Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 22, 2010

The life of a billionaire…

“Those who think money can do anything, can be expected to do anything for money.”

Good thing Jim never ages out!

Fat cats may have nine wives before their ends.

Jim’s ends don’t justify his means.

yeah, but i bet his means gets the ends he wants

Wait, he can counter back with the argument that the cheney tax-cuts will soon expire and he will have to pay 5% more in taxes (unless he has cayman-island tax-shelters), So, if he makes a billion per year, he will pay 396 million in taxes, but in 2010 he paid 350 million (not exact, I think there is more but this is for simplicity). So he will pay an additional 46 million. Divide by 52 = 894,615 per week! But he takes home 11,615,384.61 per week! Yeah like he’s really going to miss that extra amount. Poor guy he can only afford to buy 11 mega-yachts per week. Yeah, yeah now someone will say that he is hard-working and re-invests the money in the business. If so, whom is buying mega-yachts?

The life of a misogynistic misanthrope…

We don’t know much about Jim other than he’s got bucks, but if he’s a successful business owner hasn’t he already made a difference in the life of thousands by providing them with jobs?

Here’s his options for his money:

1) Sit on it 2) Give to an existing local cause, like a hospital fund 3) Create a foundation for a charity that presently doesn’t exist 4) Invest in a new business that will employ hundreds of workers (and generate lots of taxes) 5) Donate it to the government “to pay down the debt” 6) Spend it on himself by purchasing homes, boats, etc. 7) Hire a hit man to eliminate his ex-wife problems

Which makes the most difference in the lives of thousands?

Nemesys: “if he’s a successful business owner hasn’t he already made a difference in the life of thousands by providing them with jobs?”

Actually, if he’s successful enough to attract the attention of Gates, Buffet, etc., then he probably “made a difference in the life of thousands” by eliminating their jobs to improve his personal bottom line.

Putting your money to work Employing hundreds Strengthening the economy

Those horrible successful people. Why I hear that damned Gates actually got on his knees and begged a relative for five grand so he could give half his wealth back to America.. And yet the government may not raise the 35% he pays in taxes now. 50% and 35% = what? He should pay more. England charges their ambitious more and look where that country is in employment.

Don’t be surprised if a fifth, or even a sixth ex-wife joins the battle.

Today’s posters might like to extend their discussion by reading the letters written to the NYT in response to Krugman’s piece, “The Angry Rich” (for which see link above). Here’s the URL for today’s letters: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/opinion/l22krugman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

And here’s one of the letters:

I’d like to remind the wealthiest among us that they did not acquire their wealth all by themselves. They needed competent workers (educated at public expense), transportation and communications networks, laws and regulations (yes, regulations, such as those making their rarefied air fit to breathe) … and for this vast web of support, the rich do in fact have a greater debt to society than the poor or even the middle class. So stop whining and pay up.

dfowensby:

Now THAT’S funny.

dfowensby: Now THAT’S funny.

Thanks, Richard and palin.

Pre-Reagan, the highest bracket paid 70%. Now they cry when it reverts to 35%?

Oh, and Lew, the top bracket effectively pays less than 20%. Capital gain rates are lower, numerous loopholes still exist, and a little-known fact about the tax code.. even the wealthy pay the low rates on the first part of their income. Someone making 400k will only pay 35% on the last 27k. The first 8k or so is taxed at 10%, the first 40k at 15%, etc.

Thanks Spaghettus, When Reagan introduced the step tax, I liked it. I retired and though the top rate was 38%, I paid 48% on my retirement. One of the benefits of working for the Gov’t. I got part of it back years later. My Republican Congressman was a great help. He said, “Let me know how you make out.”

OINK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah! Leave it all to charity. That’ll teach ‘em!

puddleglum, are you saying the Gates, Buffet, etc. have a reputation for improving their personal bottom lines by eliminating jobs?

I don’t know enough about their business models to agree or not, but everyone from your corner grocer to GM worries about competition and productivity. The only business that does not is the government, because it has no competition and makes up for poor productivity by continually raising taxes.

I do recall that Gates has gotten in trouble in the past for employing “subcontractors” and then treating them as employees.

I guess some just can’t accept that others are successful and they aren’t. What was that deadly sin, Envy?

@Lewreader on sin

You’re confusing covetousness, which is a petty sin, with the far more “deadly” sin of envy (hatred, especially class “ressentiment”).

The sins are traditionally ranked as follows, starting with the most deadly and descending to the bottom two “amiable” sins of lust and gluttony:

Pride Wrath Envy

Covetousness Sloth

Lust (untainted by Wrath or Covetousness) Gluttony

The first three sins do the most harm to others. The last two sins are “amiable” and hurt nobody; we all enjoy them as long as we’re able to.

It’s the fourth and fifth sins—-Covetousness and Sloth—-that undermine one’s integrity of soul. Greedy employers may justly claim to have paid their workers fairly (and thereby avoided the sins of pride and envy), but their constant need to acquire wealth warps their character. (One might suggest, a little uncharitably, that a lifetime of sloth also warps you and begets a sense of entitlement.)

To prove that one can be successful without growing covetous, I subjoin another letter from today’s NYT:

To the Editor:

I’m 81. I don’t have to worry about losing my home. I know I’ll never go hungry. I can help my grandchildren go to college. I can give to causes I believe in.

Why am I not being taxed more? Why was I told to go out and shop after 9/11? Why wasn’t I asked to help pay for two wars in which brave young men and women are dying? The question remains for me: “It’s my country. I love it. Where is my responsibility to help the only way I can with my taxes?”

Malcolm Gladwell examined the “rise” of of Bill Gates, based on personal interviews, in his best-seller “Outliers”. The main factor behind his phenomenal success? Luck.

Years ago I believed that hard work was the number one key to success. Experience has taught me otherwise.

Recent data shows that there are both more millionaires and more people in poverty than ever before. Now, more than ever, we need the graduated income tax so that those who have been blessed by our capitalist system will pay for it’s upkeep.

Looks like Jimmy-boy’s taking a pass on the Kool-Aid and sticking with the Lagavulin 16 year-old single malt for now - an important decision at that rarefied executive wealth level.

Many good remarks here; I am pleased & impressed with the intelligence of Doonesbury’s audience. Everyone who discusses economic matters with Lew must remember that he is simply a glib devil’s advocate: he neither works nor pays taxes. He lives off his wife’s income and his Social Security. i.e., while demanding lower tax rates for billionaires, he lives off the government.

Nemesys, many C.E.O.s earn millions by cutting jobs, not creating them. This past decade was one of cutting jobs & widening the gulf between rich & poor. (See Jack Welch, for merely one example).

Drome, thanks for the link. I shall read Paul Krugman’s column & the letters when I get a few minutes (working a lot these days myself—today, from 08:00 to 20:00: making hay while the sun shines, so to speak). I agree with your excerpt from the first letter and Richard Russell’s point. No one gets wealthy by him-/herself. The entire society contributes to any individual’s wealth, and any wealthy individual should look for ways to pay back the society in which he/she has profited so well. This is one of the fundamental problems with the Teapublicans: They do not see themselves as Americans. They see themselves as a mass of isolated individuals. It’s sad, but, unfortunately, also dangerous.

Heeyuk,

How can you tell Jimbo drinks Lagavulin and not one of the other Islay malts (Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Caol Isla) or one of my favorites from Campbelltown (Springbank or Longmorn)?

I agree he’s probably too far gone to commit any of the deadly sins and his lust has soured to misogyny, so he’s left with nothing but his covetousness and gluttony.

Hey I helped him “get rich” by working hard, doing my part to make a company “successful”, retiring on a reasonable exchange of time vs money and making room for someone else to do their own career bit. ~~~ So what’s your beef? Sorry you weren’t promoted to CEO while you worked for The Man, but hardly any of us ever were. Get real.