Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Where $200,000 = $1,000,000

Math-challenged Press Secretary
I spent a few minutes yesterday listening to the President's Press Secretary Jay Carney deliver his briefing to the assembled sheep members of the White House Press Corps.  It was mostly boilerplate stuff and largely uninteresting.  There was however, one thing that I found interesting.

The talking points we've heard for years now from the Obama Administration is how their plan to raise taxes on the "top 2%" is a tax on "millionaires and billionaires", in order for them to pay their "fair share".  I must have heard Carney use the phrase "millionaires and billionaires" three times yesterday.

Yet not once did even one member of the press corps remind Mr. Carney that the President's proposal does NOT raise taxes beginning with "millionaires and billionaires".  It begins at $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families.  While these are both comfortable figures, and to some, may constitute being "rich"--there is no world in which $200K equals $1M.  Period. End of story.  Yet day in and day out, the President and his henchmen are allowed to get away with this incredible fudging. 

I am prepared to be termed a "millionaire" if Mr. Obama is prepared to multiply my tax refund by a factor of 5.  Seems fair, no?


I realize it is too much to hope for that the press would hold these people responsible for what they say. 
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3 comments:

  1. MudgeNovember 28, 2012

    I used to hold morning radio DJs at a level of esteem just south of child molesters and modern day urban cannibals (middle-aged men saying "dude" and "party on" irritate the bejeezus out of me)...but I must now displace them with the White House Press Corps and all their extended "family." A more disgraceful lot I know not. Party on Dude DJ, you are no longer the bottom of society.

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  2. "The Hammer"November 28, 2012

    Well we all know the money is in the middle-class, so what'll it be...
    1) fiscal cliff diving and everybody take a bite.
    2) a value added tax (VAT)
    3) a "wealth tax" not dependent on income, 1 maybe 1.5%
    4) nationalization of retirement plans in exchange for vouchers
    5) hyperinflation like Weimar
    6) flat tax
    7) Fairtax
    8) national sales tax IN ADDITION TO the current tax system
    9) tax the entire salary earned by those making more than a certain level, say $400,000, at the top rate of 35 percent rather than allowing them to pay lower rates before they reach the target
    10) or really get innovative like the EU and propose a 20% tax on new construction

    As to which they'll choose I'm leaning toward number 5.

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  3. "The Hammer"November 28, 2012

    One thing they ain't gonna do is cut spending. Just like the first stimulus there are folks with their hand out. They busted their ass, they got Obama re-elected and now they want the payoff...and they're gonna get it.
    THEY WILL NOT REDUCE SPENDING ONE CENT!

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