If people no smarter or better than you are making $10 million or $50 million or $100 million in a single year, while you're working yourself ragged to scrape by on a million or two -- or, God forbid, $300,000 -- then something must be wrong....
One well-known and otherwise mild-mannered, free market-oriented Ivy League economics professor, for example, told me not long ago that "we should tax the [bleep] out of these guys," meaning CEOs, private equity honchos and other banking types.
I would actually have no problem with these guys making obscene amounts of money if it wasn't for the fact that our tax dollars bail them out when they make poor bets. We subsidize the losses, so we should share in the profits (by taxing them back to the stone age.)
Great article. As to the prospects of a Lower Upper revolt, I'll believe it when I see it. I mean, revolutions have the highest chance of success when the status quo is also collapsing under its own failures; it seems doubtful that you can really bail out & prop up the status quo and tear it down simultaneously.
In the 1950’s when America experienced the greatest growth and expansion of our economy the CEO’s of large corporations were compensated about 20x the pay of the highest paid worker. That is when we had working wage jobs; we were the manufacturing leader of the world in both quality and quantity. Then greed set in. It was started by the half generation to young of WWII and the Harvard Business School. That is where all the financial manipulation and ruthless “screw you, I got mine” management models were hatched. Fast forward to today and see where that has gotten us. CEO’s earn 2000x their workers wages, the ones that still work here and everyone else works for peanuts overseas. Add the speculation gang to help us go down the drain. At least the developers like Homer and Eden have to pay union wages. Unfortunately they only do that on the public dime.
This could all be stopped if government stopped taking money by force from those who earned it and giving it to those who didn't earn it. That goes for welfare mothers as well as wealthy bankers.
If Wall Street wants to run a casino, fine. But they should gamble with their money, not ours in the form of "bailouts".
In the long-ago years when I was young and impressionable, I asked my staunch Republican dad what the deal was with the 75 and 90 percent tax rates back then.
He said that very few people of the people in those tax brackets were actually earning the money, or earning it honestly. Since wealthy people don't go to prison, the tax system served as a check on people's worst instincts.
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Miles run year to date: 21
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Comments (9)
I would actually have no problem with these guys making obscene amounts of money if it wasn't for the fact that our tax dollars bail them out when they make poor bets. We subsidize the losses, so we should share in the profits (by taxing them back to the stone age.)
Posted by Drivin' Fool | April 23, 2010 2:05 PM
Easiest solution there is: credits and deductions for working folks, and wet-towel-wringing from The Ultrarich.
Posted by Bronch O'Humphrey | April 23, 2010 2:24 PM
Great article. As to the prospects of a Lower Upper revolt, I'll believe it when I see it. I mean, revolutions have the highest chance of success when the status quo is also collapsing under its own failures; it seems doubtful that you can really bail out & prop up the status quo and tear it down simultaneously.
Posted by ep | April 23, 2010 2:25 PM
In the 1950’s when America experienced the greatest growth and expansion of our economy the CEO’s of large corporations were compensated about 20x the pay of the highest paid worker. That is when we had working wage jobs; we were the manufacturing leader of the world in both quality and quantity. Then greed set in. It was started by the half generation to young of WWII and the Harvard Business School. That is where all the financial manipulation and ruthless “screw you, I got mine” management models were hatched. Fast forward to today and see where that has gotten us. CEO’s earn 2000x their workers wages, the ones that still work here and everyone else works for peanuts overseas. Add the speculation gang to help us go down the drain. At least the developers like Homer and Eden have to pay union wages. Unfortunately they only do that on the public dime.
Posted by John Benton | April 23, 2010 4:09 PM
This could all be stopped if government stopped taking money by force from those who earned it and giving it to those who didn't earn it. That goes for welfare mothers as well as wealthy bankers.
If Wall Street wants to run a casino, fine. But they should gamble with their money, not ours in the form of "bailouts".
Posted by Britt Storkson | April 24, 2010 6:19 AM
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need... but not every man's greed."
Mohandas K. Ghandi
Posted by AL M | April 24, 2010 3:11 PM
In the long-ago years when I was young and impressionable, I asked my staunch Republican dad what the deal was with the 75 and 90 percent tax rates back then.
He said that very few people of the people in those tax brackets were actually earning the money, or earning it honestly. Since wealthy people don't go to prison, the tax system served as a check on people's worst instincts.
Posted by Roger | April 24, 2010 3:43 PM
All you need do is draw blood on one and the rest will finish the work for you.
Posted by godfry | April 25, 2010 5:53 PM
The Lower Uppers don't want to get rid of the Upper Uppers so much as they want to join them.
Posted by Isaac Laquedem | April 25, 2010 8:37 PM