Playing the Class Warfare Card

Obama has been hammering away at those on Wall Street who stand to make huge bonuses. It's purely populist pap and Obama knows it but he has to say it despite the fact he brought in Geithner and everyone else who were big on...Wall Street.

I heard some woman on Hannity complaining about this fact and the fact that her interest payment for her credit card was increased from 6% to 22% and said that no one deserved the obscenely large bonuses. Hannity, of course not being the sharpest tool in the Fox News shed, driveled about not getting in to debt, yada, yada, yada.

What he should have said is this:

Let's suppose you make $70,000 per year at your banking job, which is indoors and doesn't require a large amount of personal risk nor hard work. Now suppose you were offered a bonus of, say 10% of your pay or $7,000. Would you take it? Of course you would. Now suppose a guy who was laid off works in construction. He works 12-hour days and busts his butt constantly. He is making $30,000 per year since construction jobs have been reduced 50% under Obama and guys in that field will take anything for whatever pay is offered. Suppose his boss gives him a 10% bonus as well or $3,000. After taxes it will be about $2,200. He probably would look at your bonus as obscene.

My point is that it's all relative. The people on Wall Street worked hard to get where they are, paid a gaggle of money for schooling and took some personal risks to get where they are. Like I tell people when they bitch about pro athlete's getting huge paychecks; would you turn it down? If someone is willing to pay you a salary for your skill set, you should get all you can, period. That's capialism and anyone who says they would take less is either lying or a blithering, liberal idiot. I'm willing to bet that uber-liberal Susan Sarandon has never taken less money so the gaffe guy or makeup girl could get more in their take home pay.

Obama is laying the groundwork for a huge tax increase on the so-called rich but it will be an increase that will stifle hiring for months or years. A return to the 70% Carter-era rates would be disastrous and playing the class envy card to do it is completely expected but shameful just the same. He's playing to peoples darker side and he damn well knows it.