| Name: |
comrade
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 12:20:25 AM
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Why don't all the rich folks just donate everything over $250K to the government, since it is the "right "thing to do? The powers that be have already determined that this is the limit of reasonable income, so obviously, anything beyond this is rococco, and just unnecessary.....
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/06/the-underpaid-robert-gibbs-and-washingtons-sense-of-entitlement/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk1%7C35227
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| Name: |
Talullahhound
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 8:29:20 AM
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Don't know about the specific case of Gibbs, but a lot of political appointees give up far larger salaries to come into the government for a brief (resume building) stint. It's not just this Administration. It's fairly routine in Washington to hear that an appointee is leaving because he needs to make more money. Most of them don't stay in place more than 2 years.
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| Name: |
MrHodja
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 10:48:49 AM
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Agree with Hound AND hob!
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| Name: |
comrade
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 12:03:07 PM
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I have no problem with making money.
I have a problem with multimillionaires telling all the rest of us how much money they are going to take away - yet they never seem to be inconvenienced. If parity (of possessions, opportunity, entitlement, etc.) is the goal (as the current ideology would indicate,) then hypocrisy is the term to describe this.
I understand that others have acted in just the same fashion, but they were being hypocritical in their actions.
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| Name: |
comrade
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 12:14:42 PM
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Left out a critical word: ......"they were "not" being hypocritical."
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| Name: |
Talullahhound
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 1:07:53 PM
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I think there is enough hypocrisy to go around. This is not the first time all this has been debated in Washington. The Congress will be the first to tell you that they are way underpaid. Political appointees always think that they are giving up so much to work in government. It's the tale for the ages.
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| Name: |
comrade
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 2:42:38 PM
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So apathy and cynicism rule, and we write this off to status quo....because everyone does it! My mother would really make me feel miserable about that kind of logic.
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| Name: |
Talullahhound
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 8:24:56 PM
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No, I'm not saying that. But, how would you change it? Congress isn't going to vote itself a pay decrease.
But then, I don't think $250K a year makes you rich either.
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| Name: |
comrade
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/8/2011 10:12:23 PM
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I'm thinking that apathy and cynicism is probably the easiest way to deal with it - revolution and starting over has also been tried in the past.
The prez and the IRS, GAO, CBO all consider >$250K income to at least represent above average wealth, and obviously an unfair and unnecessary advantage, otherwise they would not manipulate the laws so that those individuals pay the majority of the taxes.
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| Name: |
MartiniMan
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| Subject: |
No Hypocrisy here....
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Date:
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1/9/2011 12:25:46 AM
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What you have to understand about these people is the difference between taxing income and wealth. Most of these hypocrites only want to tax income, something they have multitudes of accountants and lawyers help them avoid. Now if we wanted to tax wealth above $250K then we would hear them howling. I have a friend who's net worth is around $800M but his income is $50,000 per year. Everything else comes out of his wealth and is not taxed. Smart move for him.
Speaking of wealthy billionaires that support things like the death tax, I read an interesting piece about Warren Buffet. Covered the Berkshire Hathaway investments in insurance companies and how insurance is the best way to avoid the death tax. Also covered how he saved billions in taxes by forming his foundations. They allow him full access to that wealth to use and it will pass on tax free. Smart move and if he weren't such a hypocrite about taxation I would applaud him. I am set up very similarly but the difference between he and I is that I think things like the death tax and progressive taxation on income are wrong.
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| Name: |
MartiniMan
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| Subject: |
Mr. Hodja: This week I have you beat
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Date:
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1/9/2011 12:28:42 AM
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You often post from far away places. Today I am posting from New Delhi, India. Have been here on business since the 3rd and head back on Tuesday morning. Been all over the country for meetings. Fascinating country that is an immense contradiction......hard to explain if you have never been here. Tremendous business opportunities though.
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| Name: |
MrHodja
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| Subject: |
Mr. Hodja: This week I have you beat
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Date:
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1/9/2011 9:48:11 AM
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So how is it overall? Closest I have been is Thailand, and that was during the Viet Nam War. I heard somewhat recently from someone who was there (albeit the Mombai area) that it is very dirty. Is New Delhi better? How about the food? People friendly?
I would love to go some day for several reasons. Let us know more about your experiences and have safe travels home!
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| Name: |
MartiniMan
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| Subject: |
Mr. Hodja: This week I have you beat
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Date:
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1/9/2011 12:37:22 PM
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It is a country of great contradictions. You have a class of people that are very business oriented and progressive that are fascinated with the west and strongly desirous of progress and success of the country and millions of others mired in abject poverty and ignorance. I spent a couple of hours tonight drinking expensive wine at the house of a CEO that owns a very large oil company. He had several interesting observations. India is a country more inclined toward know who than know how. More so than any other country he has seen in the world. The people work incredibly hard. seven days per week and all hours of the day.
My general observation is that they are beautiful people that are so incredibly friendly and accomodating but because labor is so cheap and accessible that they tend to take it for granted and don't treat them very well. You can hire a car and driver for 3 days for 2,400 rupees ($50-$60) including gas, a typical tip is 50 rupees (about $1). You don't do anything for yourself because someone wants to do it for you. New Delhi is incredibly cramped and dirty, constant honking of horns, traffic jams, crazy driving, etc. Believe it or not the nicest place I visited (not the nicest place in the country by any means) was Bhopal. We drove by the Union Carbide plant which after 26 years has still not been cleaned up despite the government having $600M set aside to do so (one of the reasons we were there). But we could not get out because they are so angry about the tragedy (one almost entirely of their own making) that any westerner would at best create a media firestorm and at worst be at risk of being associated with Union Carbide that we could not even get out of the car.
So much more to the trip but there are tremendous opportunities for business and they are thirsty for western ideas, knowledge and relationships. We met with a very successful manufacturer of herbal products who in essence told me that if I wanted to be the sole distributor of their product in the U.S. they would drop their current distribution channel. Just bizarre. The economy is growing at a 10% rate and the infrastructure and other aspects of their society are so far behind the west. But it is also a weird contradiction of safety and danger. I would have no problem walking down a street in the worst part of town and yet they have armed guards, metal detectors and they wand you to get into a nice hotel. Just a fascinating place to visit.
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