printIf you’ve worked smart and hard and are making more than a million dollars a year, you’ve lucked out: Garrett Gruener, leader of the Orwellian “Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength,” is lobbying Capitol Hill today on your behalf, to have your taxes increased. You’re working way too hard; you can’t take time off to defend private property. Not so Gruener; who is very very rich. Gruener has all the time and money in the world to bend the president’s big ear. And, naturally, lap dog to the left, NPR’s Jeffrey Brown, is all ears:
JEFFREY BROWN: First, I want you define this group. Who are you, how many, and where do you come — where do the members come from?
GARRETT GRUENER: These are about 200 folks so far who make a substantial amount of money and who believe that the — it’s time to roll back the Bush tax cuts, that essentially what we need to do for the sake of the country is to tax folks like ourselves more.
JEFFREY BROWN: And is there a consensus on how much more when you talk about — you’re talking about the marginal rate?
GARRETT GRUENER: That’s right.
We are talking about moving back to the marginal rate that prevailed under President Clinton of 39.6 percent on, in this case, folks who make more than a million dollars a year.
JEFFREY BROWN: What’s the argument? Why?
GARRETT GRUENER: Well, simply, first of all, the country needs the money, and we think it’s the right thing to do.
We think that, you know, like other Americans, we love this country, and that those in the upper 1 percent essentially have been treated too good for their own sake, too good for the sake of the country. We have all done very well, and it’s time to give back. …
[SNIP]
AND perhaps Gruener’s biggest non sequitur: “…the relentless desire on the part of the Republicans to push down marginal rates was causing us to have an excessive deficit, which we believe is a big problem, and to under-invest in things that we think are critical for a good society.”
In other words, merely thinking about leaving more private property with its original owners can collapse the welfare state (“which is critical for a good society”). Is there anything more repulsive than a left-liberal man, as he dreams up ways to give what’s not his away?
This man is repulsive. If he and his rich friends want to pay more they can I am sure. They don’t need to impose their ignorance on other people. These idiots don’t realize that the U.S. government doesn’t have a revenue problem it has a spending problem. So many issues in this article.
These “tax the rich” folks are nauseating. They volunteer other people’s money and then pat themselves on the back as though they’ve done something noble. There’s nothing noble about volunteering that which does not belong to you. And there’s no caveat in that these guys would also pay more in taxes themselves. It’s still volunteering other people’s property. I just don’t understand it, how so many believe that this behavior is selfless.
I was informed in a financial article years ago that the two primary companies that Buffet owned was a salvage company that bought businesses bankrupted by the government foreclosing on inheritance taxes that were over a third of the price of the business and the kids couldn’t pay it; thereby he could buy a profitable business for a little over a third of the value. The other business was an insurance company that insured against the cost of inheritance tax; therefore he got you coming and going. Buffet has long lobbied against any reduction in the death tax. Now he lobbies for a tax on capital gains for the same reason. Recently a former congressman J.C. Watts said in a newspaper article that the cost of production of a product was 16 hundred or thousand dollars above what it should be because of excessive taxation and regulation. He was countered in a ‘letter to the editor’ by a local businesswoman who said that she had no extra costs and he was misleading the public. She has a food tasting business for heaven’s sake. What does Garrett Gruener and his cronies do for a living, follow the money.
Where do these self-important yutzes come from? What is it with so many people, not just “patriotic” millionaires who think they should have someone elses money, dictate what someone else should eat, drive or raise their children. When everybody plays his own position the game goes well but when people start trying to play someone elses position for them the game is invariably lost.
“the decisions we make as a country are decisions we have to pay for…” Garrett Gruener
”’tis a consummation devoutly to be wished” – Hamlet’s soliloquy on death
“total public debt outstanding was listed at $15, 033, 607, 255, 920.32 on Wednesday afternoon, November 16, 2011. – CBS News
”ay, there’s the rub” – Hamlet’s soliloquy on death (and taxes)
”what happened next, the Great Depression in 1929 and the great recession of 2008, was a direct result of that bias in the distribution of income.” – Garrett Gruener
“And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought”
– Hamlet’s soliloquy on death (and taxes) (and idiots)
Mr Gruener, are you out there? Simple answer to resolve YOUR PROBLEM: Write a check to the FedGov to be applied to deficit reduction only – Ya, and ask Michael Moore to do so as well. Heck, he just might invite you to spend a week with him at his $2 Million cottage in Torch Lake, Michigan for thinking of him.
This may depress readers, but read
http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2006-fall/decline-fall-american-conservatism.asp
Patriotic Millionaires is a Democrat front group made up of big donors to Democrats and Obama.
For example, Garrett Gruener’s donations over the past three election cycles amount to $207,100.
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=Gruener%2C+Garrett+&state=CA&zip=&employ=&cand=&c2012=Y&c2010=Y&c2008=Y&sort=N&capcode=r2w9m&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query
It’s similar for most of the rest of the other “200 folks.”
If the Patriotic Millionaires believe that one should “invest in things that we think are critical for a good society.” – that is great. Let them do the investing! That is called ………..hmmm…….. (Rick Perry pause!)…….it’s coming to me …….. CAPITALISM!!!
If it is a windmill or a recycling plant or a medical clinic or something, go for it – put your money into this badly uninvested area and make a profit. Go for it, Garrett! If you convince me or others to invest as well, all the better. Just don’t FORCE others to invest at gunpoint.
The same applies to charity/altruism/tzedakah – you want to give to the Salvation Army (as I do every year) – go for it, Garrett! Just don’t point a gun at others to do the same.
This also applies to “National Public Radio”. You want a radio station mouthing your political philosophy, go ahead and fund one, Garrett. Don’t expect Ilana and I to pay for it, however. I’ll fund those whose beliefs I share instead. That is a concept known as Freedom of Speech and of the Press.
Maybe the Patriotic Millionaires can pay for some private schooling for themselves to learn basic civics!
me – not I – bad grammar – oops (Rick Perry moment # 2)
Mr. Gruener since you obviously don’t pay enough taxes on your income, how would you like to pay my taxes this year? Do you notice that these guys won’t do their so called patriotic duty quietly and with humility? No, they want to compell or be compelled to do it by the government.
I’ll bet you Mr Gruener takes advantage of every tax break, deduction, etc, too keep from over-paying his taxes. His patriotism doesn’t pass the smell test…