Saturday, February 28, 2009
The trials of a "wealthy" Kos diarist
On my way into the office this morning I heard Juan Williams on NPR wonder if the reality of the Obama tax increases would sour the enthusiasm of the >$250,000 "wealthy," who voted for him over John McCain. Well, a bit of that tension is showing up in this Kos diary, in which an affluent blogger dares suggest that "wealthy people" need fairness too. The reaction in the comments almost makes me feel sorry for the guy. Almost.
13 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Feb 28, 11:39:00 AM:
Glorious Austin. 71 days and it'll be my new home. Warm and friendly, and close enough to the river that I can go floating every weekend.
By , at
Sat Feb 28, 11:42:00 AM:
The progressive agenda of the left is simply redistribution of wealth. Forget that the incentive to suceeed is destroyed, redistribute. The mechanism for legalized theft in America is in control and has likely reached the point of no return. TAR, we need some rain for a good float.
By 
TigerHawk, at
Sat Feb 28, 11:43:00 AM:
My mother in law was a professor at UT back in the day, and had a nice place on the lake with a dock down the hill. A great town, for sure.
By JPMcT, at
Sat Feb 28, 12:13:00 PM:
One wonders how someone could have the personality, work ethic and determination that allows a "successful" income level...and yet still feel the need to publicly apologize fo it, as the "diarist" seemed to be doing.
And then....to get picked apart by the over 400 commenters like crows eating roadkill!
If that guy didn't walk away from the experience ready to leave liberalism in the dust...that I would venture a guess that he didn't really earn his income.
The "Hollywood" syndrome....significant wealth without effort = guilt!
Guilt = Liberalism.
Id Est Demonstratum
By , at
Sat Feb 28, 12:59:00 PM:
I know a good number of people who are somewhere in the 250K – 500K income range and live in and/or work in New York City. It makes no sense to me, but very one of them voted for Obama. Their reasons were some variant of “Yes, Obama as president will probably mean slightly more taxes for me, but it will be good for the country overall.” I am looking forward to what they say over the next few years as the “slightly more taxes” begin to hit and the country overall … well, we will see about that.
By , at
Sat Feb 28, 01:58:00 PM:
Love the update where the diarist says he is not complaining about HIS taxes and is more than happy to pay more to advance the liberal agenda. hee hee hee. Don't you just love the way the Left slaps it's own back into line?
By , at
Sat Feb 28, 02:09:00 PM:
I live in Westchester, just north of NYC. I too have wondered how stupid the "rich" people are around here who voted for Obama. It's as if the kulaks voted Lenin into power, after he said the kulaks were enemies of the state.
If Obama had set out to plan the destruction of the NYC area economy he couldn't have found a subtler, but more effective way than his current plans. People around here are about to learn a hard lesson.
My definition of "rich" is ... you don't have to work. If you're making a good to great salary -- and don't have extravagances -- ... but need to work to balance your income and expenses ... you're "really not rich."
Many of the "really not rich" don't have guaranteed incomes, have to fund their own retirements, and often had to invest years of time and effort to earn their higher incomes. In my experience, they're mostly very hard working and all in the private sector. No-show jobs for $350,000 are truly rare, just ask Michelle Obama.
.
So when do the good people here in Westchester wake up. We have more than our share of people making $250,000 to $400,000 ... but they'll soon be bled dry. State and local governments are hitting them up too. As this happens, local businesses of all types will suffer. It'll be trickle down misery.
It's not just the jobs that get lost, it's the jobs that don't get started. You'd be crazy to start a new business, especially around here.
Real estate prices here could fall a further 50% over the next few years, because of this. If so, the tax base for local government collapses. We'll be laying of cops and garbagemen ... at some point their fat pensions won't get funded.
Is there any hope right now that my Congresswoman -- Democrat Nita Lowey -- can see that by supporting Obama's policies she's voting to hurt many of her constituents and ultimately to kill the economy of her district.
Fat chance ....
By , at
Sat Feb 28, 02:19:00 PM:
Nothing was ever likely to make these people reconsider their opinions (held mostly as a form of vain preening display) except getting badly hurt, really hurt by the consequences.
Here we go! Five years from now few of them will willingly admit having voted for Obama. It will have become an unfashionable admission.
By Elise, at
Sat Feb 28, 02:31:00 PM:
I think the Kos diarist has excellent points with regard to the AMT disallowing local taxes and reducing the percent allowed for deductions. At the same time, he chooses to live in New York and presumably he voted for the state and local politicians who are killing him with income, property, and gas taxes. Furthermore, he repeatedly states he's willing to pay more to help others so he should console himself with the thought that his high non-Federal taxes are helping those in his own state.
I got through about a half-page of the comments and they made my skin crawl mostly because of the tone. I like to think that I slid Right-ish for logical reasons but I sometimes suspect I just couldn't stand how people on the Left sound when they're lecturing everyone.
By Purple Avenger, at
Sat Feb 28, 09:08:00 PM:
If he's smart he'll flee the New York state death spiral cesspool ASAP.
Dump two more properties and I'll have fully divested myself from NY.
The best place to see New York is in your rear view mirror.
By JPMcT, at
Sat Feb 28, 11:13:00 PM:
@ Purple Avenger
You're absolutely corect...and it's a damn shame. I was born in upstate New York and when I visit up there I find fewer and fewer of my old friends who haven't given up and gone elsewhere. Many of them are retired and, even with good pensions, can't afford the income and real estate taxes without a full time job...so they give up their lifelong homes and head to Florida.
A Worker's Paradise, indeed!!
By , at
Sun Mar 01, 11:05:00 AM:
I was born and raised in NYC, and don't want to leave the area ... and won't. There's some wonderful things about the place. I was never more proud of my city than in the aftermath of 9/11. People cried ... but went right back to work ... a million stories of individual bravery.
Why run from a fight ... you have to take a stand somewhere.
***
Re: upstate New York, an interesting historical comparison can be made between how Buffalo and Pittsburgh responded to their difficult predicaments in the 1970s. The two cities were roughly comparable ... Buffalo had been one of the richest places in America around 1900. Buffalo -- and other parts of upstate New York -- relied on heavier taxation and increased state government ... and have been failing ever since. Pittsburgh tightened its belt and is now a thriving mid-sized city. There's a lesson in there for all of us.
Link
By , at
Mon Mar 02, 09:13:00 AM:
The diarists entry is enlightening, the comments more so.
These people hate money, unless it's taken from someone else and given to them. And, of course, they expect that they will have to provide nothing in return. They are somehow entitled to others earnings. All the while they excuse themselves from providing additional revenue to the government inleau of being forced to. They are not capable of seeing the connection between success and increased earnings and, more importantly, between sloth, lack of drive and quitting to failure and low or no earnings. I think it can be fairly said that they do not understand the meaning of earning at all. So yes, yes these people are truely batshit crazy.
