kotn

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/opinion/krugman-whos-very-important.html

“Is there a V.I.P. entrance? We are V.I.P.” That remark, by a donor waiting to get in to one of Mitt Romney’s recent fund-raisers in the Hamptons, pretty much sums up the attitude of America’s wealthy elite. Mr. Romney’s base — never mind the top 1 percent, we’re talking about the top 0.01 percent or higher — is composed of very self-important people.

Let me just state here that this guy is a Nobel Prize for Economics winner. He has, in the past, written quite a lot of really conservative stuff that I personally don't agree with, but more and more he seems to be catching on. :D

Specifically, these are people who believe that they are, as another Romney donor put it, “the engine of the economy”; they should be cherished, and the taxes they pay, which are already at an 80-year low, should be cut even further. Unfortunately, said yet another donor, the “common person” — for example, the “nails ladies” — just doesn’t get it.

We sure don't get it. The rich aren't creating any jobs. They are just making sure they keep more of the wealth and assuring there will not be enough for the little people. The little people will get weaker and weaker, more and more fearful, until the whole world looks just like North Korea. Sounds like fun! Let's vote for Romney and make sure it happens, ok?

O.K., it’s easy to mock these people, but the joke’s really on us. For the “we are V.I.P.” crowd has fully captured the modern Republican Party, to such an extent that leading Republicans consider Mr. Romney’s apparent use of multimillion-dollar offshore accounts to dodge federal taxes not just acceptable but praiseworthy: “It’s really American to avoid paying taxes, legally,” declared Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. And there is, of course, a good chance that Republicans will control both Congress and the White House next year.

If that happens, we’ll see a sharp turn toward economic policies based on the proposition that we need to be especially solicitous toward the superrich — I’m sorry, I mean the “job creators.” So it’s important to understand why that’s wrong.

We, the little People of the World (it's not just about the US anymore, friends), should actually accept that we pay the taxes while they create a cozy world compliments of our sweat and toil. Remind me why they are better than us?

The first thing you need to know is that America wasn’t always like this. When John F. Kennedy was elected president, the top 0.01 percent was only about a quarter as rich compared with the typical family as it is now — and members of that class paid much higher taxes than they do today. Yet somehow we managed to have a dynamic, innovative economy that was the envy of the world. The superrich may imagine that their wealth makes the world go round, but history says otherwise.

To this historical observation we should add another note: quite a few of today’s superrich, Mr. Romney included, make or made their money in the financial sector, buying and selling assets rather than building businesses in the old-fashioned sense. Indeed, the soaring share of the wealthy in national income went hand in hand with the explosive growth of Wall Street.

Oh. That's right. They do things legally...by buying laws that allow them to screw us completely by giving us false hope that we too could be wealthy if only we could be as clever and hardworking as they are. WORK HARDER, YOU LAZY SODS!!

The first thing you need to know is that America wasn’t always like this. When John F. Kennedy was elected president, the top 0.01 percent was only about a quarter as rich compared with the typical family as it is now — and members of that class paid much higher taxes than they do today. Yet somehow we managed to have a dynamic, innovative economy that was the envy of the world. The superrich may imagine that their wealth makes the world go round, but history says otherwise.

To this historical observation we should add another note: quite a few of today’s superrich, Mr. Romney included, make or made their money in the financial sector, buying and selling assets rather than building businesses in the old-fashioned sense. Indeed, the soaring share of the wealthy in national income went hand in hand with the explosive growth of Wall Street.

There ya go. It wasn't by good old-fashioned hard work. It was by our stupidity for allowing this to happen.

But who can you vote for now? The guy who will most assuredly make things worse or the guy who gave the bailouts to the criminals and sunk things deeper? Hmm...We might need an act of God here.

Finish reading the whole article. It's time well-spent. Think about things, and then start praying. :concern:
 
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