Friday, December 10, 2010

Some Surprising Wisdom From MSNBC Prime-Time

Lawrence O'Donnell said something this week that made an extraordinary amount of sense. He said that the Democrats have made a very huge mistake in lumping folks who make $251,000 a year with those individuals that make tens/hundreds of millions a year. They're not, in his (or especially in my) opinion, even remotely comparable. The former group is a group that works and contributes mightily to society. And, yes, depending upon where in fact these individuals reside, they're not necessarily always wealthy, either (a lot of them still paying off student loans, etc.). Compare this, I ask you, to the latter group of people, many of them probably living off investments, estates, bloated corporate salaries, bonuses, etc...........................................................................................................Another excellent point that O'Donnell made is that this $250,000 template was derived back in 1993. When you adjust it for (reverse) inflation, this only adds up to $165,000 in 1993 dollars. O'Donnell feels (and I whole-heartedly agree with him) that had in fact the Democrats adjusted this threshold upward (my suggestion has always been between $300-400,000), they more than likely would have gotten much more in terms of public support....Oh well, it's all probably too late now, huh?..............................................................................................................P.S. This is not meant to imply that individuals who currently make under this threshold won't eventually have to pay additional taxes, too (for deficit reduction, infrastructure, etc.). They totally in fact might. I'm just talking in terms of this immediate discussion. That's all.

4 comments:

Dervish Sanders said...

No, I think you're wrong. The Democrats already HAD (before Obama's deal) public support on the tax issue. The Republicans won seats in the recent election with promises of cutting the deficit. The first thing they do is add billions to it. Obviously public support (or listening to the public) isn't influencing the debate at all.

Rusty Shackleford said...

I almost (I said almost)felt a little sorry for Obie today.He looked like the little kid at school who was getting picked on by the bully,so he brought his big brother to scare the bully and then he walks out on Bubba....well,thats all Bill needed,he took over and looked way more presidential then Obie ever could.
I'm a republican,but I would mind if Obie said...O.K. I've had enough,I'm gonna turn over the next two years to the Big Dog.

Dervish Sanders said...

By "looking presidential" do you mean WHITE?

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

wd, I think that I've made my opinion on the Republicans and the deficit very clear; their lack of credibility, seriousness, etc.......Yes, Russ, I totally agree. We could do a hell of a lot worse than having Mr. Clinton back in charge.