United Liberty
Jon Lovitiz slams Obama on taxing the rich
Wed, 04/25/2012 - 1:17pm | posted by Jason Pye
As you know, President Barack Obama has made class warfare and the Buffett Tax a central part of his campaign re-election, part of a strategy to get attention off of his failed record on the economy. But Jon Lovitz, an actor that considers himself to be a Democrat and voted for Obama, isn’t happy with the assertion that higher-income earners aren’t paying their “fair share” in taxes:
“Saturday Night Live” alum Jon Lovitz sounds like he’s pretty fed up with President Barack Obama.
“This whole thing with Obama saying the rich don’t pay their taxes is f—-ing bulls—-. And I voted for the guy and I’m a Democrat. What a f—-ing asshole,” Lovitz recently said on his podcast “The ABC’s of SNL.” The episode was recorded in January and released on Sunday.
“The rich don’t pay their taxes? Let me tell you something, right,” he went on. “First they say to you – you’re dead broke – the United States of America, you can do anything you want, go for it. So then you go for it, and then you make it, and everyone’s like, f—- you.”
[…]
“[Obama] is the perfect example,” the comedian added. “He’s amazing. He had nothing … and the guy ends up being at Harvard. He’s the president of the United States. And now he’s like, ‘f—- me and everyone who made it like me.’”
I listened to the audio, which is available at the link above, and Lovitz was ranting, for sure. Whether or not the rant was just meant to be humorous is another question. Still, you’ve got to imagine that there are many other higher-income earners out that voted for Obama that feel like they are being targeted unfairly by the president’s divisive rhetoric.
But to Lovitz’s point — yes, the rich pay their taxes. They shoulder a substantial share of the income tax burden, more than their share of income — a point we’ve made here before.
It’s pretty clear that the Buffett Rile, which would have brought in less revenue than legalizing marijuana, is just a ruse and a distraction. They say it’s about “fairness,” but if they were being even remotely honest, Obama and Democrats would point out the obvious…that the evil and hated rich are already doing more than their part.
more than their share? hardly. taxes are lower than they’ve been in decades, and if the rich are paying disproportionate to their income, it’s because, duh, the overwhelming portion of income among middle class and lower households is consumed by life necessities, while most income above $100K is discretionary (yes, I know living standards vary by region and that in some places $100K ‘pays the bills’…but anyone saying that $250K isn’t well-off is spending too much time among the very rich and has acquired so many unnecessary expenses that they can no longer tell the difference between a luxury and a necessity. I say this as someone who lives in an affluent town on about $125K income and has lived in NYC for 10+ yrs). For someone w/ millions of dollars to complain about taxes is obscene. They were higher under Reagan, and the fact remains that the rich have never owned more of this country than they do now. How many cars/houses/watches/etc do you need? And don’t give me some BS about “I took the risks, so I earned it”…bullocks. The overwhelming majority of rich in this country are not entrepreneurs, but corporate executives who are mere stewards of their companies and who got to the top of the corporate ladder by dint of connections and an educational track that was greased by similarly affluent parents. Meanwhile, the middle class and lower struggle to achieve anything beyond flat-line progress without the advantages of connections and a superior support system. Research has show that America is now one of the least class mobile societies among industrialized nations, and we’re starting to resemble more so third-world countries in terms of wealth polarization. The tragic thing is that the upper class (like those of you on this site) are too blind to see how the culture and national dialog suffer because of the increasing disconnect between rich and poor, and the middle-class and poor are stupid to see through the myth of ‘this could be you!’
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