My heart does not bleed for those in the top 3%-4% of all incomes struggling to get by on $300,000 (or much more) a year.
This is the fucking problem we (and President Obama) have with a few "Democratic" Congressfolks. They work for the wealthy and against the middle class, against working people.
Take Rep. Michael McMahon (D-NY)(Staten Island and the Fort Hamilton part of Brooklyn) (Take him, please, to paraphrase Henny Youngman)
In McMahon's district, he says, a couple making $300,000 might still be living paycheck to paycheck. But freezing tax rates is important, in his view, to speed up the recovery nationally.
"And if you raise taxes now you're going to see a lot of people hold on to their money, maybe move it offshore, not invest in their companies."
TPM: Meet The Democrats Who Want To Preserve Tax Cuts For The Rich
The median household income in 2008 was about $52,000, meaning over 56,500,000 households make due with $52,029 or less per year. My heart does not bleed for a couple getting by on $300,000 per year.
Here's 2008 data as discussed in mid 2009. I doubt it is higher now.
20 percent of American households make more than $100,000 per year. The median income is $52,029. In other words over 56,500,000 households make due with $52,029 or less per year. This is the average American consumer and also helps to explain why things are still in a troubled state. I put together a budget before for someone making the median income and given the updated income figure, things haven’t changed much.
$52,000 Median Household Income in 2009 Crushed by a Decade of Debt. A Decade of Lost Wages and Financial Debt Servitude.
McMahon is out of touch. So is Bean.
On his website, he brags about wanting tax cuts for rich people:
On July 15, 2010, Congressman McMahon went on Your World with Neil Cavuto to discuss the financial regulatory package, which passed the Senate that afternoon, as well as extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
Democrat Pushing for Extension of Bush Tax Cuts
McMahon is a signatory to a letter authored by Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) and others designed to pressure leaders to give wealthy Americans another tax break.
Fuck you Mr. McMahon. Fuck you Ms. Bean. YOU ARE THE ENTHUSIASM GAP. It's not the President. It's not Speaker Pelosi. It's so-called Democrats shilling for wealthy people in order to screw middle class folks.
THE MIDDLE CLASS IS NOT $300,000 PER YEAR!
They see only the rich. The 56,500,000 households making due with $52,029 or less per year are not in their cognitive universe. They do not exist except as abstractions. Certainly they don't count. They see $300,000 as living from paycheck to paycheck.
They barely see the 30% between $52,000 and $100,000. But those over $100,000 they can see. As you go up the income level to $300,000 it is a smaller and smaller group. Yet McMahon sees only them.
We're talking about a roughly 4% increase on $50,000 for that couple. Maybe a thousand or $1500 at most.
These deficit peacocks will cut programs that help people, screaming deficits, deficits, but they want us to borrow 100s of billions from China to give tax cuts for the rich. I know which side they are on.
Contrast the ConservaDem sellouts with the President last week:
I’ll give you one final example of the differences between us and the Republicans, and that’s on the issue of tax cuts. Under the tax plan passed by the last administration, taxes are scheduled to go up substantially next year - for everybody. By the way, this was by design. When they passed these tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, they didn’t want everybody to know what it would do to our deficit, so they pretended like they were going to end, even though now they say they don’t.
Now, I believe we ought to make the tax cuts for the middle class permanent. (Applause.) For the middle class, permanent. These families are the ones who saw their wages and incomes flat-line over the last decade — you deserve a break. (Applause.) You deserve some help. And because folks in the middle class are more likely to spend their tax cut on basic necessities, that strengthens the economy as a whole.
But the Republican leader of the House doesn’t want to stop there. Make no mistake: He and his party believe we should also give a permanent tax cut to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.
AUDIENCE: Nooo!
THE PRESIDENT: With all the other budgetary pressures we have — with all the Republicans’ talk about wanting to shrink the deficit - they would have us borrow $700 billion over the next 10 years to give a tax cut of about $100,000 each to folks who are already millionaires. And keep in mind wealthy Americans are just about the only folks who saw their incomes rise when Republicans were in charge. And these are the folks who are less likely to spend the money - which is why economists don’t think tax breaks for the wealthy would do much to boost the economy.
So let me be clear to Mr. Boehner and everybody else: We should not hold middle-class tax cuts hostage any longer. (Applause.) We are ready, this week, if they want, to give tax cuts to every American making $250,000 or less. (Applause.) That’s 98-97 percent of Americans. Now, for any income over this amount, the tax rates would just go back to what they were under President Clinton.
This isn’t to punish folks who are better off — God bless them. It’s because we can’t afford the $700 billion price tag. (Applause.) And for those who claim that our approach would somehow be bad for growth and bad for small businesses, let me remind you that with those tax rates in place, under President Clinton, this country created 22 million jobs and raised incomes and had the largest surplus in our history. (Applause.)
Obama Economy Speech Cleveland Ohio Full Text
The President Leaves me FIRED UP AND READY TO GO!
McMahon and Bean should just get out of the way. If they survive this election (and justice says they should not), then we have to primary both in 2012. Even their districts are not made up of a majority of people making over $300,000. Staten Island? Lots of folks make less than $250,000 per couple there. McMahon is a shill for Wall Street millionaires.
Tell McMahon and Bean what you think of them:
Washington, DC Office
Congressman Michael McMahon 323 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3371Fax: (202) 226-1272 Staten Island District Office
Congressman Michael McMahon 265 New Dorp Lane, 2nd Floor
Staten Island, NY 10306
Phone: (718) 351-1062
Fax: (718) 980-0768 Brooklyn District Office
Congressman Michael McMahon 8505 New Dorp Lane, 2nd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11209
Phone: (718) 630-5277
Here's Bean's campaign number:
Melissa Bean for Congress, P.O. Box 3068, Barrington, IL 60011 · Phone: 847-304-0056
Just say NO to Republican tax cuts for the wealthy!! Stand with the President and the majority of Americans. And tell Bean and McMahon to go fuck themselves.
Fired up! Ready to Go! THAT'S ENTHUSIASM AND THEY CANNOT TAKE IT AWAY.
Update I: some more income data from Gooserook in the comments:
3 % in 2009, Households >200k (2+ / 0-)
Recommended by:Roadbed Guy, TomP
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy.... --ML King "Beyond Vietnam"
by Gooserock on Thu Sep 16, 2010 at 09:19:30 AM PDT
Update II: From marabout in the comments:
Bean's congressional office is 847-517-2927.
Update III: another sell out Dem giving it up to the wealthy:
Fairfax Democrat Opposes Plan To Raise Taxes On Wealthy. Rep. Gerald Connolly "respectfully disagrees" with the President on tax increases.
by MarkVA71
Gerry Connolly (D-VA-7) is another one... (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:TomP
http://www.wusa9.com/...
by MarkVA71 on Thu Sep 16, 2010 at 09:46:38 AM PDT
We know which side they are on. Watch who finds a reason to give tax cuts for the rich. They are the owned ones, the corrupted. Remember.
We can keep Congress Democratic by ending those tax cuts for the wealthy or the ConservaDems can destroy all enthusaism by joining Republicans to extend the cuts. It's over if they do. Boehner will be Speaker.
This is the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. I am glad the President is on our side, on the side of the people.
Update IV:
THE NAMES OF THE SELLOUT DEMS:
Jim Matheson
Gary Peters
Mellisa Bean
Glenn Nye
Michael McMahon
Lincoln Davis
John Salazar
Brad Ellsworth
Dan Boren
Jim Himes
John Barrow
Ron Klein
Zach Space
Jason Altmire
Allen Boyd
Jim Costa
Harry Mitchell
Walt Minnick
Travis Childers
Hary Teague
Rich Boucher
Mike Ross
Sanford Bishop
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin
Jim Marshall
Ann Kirkpatrick
Earl Pomeroy
Mike McIntyre
Frank Kratovil
Jim Cooper
Joe Donnelly
Thanks to marabout who found the list and slinkerwink who told me about it.
Many of the same names of those who betrayed the President on health care reform.
THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT DEMOCRATS IN MY MIND. THEY ARE ACTING TO AID REPUBLICANS TO DEFEAT SPEAKER PEOLOSI AND UNDERMINE PRESIDENT OBAMA.
They need to pay for this.
Thanks also to Angie in Wa State who had the list but I did not see it until after I typed it out.
Final Update: temptxan reminds us that we now have the highest poverty rate since they started measuring. 1 in 7 Americans. Maybe we need a poor people's march on McHanon's office?
According to a report today by the Census Bureau (3+ / 0-)
Recommended by:neroden, TomP, royce
1 in 7 Americans are living in poverty. I bet they are all sympathetic to those people living pay check to pay check on $300,000 a year, not.
Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day. Harry Truman
by temptxan on Thu Sep 16, 2010 at 11:04:56 AM PDT