unlike you, I've got a strong sense of honor and fairness, not a shriveled raisin of a soul. Let's just cut to the chase, shall we? You're a thief. That's all you are, and all you ever will be. A thief. A lousy, rotten, shoulda-been-strangled-in-the-cradle, thief. You hide your pilfery behind lofty sounding words and illuminating rhetoric, but all you want to do is take something you haven't earned and use it for you own ends. Well, fuck you. And fuck your mother, and your father and all your kids. I long for the day when the free people of the world will stick an M4 up your arse and blow your nose. Jackass

Posted by: Weirddave at April 22, 2014 12:41 PM (N/cFh)

288 I HATE hardwood/tile floors. Anywhere. After spending years traveling, and seeing mostly tile/wood floors even in Sadam's palaces, I have concluded only the truly deprived have cold, unfeeling floors. (nRgwZ) They also have wood painted to look exactly like Carrara marble.

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:41 PM (yz6yg)

289 I HATE hardwood/tile floors. Do you know how nice it is to be able to clean the house with a leaf blower? Best thing the GF ever did, making me get rid of the carpets (because of allergies to dust).

Posted by: t-bird at April 22, 2014 12:41 PM (FcR7P)

290 Carpet is so much more homey, warm, inviting and cozy. Yes, even in the bathroom.
***

Yes, until someone in overflows the toilet and you have to clean the room with thermite.

Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 12:41 PM (Pson9)

291

Piketty? yes yes, I know of him, of course...he wrote that book.

Fantastic book.


Posted by: Rev Dr E Buzz Christies at April 22, 2014 12:41 PM (xggaJ)

292 I used to argue with Socialists when I encountered them, and they're abnormally concentrated in the Glorious People's Nine-county Soviet that is the MSP metro area. Most of them, it dawned on me, won't let reality stand in the way of their cherished beliefs.
Now, count me with Dr. Samuel Johnson refuting Berkeley's Idealism: "I refute it thus!" *kicks mile stone soundly*
If that doesn't work, I like to do a Ron White:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3te6qb4

Posted by: 'cuz I've read some of that 18th-c. stuff at April 22, 2014 12:41 PM (1/4XQ)

293 OK, here's where I find a slight miniscule bit of common ground. I do not believe that financial speculation should be rewarded. I do believe investment should be. So, Mr. Soros--you are shit out of luck. Fork it over.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at April 22, 2014 12:42 PM (659DL)

294 Is it ideology or human nature? The majority of people here would rather see trillions of dollars wasted each year than give congressmen and senators a financial incentive to balance the budget. All because they can't stand the thought of using their money to pay someone what they consider too high a salary.

Posted by: jwest at April 22, 2014 12:42 PM (u2a4R)

295 Posted by: Weirddave at April 22, 2014 04:41 PM (N/cFh) Can I admit I have a man-crush right now?

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:42 PM (PYAXX)

296 "Piketty's big suggestion (more about this later) is that we tax yearly incomes of $500,000 (or $1,000,000; I guess he isn't sure on the threshold) at an 80% rate, and tax accumulated wealth at similar rates." here's my suggestion: we punch Peketty in the face repeatedly. His suggestion or mine. You pick.

Posted by: tangonine at April 22, 2014 12:42 PM (x3YFz)

297

284...Carpet is so much more homey, warm, inviting and cozy. Yes, even in the bathroom.

 

Yes...but it's hard to clean up vomit when it has sunk into carpet.

Posted by: wheatie at April 22, 2014 12:42 PM (fAjDo)

298

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 04:37 PM (84gbM)

 

Welders, plumbers, HVAC , Truck drivers, heavy machinery mechanics, Skilled Nurses and other semi skilled or skilled labor is still in high  demand.   Unfortunately  people are no longer willing to  pursue these  blue collar  professions.  

 

Its not a battle  between  the have and have nots but the haves and will nots.   

 

Posted by: polynikes at April 22, 2014 12:43 PM (m2CN7)

299

Socialism is like saying that sex-inequality is bad, so people have a right to a minimum amount of sex.

 

Now here's an idea I can get behind!

Posted by: Insomniac at April 22, 2014 12:43 PM (DrWcr)

300 Can I admit I have a man-crush right now? Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 04:42 PM (PYAXX) Dave will be at NoVAMoMee, and American flies non-stop from Dallas to DC. Jus' sayin'

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:43 PM (yz6yg)

301 NEW YORK (AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio is pulling back the reins on his plans to quickly get rid of New York City's horse-drawn carriage industry, stung by a recent outpouring of support for the colorful coaches that have clip-clopped their way through Central Park for more than 150 years.

A campaign pledge to take on the horses during his first week as mayor was eclipsed by other issues.

... I think the horses paid more income tax than the mayor

Posted by: #OccupyAthonyWeinersShort at April 22, 2014 12:43 PM (e8kgV)

302 I do not believe that financial speculation should be rewarded. CircaBall: Worst Lottery EVER!

Posted by: t-bird at April 22, 2014 12:43 PM (FcR7P)

303 Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 04:39 PM (Pson9) Uh.... folks do realize that the Ukrainian Army is armed with Russian weapons... And their uniforms look a LOT like Russian uniforms?

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 12:44 PM (84gbM)

304 Dave will be at NoVAMoMee, and American flies non-stop from Dallas to DC. Yeah... I'm spending all my spare cash to send my wife to take care of her mom.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:44 PM (PYAXX)

305
True income inequality is caused by government interference.  Plenty of data to support it.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at April 22, 2014 12:44 PM (hJauc)

306 Oooh, meme fumble. (I'm sure they opened for Joy Division, though.) Posted by: Brother Cavil at April 22, 2014 04:38 PM (rt3TY) Yeah just phoning it in today.

Posted by: blaster at April 22, 2014 12:44 PM (BG5jZ)

307 torquewrench: "Then he stopped at the end, visibly expecting the response that Euro audiences have previously always given his empty and self-congratulatory speeches." Couple of years back, I was at a commencement ceremony, in a very blue enclave of a very red state. The speaker was a genuine hero of the civil rights movement (who, in my view, has cheapened everything he stood for with promiscuous references to all Republican initiatives as the return of Jim Crow laws, never mind who was behind those). Anyway, in his remarks he drew a line from what he fought for in the 60s to the election of one PRESIDENT OBAMA! And he stopped and beamed, expecting the kids to go wild. They didn't. After a long two seconds of silence he moved on. Out of respect for who this man was 50 years ago, I felt bad for him. Otherwise I'd have taken some satisfaction in the moment.

Posted by: JPS at April 22, 2014 12:44 PM (9ziuC)

308 So, as far as Income inequality and Wealth Gaps go.... Strike three Mr. Government. ======= You can do the same thing with healthcare. Government 'fixes' problems until the system is unfixable.

Posted by: Satan at April 22, 2014 12:44 PM (MMC8r)

309 oh yeah..? well, when I was a boy, we were so poor than OUR chairs were plastic and decorated with "Please Return to your Friendly Dairyville Deliveryman"! 

Posted by: mallfly at April 22, 2014 04:33 PM (bJm7W)

 

 

----------------------------------------------

 

 

You think that's bad.  We had folding chairs from the Del-Mar Funeral Home  when I was growing up.  All of us  kids  celebrated the death of a relative, because we knew mama was coming home with a new chair. 

Posted by: Soona at April 22, 2014 12:45 PM (trhm+)

310 An unusual number of physicians in several U.S. states are just finding out that theyÂ’ve been victimized by tax return fraud this year, KrebsOnSecurity has learned. An apparent spike in tax fraud cases against medical professionals is fueling speculation that the crimes may have been prompted by a data breach at some type of national organization that certifies or provides credentials for physicians.

Scott Colby, executive vice president of the New Hampshire Medical Society, said he started hearing from physicians in his state about a week ago, when doctors who were just filing their tax returns began receiving notices from the Internal Revenue Service that someone had already filed their taxes and claimed a large refund.

Posted by: #OccupyAnthonyWeinersShort at April 22, 2014 12:45 PM (e8kgV)

311 I HATE hardwood/tile floors. Anywhere. After spending years traveling, and seeing mostly tile/wood floors even in Sadam's palaces, I have concluded only the truly deprived have cold, unfeeling floors. (nRgwZ) They also have wood painted to look exactly like Carrara marble. Posted by: Sean Bannion at April 22, 2014 04:41 PM (yz6yg) All our floors are hardwood or tile. Why? Cleaning. We don't have kids to impress into service so we have to do it ourselves. 4500 sq feet = lots of elbow grease.

Posted by: tangonine at April 22, 2014 12:45 PM (x3YFz)

312 Ya got trouble, right here in River City, with a capital T and that rhymes with E and that stands for Expatration.

Posted by: SpongeBobSaget at April 22, 2014 12:45 PM (L02KD)

313 Don't you just love how communists talk about people RECEIVING income, because they won't admit that almost all EARN their income?

Watch their twisted words.

Posted by: Beverly at April 22, 2014 12:45 PM (WhjEf)

314 I saw Phoning It In somewhere..........

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:46 PM (GXZgZ)

315 284 I HATE hardwood/tile floors. Anywhere. After spending years traveling, and seeing mostly tile/wood floors even in Sadam's palaces, I have concluded only the truly deprived have cold, unfeeling floors. Carpet is so much more homey, warm, inviting and cozy. Yes, even in the bathroom. Tell me- ever seen what even ONE, dark, long hair looks like on a tile floor? Dirty. Now make it 3. Unkempt. Nope. I'll take carpet. Call me a muncher if you will Posted by: Mr Wolf at April 22, 2014 04:39 PM (nRgwZ) Also kinda ties the whole place together.

Posted by: Dude at April 22, 2014 12:46 PM (DdphP)

316 Posted by: polynikes at April 22, 2014 04:43 PM (m2CN7) Its also a question of how do you get trained in those professions... Unless you know someone already in the profession... its hard to break into.... (we've looked for my Ladies 20 year old son). But.... if you look at my profession... IT? Wages have been either stagnant or regressed for everyone but programmers for the last 20 years.... as we let more and more H1B folks in.

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 12:47 PM (84gbM)

317 Give it a rest, jwest.   Members of congress are making six figures per month in kickbacks, bribes, and insider trades.      Every one of them.     They don't need your lousy half million dollar salary.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 12:47 PM (aq5Dc)

318 Posted by: Beverly at April 22, 2014 04:45 PM (WhjEf) Yep. They don't understand "earn." It's not that I "earn" my salary. No, I "receive" my salary. It allows them simultaneously to damn "the rich" for "receiving too much" and commiserate with "the poor" for "receiving too little" without having to consider that pesky "value" thing.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 12:47 PM (PYAXX)

319 303 Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 04:39 PM (Pson9)

Uh.... folks do realize that the Ukrainian Army is armed with Russian weapons...

And their uniforms look a LOT like Russian uniforms?
***

:-)  Yes.  But from the reports these are in places where the Ukraine troops are not stationed.

Then again, these are journalists.  It wouldn't surprise me to find out they were really pine trees.

Posted by: B at April 22, 2014 12:47 PM (Pson9)

320 You had chairs? We had to sit on each other, while the one on the bottom got a stool made from a broken bottle.

Posted by: --- at April 22, 2014 12:47 PM (MMC8r)

321 Carpet. In the bathroom.

Who does that?

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 04:25 PM (PYAXX)

People who don't urinate or shower.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 22, 2014 12:48 PM (QFxY5)

322 The past devours the future Hell-oh!

Posted by: Obama Welfare State at April 22, 2014 12:48 PM (AkJEy)

323 Here is the difference between Marxism and Capitalism economically. Under a free society everyone has the opportunity to be a renter if they want, have any ability, and apply themselves. Marxism decides whom can be a rentier, and when they feel like it destroy the rentier giving all that he has made to whomever has the political power to take it. The powerful will be the powerful. There are two types of people without power really, those willing to be oxen slaves given basic sustenance....these love Marxism, and those Men and Women that wish to become powerful themselves love the freedom of opportunity offered by Capitalism. In the end the Capitalist may find times when the food is a bit sparse, but mostly they eat plenty, and more than the poor Marxist ox ever will. There were many beaten slaves in the South that refused to leave their masters for fear of freedom and the unknown of making their own way. Freedom, true living freedom is very hard and scary, but it is also very rewarding as it is what man's heart yearns. For the Christian that yearning for freedom comes from God. This is a central reason why Marxism and God do not coexists well..

Posted by: Mekan at April 22, 2014 12:48 PM (zG16+)

324 Yeah, those Austen novel character's reliance on land rents and government bonds in the early 19th century that Piketty mentions as examples turned out to be sub-optimal. The Industrial Revolution and new factories in Manchester quickly generated untold new wealth. The conventional land owners didn't do well, relatively speaking. There's plenty of new capital being generated in Austen novels. Just not by the on-stage characters when on-stage. They were in the modern equivalent of retirement. Colonel Brandon in his youth was off in the Indies, probably working for the East India Company. Captain Wentworth was a frigate captain taking enemy ships as prizes. Elizabeth Bennet's relatives the Gardiners in London were "in trade", as they say.

Posted by: Ernst Blofeld at April 22, 2014 12:48 PM (XZWie)

325 People who don't urinate or shower. It's ALL pipes!

Posted by: George Costanza at April 22, 2014 12:48 PM (e7g56)

326

I do not believe that financial speculation should be rewarded.

 

Why not?

Posted by: Frumious Bandersnatch at April 22, 2014 12:49 PM (JtwS4)

327 Please, stop with the carpet/hardwood/laminate/etc. discussion. The wifey has watched HGTV almost non-stop the last two days and I want to puke. Posted by: logprof at April 22, 2014 04:28 PM (DdphP) Watching House Hunters and being super judgey about which house the people choose is one of the great pleasures in life.

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 12:49 PM (mf5HN)

328 People who don't urinate or shower. Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 22, 2014 04:48 PM (QFxY5) They just explode when they're 50.

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:49 PM (yz6yg)

329 Taxes, particularly income taxes, prevent wealth accumulation.
Ever tried adding up all the taxes you pay? Gas taxes, sales tax, property tax, income tax, the invisible taxes on ammo, beer, wine, spirits, and bubbly, ticket taxes, etc.

Posted by: Try It! at April 22, 2014 12:49 PM (1/4XQ)

330 "Welders, plumbers, HVAC , Truck drivers,heavy machinery mechanics,Skilled Nurses and other semi skilled or skilled labor is still in high demand."

Of course, once upon a time, the high schools gave kids of that inclination a chance to pick up certain of the skilled trades and a shot at earning a basic living right away at age 18.

Now, kids coming out of high school have to be taught, at the employer's expense, how a screwdriver works. Not making this up.

And that instructional process is agonizing.

"Turn it clockwise to tighten."

::: long pause :::

"Um, 'clockwise'?"

::: facepalm :::

Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 12:50 PM (noWW6)

331 Who the fuck carpets their kitchen? Seriously. Why would you put carpet in one of the rooms most like to have stuffed spilled on the floor? __________ I've never seen that. I have seen tons of carpeted bathrooms which I honestly cannot fathom. Carpet in a room that has water constantly being spilled or steamed.....GENIUS!!

Posted by: Mr. Moo Moo at April 22, 2014 12:50 PM (0LHZx)

332 Do you know how nice it is to be able to clean the house with a leaf blower? Best thing the GF ever did, making me get rid of the carpets (because of allergies to dust). I don't use a leaf-blower, but one of those little Swiffer wet thingers on a mop end does marvelous work. "Mopping" the kitchen floor takes about two minutes to do a thorough job. It takes about ten to dry and we're set for a week.

Posted by: bonhomme[/i][/b][/s][/i][/b][/s] at April 22, 2014 12:50 PM (IoTdl)

333 Watching House Hunters and being super judgey about which house the people choose is one of the great pleasures in life. Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 04:49 PM (mf5HN) What I learned from watching House Hunters is that only gay people buy homes.

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:50 PM (yz6yg)

334 Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 04:47 PM (aq5Dc)

Is that retard still touting his multi-million dollar salary idea for legislators?

He just doesn't get it.

Selling influence is much more valuable than any salary we could pay the miserable cocksucking leaches.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 22, 2014 12:50 PM (QFxY5)

335 Posted by: #OccupyAnthonyWeinersShort at April 22, 2014 04:45 PM (e8kgV) Look to the IRS / HHS interface... for O'care... IRS and others have to be sharing a lot more information for this to work... but as the Government does NOT have to tell us if THEY have a breach?

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 12:50 PM (84gbM)

336 Commies are never satisfied. They are bipedal locusts.

Posted by: eman at April 22, 2014 12:50 PM (S1+NH)

337 I do not believe that financial speculation should be rewarded. Why not? Posted by: Frumious Bandersnatch at April 22, 2014 04:49 PM (JtwS4) Yeah, that would kind of kill the whole 'invest in a company' thing.

Posted by: tangonine at April 22, 2014 12:51 PM (x3YFz)

338 I started my life in an apartment where everything was owned by a Funeral Home...... because we actually lived in a Funeral Home.

Posted by: Truck Monkey at April 22, 2014 12:51 PM (32Ze2)

339 I do not believe that financial speculation should be rewarded. Why not? It doesn't yield productivity, only a financial gain. I mentioned Soros because his currency raiding is exactly the kind of activity that lefties should rail against.

Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at April 22, 2014 12:51 PM (659DL)

340 All my carpeting is Astroturf. Best of both worlds.

Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 12:51 PM (GXZgZ)

341 All my carpeting is Astroturf. Best of both worlds. Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 04:51 PM (GXZgZ) That's not a euphemism - is it?

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:52 PM (yz6yg)

342 What I learned from watching House Hunters is that only gay people buy homes.

Posted by: Sean Bannion at April 22, 2014 04:50 PM (yz6yg)

 

Unpossible!  Teh gheys are marginalized, underprivileged, persecuted, and forbidden to own property! 

Posted by: Insomniac at April 22, 2014 12:52 PM (DrWcr)

343 Ben Franklin, who edited the Dec of I with John Adams, crossed out 'property' and wrote ' pursuit of Happiness'. Late 18th Century hippie

Posted by: Abdullah Abdullah ( not your grandfather's National Socialist ) at April 22, 2014 04:37 PM (JyjXt)

 

 

------------------------------------------------

 

 

Actually it was changed to kick the can of slavery down the road.

Posted by: Soona at April 22, 2014 12:52 PM (trhm+)

344 Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 04:49 PM (mf5HN)

During the 47 seconds of that show I have watched in my life, all I did was check whether the wife was showing cleavage.

Priorities!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 22, 2014 12:52 PM (QFxY5)

345 327 Please, stop with the carpet/hardwood/laminate/etc. discussion. The wifey has watched HGTV almost non-stop the last two days and I want to puke. Posted by: logprof at April 22, 2014 04:28 PM (DdphP) Remodel, you will.

Posted by: Bob Yoda at April 22, 2014 12:53 PM (AkJEy)

346 Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 04:50 PM (noWW6) Trust me.... I know.... I used to have a bunch of US Navy Electronics Techs work for me... You had to have high test scores and be book smart to get into the Rate... but most could not turn a damn wrench to save their lives until they had been in the fleet for awhile...

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 12:53 PM (84gbM)

347 341 All my carpeting is Astroturf.

Best of both worlds.
Posted by: eleven at April 22, 2014 04:51 PM (GXZgZ)

That's not a euphemism - is it?

Posted by: Sean Bannion at April 22, 2014 04:52 PM (yz6yg)

 

Synthetic fiber merkin.

Posted by: Insomniac at April 22, 2014 12:53 PM (DrWcr)

348 Nood

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at April 22, 2014 12:53 PM (knoK7)

349 Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at April 22, 2014 04:51 PM (659DL)

Speculation adds liquidity to markets, and trust me....liquidity is invaluable.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 22, 2014 12:53 PM (QFxY5)

350

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 04:47 PM (84gbM)

 

Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 04:50 PM (noWW6)

 

I've been a proponent of  trade highschools for a long time now.   Unfortunately  this no brainer  will never come to fruition. 

Posted by: polynikes at April 22, 2014 12:53 PM (m2CN7)

351 Unpossible! Teh gheys are marginalized, underprivileged, persecuted, and forbidden to own property! Posted by: Insomniac at April 22, 2014 04:52 PM (DrWcr) I guess someone forgot to tell them. I sure as shit can't afford a 3 million restoration on a 1890 Victorian.

Posted by: Sean Bannion [/i][/b][/s][/u] at April 22, 2014 12:54 PM (yz6yg)

352 I do not believe that financial speculation should be rewarded. Then don't invest your money.

Posted by: garrett at April 22, 2014 12:54 PM (e7g56)

353 The Socialists are just not brave enough. They're wasting their time talking about income inequality when what they really should do is outlaw material want.
Ditto for healthcare. Just make pain and suffering illegal.

Posted by: We Should Try It! at April 22, 2014 12:54 PM (1/4XQ)

354 Nood up.

Posted by: rickb223 at April 22, 2014 12:54 PM (cB3Ay)

355 80% tax rate??? OMG, I think I just came!

Posted by: Leftwards everywhere at April 22, 2014 12:54 PM (LmP4O)

356 The speculative markets are markets of risk.  The people and businesses that want to sell their risk can't do so without speculative buyers.

Posted by: SpongeBobSaget at April 22, 2014 12:56 PM (L02KD)

357 I would only note that for most, wealth and power are not "bestowed" like some reward from a sovereign, they are EARNED. A concept the Marxists cannot quite get a grip upon. At least their fawning adulation of this socialist work may move them to allow us to call them Marxists or communists or even just socialists again, without them throwing hissy fits.

Posted by: Adjoran at April 22, 2014 12:58 PM (QIQ6j)

358

It doesn't yield productivity, only a financial gain.

 

Or financial loss.  Speculation is one of the forces that keeps markets liquid and attuned to prevailing sentiment.  People like to rail at the greedy bastards who rush into and out of markets. 

 

Here's the thing.  Greedy bastards make the world work.  If the $ to Swiss Franc rate can be exploited by selling dollars for GBP and buying Swiss Francs with the GBP it will be done in a nanosecond.  Greedy bastards keep the world in balance.

Posted by: Frumious Bandersnatch at April 22, 2014 12:58 PM (JtwS4)

359 Trust me.... I know.... I used to have a bunch of US Navy Electronics Techs work for me... You had to have high test scores and be book smart to get into the Rate... but most could not turn a damn wrench to save their lives until they had been in the fleet for awhile... Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 04:53 PM (84gbM) Wife works for a co that builds navy training systems. She's AF. /facepalm

Posted by: tangonine at April 22, 2014 12:58 PM (x3YFz)

360 Watching House Hunters and being super judgey about which house the people choose is one of the great pleasures in life. Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD/Orion Death Star 2016 at April 22, 2014 04:49 PM (mf5HN) --The wifey's obsession is Love It or List It. Sure, Hillary is MILFtastic, but the plot formula is old and stale to me.

Posted by: logprof at April 22, 2014 12:58 PM (DdphP)

361 317 Give it a rest, jwest. Members of congress are making six figures per month in kickbacks, bribes, and insider trades. Every one of them. They don't need your lousy half million dollar salary. Posted by: Vashta Nerada at April 22, 2014 04:47 PM (aq5Dc) It appears that the incentives offered to not balance the budget and to fuck the taxpayers are working fine. My proposal isn't born from a concern that poor congressmen are starving. It comes from thousands of years of examples where people act in their own best interest.

Posted by: jwest at April 22, 2014 12:59 PM (u2a4R)

362 did I mention she's former Precision Measurement Lab Nerd? The people they take the broken avionics and e systems to? The nerdery?

Posted by: tangonine at April 22, 2014 01:00 PM (x3YFz)

363 Posted by: torquewrench at April 22, 2014 04:50 PM (noWW6) Oh! Time for "When I worked Tech Support" (I may have shared this, but it was really funny- even if I only decided that in retrospect). Working Tech Support for Dell's Home Consumer line back in 2000/2001. Back then (I don't know about now), Dell had a requirement that consumers troubleshoot their own machines (with our direction) before a technician or part could be sent out. This often had hilarious results. My very first "solo" call ever is an older lady- probably 60s or 70s- whose computer won't boot- No POST/No Video (means ain't nuthin' happenin', for those who don't know). So I spend 10 minutes with her just trying to get the case open (this is something that, back then, should have taken ~15 seconds). The rest of this is as close to verbatim as I can get: Me: "Okay, ma'am. For this next part you're going to need a screwdriver." Her: "A what?" Me: (enunciating, in case I'd mumbled or something) "A screwdriver." Her: "No, I heard what you said. I don't know what that is." Me: Headdesk Now, it's possible she was, as we'd say now, "trolling me," but the problems we'd had already told me that such possibility was unlikely.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 01:02 PM (PYAXX)

364 I've been a proponent of trade highschools for a long time now. Unfortunately this no brainer will never come to fruition.))) I went to Vo Tech 1/2 days when I was in high school. The program appears to still exist. Though without the shop classes we also had I may not been as prepared as I was to learn a trade. http://tinyurl.com/kfzo38a

Posted by: Dendritic at April 22, 2014 01:08 PM (75hfB)

365 Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 05:02 PM (PYAXX) My favorite was a Lady in an office... nothing on the screen.... told her to power down and reboot.... she says she did... So I drive to the office.... where she was only hitting the monitor power button.... And this was LAST year.... /facepalm

Posted by: Romeo13 at April 22, 2014 01:08 PM (84gbM)

366 I've been a proponent of trade highschools for a long time now. Unfortunately this no brainer will never come to fruition. They're all over the place in TX.

Posted by: AllenG (DedicatedTenther) Ah, F It. at April 22, 2014 01:09 PM (PYAXX)

367 The little communists over at Daily Kooks are all atwitter over this book..

Posted by: Chi-town Jerry at April 22, 2014 01:27 PM (Z7PrM)

368 What kind of Sterno-huffing ragamuffin would have laminate countertops in their kitchens and bathrooms?

Me? I do , however have a cut-up solid surface laying in the garage, next to my Porsche.

Posted by: free tibet, etc. at April 22, 2014 01:32 PM (6wqZn)

369 So if an economist proposed a Vagina tax would the left go for it?

Posted by: Chaos the Other Dark Meat at April 22, 2014 01:32 PM (oDCMR)

370 So I'm guessing the Gweneth Paltrows and Peyton Mannings of the world haven't heard about this scheme yet because the caterwaul hasn't yet begun?

Posted by: steve walsh at April 22, 2014 01:35 PM (xDQNc)

371 Obama and friends are purposefully destroying the middle class. They view the blacks enslaved in inner city hell with destroyed families and morals and intellect a victory. A compliant, dependent voting bloc. Now they are after the white kids and won't rest until all of us are economically destroyed and living according to government mandate and at the whim of the elite.

Posted by: Timwi at April 22, 2014 04:49 PM (pdhxN)

372 You may not call them socialists, but according to The Bard, a rose by any other name smells as sweet, therefore, a socialist by any other name is still a dangerous totalitarian nut case that will happily take everything from you and leave you with a bullet in the back of your head for your own good.

Posted by: MistressOverdone at April 24, 2014 06:46 PM (2/oBD)

373 wealth inequality is is a tricky subject these days. i have always subscribed to the capitalist belief that if you work harder, or smarter, than everyone else, you should be entitled to reap the resulting benefits. but if you differentiate wealth from money—i.e., look at wealth as the tangible result of human work, and money as the medium of exchange by which wealth is bartered--then you run into the problem which faces the world today. because, while wealth (by the above definition) is, as has always been the case, generally created only by the great effort of the many, money today is created by a powerful few with a few taps on a keyboard—a million dollars or a billion, or a hundred billion, no big difference to them. so i can spend my whole life toiling away and, if i’m productive and careful, perhaps amass a million or so for retirement, while some guy on wall street can “borrow”, at guaranteed 2% interest, $100 million whipped up outta thin air by the fed, use it to speculate on the wealth created at great effort by others and “make" $10 million in a few days or weeks, all without leaving his swivel chair—and then be lauded as a capitalist hero for doing so. or somebody like mitt romney can put a little consortium together and leverage, say, $15 million into $300 million, using this same “free” money, and gain control not only of a company like staples, but the collective fates of its thousands of employees, all while writing off the interest paid on the loan using the homeowner’s deduction that was meant to help us little people buy our paltry houses—and then be lauded as a capitalist hero for doing so. so what happens when relatively finite, hard-gained wealth meets cheap, infinite money? we’re starting to find out. the middle east found out a few years ago when this speculative, free-flowing money drove up commodity prices in a region where half of most people’s income goes to feeding their families; the so-called "arab spring” was the result. in the west, the inflationary effects of all this new money have, until recently, been mostly limited to things like diamonds, wine, art, collectible cars and manhattan and london real estate, but that’s changing, and fast. the little guy’s starting to feel it now—at the supermarket, and the gas pump, in higher education and healthcare. the elite tell us that a little inflation is good for the economy. they tell us this because inflation’s an inevitable by-product of the way they “make” their money, so it must be sold as such. all i know is, thanks to their inflation, that million dollars i toil my whole working life for will be worth less than half that in real terms by the time i need it. and this, ace, in a nutshell, is how the rich get richer and the rest of us get poorer. so, while this piketty fellow might have defined the problem more or less correctly, i agree with you—his solution of draconian taxation is not the answer. the answer is to level the playing field, control the creation of new money, and make the 1% work just as hard for it as the rest of us do.

Posted by: mkf at April 27, 2014 02:56 PM (j7UyF)

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