Frank Rich-Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich?

[kpete]

Op-Ed Columnist
Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich?

...............


...The wealthy Americans we should worry about instead are the ones who implicitly won the election — those who take far more from America than they give back. They were not on the ballot, and most of them are not household names. Unlike Whitman and the other defeated self-financing candidates, they are all but certain to cash in on the Nov. 2 results. There’s no one in Washington in either party with the fortitude to try to stop them from grabbing anything that’s not nailed down.

The Americans I’m talking about are not just those shadowy anonymous corporate campaign contributors who flooded this campaign. No less triumphant were those individuals at the apex of the economic pyramid — the superrich who have gotten spectacularly richer over the last four decades while their fellow citizens either treaded water or lost ground. The top 1 percent of American earners took in 23.5 percent of the nation’s pretax income in 2007 — up from less than 9 percent in 1976. During the boom years of 2002 to 2007, that top 1 percent’s pretax income increased an extraordinary 10 percent every year. But the boom proved an exclusive affair: in that same period, the median income for non-elderly American households went down and the poverty rate rose.

It’s the very top earners, not your garden variety, entrepreneurial multimillionaires, who will be by far the biggest beneficiaries if there’s an extension of the expiring Bush-era tax cuts for income over $200,000 a year (for individuals) and $250,000 (for couples). The resurgent G.O.P. has vowed to fight to the end to award this bonanza, but that may hardly be necessary given the timid opposition of President Obama and the lame-duck Democratic Congress.

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/opinion/14rich.html?_r=1&src=twrhp

[leftstreet]

1. Woodland Princess Castle Bunk Bed - $22,605.00

Woodland Princess Castle Bunk Bed

$22,605.00


This Woodland Princess Castle is a combination bunk bed and playhouse. The design maximizes space in your child's room by giving her a play area and bed. The castle artwork is all hand-painted featuring the serenity of a forest with adorable animals throughout this realistic foliage on the castle grounds . Best of all the bed features a sturdy staircase with drawers and a waterfall slide exit. It is sure to delight your child and spark their imagination as they pretend they are in an enchanted forest made just for them. When disassembled the cottage fits through a 30"W or larger door frame. Bed size can be twin, full or queen. Artist can customize your cottage's colors to work with your existing room décor for an additional charge.

http://www.poshtots.com/childs-furniture/childrens-beds/fantasy-themed-beds/woodland-princess-castle-bunk-bed/2639/2644/2387/22359/poshproductdetail.aspx

K&R

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. I like that one even better than this $47k one

http://www.poshtots.com/baby-furniture/posh/ultimate-posh/princess-palace-playhouse-bed/18/1376/1360/22388/poshproductdetail.aspx

[phasma ex machina]

7. Whatever you desire, Princess.

:rofl:

[saracat]

10. Something really sick about this "princess" thing and little girls. Ugh.

Probably makes them all want to grow up and be either Donna Reed or a Playboy Bunny! Sickening.

[ProudDad]

18. Some assembly required. Delivery service does not include assembly.

[Hannah Bell]

8. that would be very cool for a kid, but why does it cost so much? i could build it for way less.

[laughingliberal]

11. Was just thinking the same thing. Lol. nt

[WinkyDink]

16. Because the market will bear it. And they don't WANT just anyone to have one.

[ProSense]

2. Looks like the compromise is a

foregone conclusion.

[jaysunb]

5. I won't believe it until I hear it with my

own ears. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I have to hold on to some small sliver of hope that my young hero will rise to the occasion. :shrug:

[chimpymustgo]

14. Capitulation. As per usual. Who will stand up to the super-rich? We know who WON'T.

[Skittles]

4. the president is "off his game"

yup, BIG TIME

[undergroundpanther]

6. I'd do it

you know what happened to the last Czar? or Marie Antoinette? I would tell them YOU failed because you don't share, you just TAKE..like a gang of sociopaths...You parasites had a good life by diminishing everyone else's lives,Now it's our turn to make a society WE can live in..Which will be more difficult because you pigs have poisoned this world.So since you just HAVE to have control; that means WE cannot trust you or live around your taint.Head meet basket...chop.

[phasma ex machina]

9. Killing psychopaths makes me just like them.

Marginalizing psychopaths remains an area of active research for me. Psychopaths simply lack empathy. The humane thing is to build a imperceivable construct to contain their pathogen.

[underpants]

12. Great article (as usual) was just about to post it

rec'd

[boston bean]

13. read it this morning. it was a real good read. nt

[WillyT]

15. Big K & R !!!

:kick:

[Overseas]

17. K&R ! //nt

[ProudDad]

19. The REAL Question...

"The president’s argument against extending the cuts for the wealthiest has now been reduced to the dry accounting of what the cost would add to the federal deficit. As he put it to CBS’s Steve Kroft, “the question is — can we afford to borrow $700 billion?”

"That’s a good question, all right, but it’s not the question. The bigger issue is whether the country can afford the systemic damage being done by the ever-growing income inequality between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else, whether poor, middle class or even rich."

Yep, THE question is why don't we institute a confiscatory tax on these bandits and even things up somewhat?