34 Comments

• seanomelbourne | Oct 01, 2011, 04:01 AM EDT

  Kaydog the Koch brothers will love you and squeeze the last dollar from whilst you blink

• kaydog1 | Sep 29, 2011, 10:39 PM EDT

  Gosh, Cahir, It's very tempting to stand up with you against these "GOP Millionaires" and their rapacious ways. Two things stop me though - first, whenever Obillion talks about raising taxes on "Millionaires and Billionaires and Corporate Jet Owners", the taxes he proposes always start at incomes of *200,000 or $250,000, so doesn't he actually even know what a "Millionaire" is? Or is he just trying to trick us again? My second concern is that despite Obillion harping on "rich GOP supporters", HE is the one raising a BILLION DOLLARS for his re-election campaign, and he's doing it by getting HUGE donations from corporations and fat-cats like George Soros and Warren Buffet. It seems that the Goldman Sachers of this world are Obama's friends even more so than the friends of the Repubs, so why should I listen to Obama? Fact is, every damn one of those Senators and Congressmen, Democrats especially, come out of their time in office having enriched themselves into the Millions. Cahir, this article is a fraud, 'cause no one does "Class Warfare" more than Obama, who seems to love it almost as much as he loves "race-Baiting". Oh, and Alun, we already do HAVE public funding provisions for Presidential Elections, but the public funds are linked to limits on non-public fund spending. You may recall that Mr Obama TURNED DOWN public funding during his 2008 Presidential campaign because it came with LIMITS on his own non-public funds spending, and he had SO MUCH MONEY FROM HIS RICH FRIENDS that the public funds would only have held him back.

• NARROWBACK | Sep 27, 2011, 04:42 PM EDT

  wheres the Irish angle in this article

• seanomelbourne | Sep 22, 2011, 08:40 PM EDT

  Alun convince the middle class teaparty if you can,unfortunatley theyn are so bent they just do not understand.

• AlunPalmer | Sep 22, 2011, 02:35 PM EDT

  And by the way, it is well established that spending by lower income people drives the economy by boosting demand. Tax cuts for the rich take money out of the economy.

• AlunPalmer | Sep 22, 2011, 02:33 PM EDT

  Election reform is long overdue, by which I mean some combination of public funding and spending limits for candidates. The status quo leads to fat cats on both sides of the political aisle. However, with a supreme court that rule that money is speech and corporations are people, it is probably impossible to fix this.

• seanomelbourne | Sep 21, 2011, 07:19 PM EDT

  Obama tried on two occasions over the lsat 3yrs.to cancel the bush tax cuts for those earning over $250,000 but was stymied by his own party fat cats.

• Rebelforce | Sep 20, 2011, 11:58 PM EDT

  How come it took this Democratic administration 3 years to finally discover that the Fat Cats in America are historically under-taxed? And we're supposed to pretend like this talk of raising taxes on millionaires now isn't all about the upcoming election next year? Talk is cheap. There is little if any political will from EITHER Democrats or Republicans to raise taxes on the wealthy in that infamous "Millionaire's Club" aka the US Senate, so don't worry, higher taxes for the rich ain't likely to happen. Now if Obama wanted another $600 Billion ($600,0000,000,000.00) from Congress to continue funding the endless Wars for freedom, justice, peace, prosperity, the American way, democracy, blah, blah, blah in the Middle East, that's something he could get passed in the Senate tomorrow.

• maloney | Sep 20, 2011, 07:00 PM EDT

  Buffet owes give or take $1 billion in back taxes going back to 2002. Bush spent 1.6 billion a day, the highest amount in history. Obama spends 4 billion a day. Do the math. Taxes are not the problem, progressives are from both parties.

• hollabackgurl | Sep 19, 2011, 10:28 PM EDT

  Bush gave the rich record tax cuts then started two wars, the gave the rich more tax cuts - something that the United States has never done before - with disastrous results.

• jamthecat | Sep 19, 2011, 07:55 PM EDT

  The GOP has always been for the rich over the poor and middle class. It's been that way since they began as a political party in the 1850s. Jeez, Ulysses S. Grant all but gave them the keys to the treasury during his administration, and it stayed that way till the 20th Century, when Teddy Roosevelt went after the Robber Barons. So now we're repeating history, and there are plenty of idiots willing to protect the rich from having to pay one extra dime in taxes, even as our roads and bridges go to ruin, we're fighting two unpaid for wars and the number of poor and uninsured is skyrocketing. That is diseased. BTW -- while it's true not all people pay income tax, EVERYONE pays taxes, be it sales tax or property tax or SSI or something like that. To say that some people are getting away with not paying taxes is to flat out lie.

• seanomelbourne | Sep 19, 2011, 06:48 PM EDT

  The GOP is conducting class warfare,Tax hikes for the middle class abd tax breaks for the rich.They (the GOP)are conducting a fear and smear campaign against the American worker by demonising unions and glorifing organisations the represent the wealthy, it's dispicable.And the teahadist unchristian Right are cutting their own throats by aligning themseleves with the mega rich.

• wilhoef | Sep 19, 2011, 06:40 PM EDT

  This is the biggest piece of BS I have seen in a long time.

• pilib04 | Sep 19, 2011, 05:56 PM EDT

  All these Republican millionaires and Billionaires think they should get everything free. They end up paying less taxes than their secretaries. They profiteer off of wars where Americans die but they refuse to pay the taxes to support the wars. Instead rob the Social Security Trust Fund and then have the audacity to call Social Security a Ponzi Scheme.

• EphraimKibbey | Sep 19, 2011, 05:20 PM EDT

  @jerrydonovan - did it have anything to do with camels fitting through the eyes of needles?

• EphraimKibbey | Sep 19, 2011, 05:13 PM EDT

  "The only real agenda in the Republican playbook is to reduce taxes still further for the "job creating rich." Never mind that for over a decade the job creators have not created any worthwhile jobs." You should qualify your statement with "here in the US" as they have created plenty of jobs in China, South America, etc.. But some of them fail to see that setting fire to the basement of their house will, eventually, reach and consume them on the top level. I was watching a business show on CNBC this morning and strangely they were supporting a balanced approach out of our mess with substantial increases as well as minimum taxes on millionaires and on taxing dividends and capital gains at the same rate as earned income. So some others of them, like Buffet, do understand the dangers we all face from the games the GOP are playing. There is a paper trail showing where the Wealth of This Nation went over the last decade and it can be followed right up to the doors of the masters of the GOP. Thanks for a well written, truthful article. I am glad that someone is out there countering the GOP propaganda.

• peterson | Sep 19, 2011, 01:26 PM EDT

  Actually, the tax increase begins with those earning $200,000 and higher. The lower end of that list includes thousands of small business owners who employ more people than those at the higher income levels. That is a fact !!!

• jerrydonovan | Sep 19, 2011, 01:23 PM EDT

  I wonder as to how many on the political right have ever read Rearum Novarum?This is the papal encyclical issued by Pope Leo x111 app.130 years ago.I would like to hear their take on this encyclical.

• Nicomax | Sep 19, 2011, 01:02 PM EDT

  For many on the far right, it is not just a case of not raising taxes on the very top income earners, but actually giving them a bonus of lower tax rates as a reward for their being so swift and clever. We can only sit in awe of their wonderfulness.

• hollabackgurl | Sep 19, 2011, 12:53 PM EDT

  I suppose the more obvious rejoinder to shut conservatives up is that 45% of people don't make enough money to have an income tax bill.

• hollabackgurl | Sep 19, 2011, 12:51 PM EDT

  This 45% pay no taxes thing has never passed the smell test. It's a myth, or a lie if you prefer. 53.6 percent do pay taxes. 23.3 percent are either young people or destitute people. 10.2 percent are the elderly. 4.5 percent receive tax breaks that benefit the wealthy more than the poor and middle class. 8.4 percent are (for the most part) working class people and people with kids that are trying to improve their lot in life. Conservatives and Republicans are trying misreading the data - what about children, and old people, and perhaps even the poor?

• Reilleyfam | Sep 19, 2011, 12:36 PM EDT

  Well said.

• eiriamach | Sep 19, 2011, 11:58 AM EDT

  Look at the efforts in various states to restrict voter registration among the young, minorities, and the working class. Look at the assaults on the rights of unions to negotiate for fair working conditions, fair pay, and essential health- and life-insurance benefits and pensions. Look at the war on women's health care, i.e., Planned Parenthood clinics that serve middle-class and working-class women. As a result of clinic restrictions, teen pregnancy rates will spike in coming years, more children will be born in poverty to teen mothers, and more women will be trapped in poverty. The agenda is clearly a shift in political control, not only a monopoly on wealth.

• eiriamach | Sep 19, 2011, 11:07 AM EDT

  Right, it is class warfare, but the goal of the war is not to "protect" billionaires but to "empower" them politically. It's class warfare launched by the deluded representatives of the wealthy-- GOP in the House of Representatives-- against middle-class American workers and the poor. The poor they will leave to die in hospital emergency rooms if they meet with accidents or diseases because having health insurance was their responsibility and they should have bought it with their food stamps! The middle-class they will reduce to serfdom at the hands of corporate moguls (it's a buyers' market for job applicants). Political control is much easier when there are just two groups: the oligarchs at the top of the socio-economic ladder and the dis-empowered rest of the population slipping further and further down from the center.

• patrickesq | Sep 19, 2011, 11:02 AM EDT

  It is amusing to read some of the comments of your readers who are offended by your stated view of the facts. Most of them express their disagreement by calling you names or by distorting or ignoring the facts. The dramatic growth in the poverty levels in America is clearly getting worse with the consequence of inadequate health care, nutrition and housing. Fifty million Americans are now without health care insurance. And the Republican Congressmen uniformly want to abolish the Affordable Care Act so that the rapacious private insurance companies will be back in charge of determining who gets insurance coverage at the exorbitant rates that will protect their profits and the more than generous compensation of their executives. The 2012 elections will give the American people a clear choice between allowing the Republicans to continue their push of a Corporate take over of America, or a system that taxes people fairly based on their ability to pay, and promotes the general welfare of all Americans by allowing them to pursue their happiness on a level playing field.

• genemowry | Sep 19, 2011, 10:45 AM EDT

  Republicans are masters at distorting the truth and using scare tatics. Obama has been set up to fail by them. Americans have short memories do you really want these people in power? Look what they did the last time they had all the power!!

• loveapint | Sep 19, 2011, 10:38 AM EDT

  I have been thru many elections at my age, the Dumbacrats have always said at election time "tax the rich" Will Congress exempt themselves like they always exempt themselves from everything? A lot of these millionaires started their business' from sthe start, risking all their money and property and built a sucessful operation. So why do the dumbacrats want to punish them for being sucessful? Tax the rich is a phrase that has outgrown them. Instead cut back on foreign aid to all those counties that hate us. Also stop the money to the UN, which is anti-American and kick them out of NY

• jamieLM | Sep 19, 2011, 10:22 AM EDT

  Here's another set of statistics and you can look it up, too. 1. 45% of all U.S. households pay NO fed. income taxes at all - NONE. 2. The top 1% of all income earners pay 39.5% of all federal income taxes. In 2010, the U.S. govt. paid out $2.3 TRILLION in entitlements: unemployment benefits, Soc. Sec., disability benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, vet's benefits, education assistance, etc. In 2010, 59% of all Americans received a govt. payout in one form or another. Is the tax system fair? No, it isn't. I'm for closing a lot of the loopholes for people who are taking unfair advantage and revamping the tax code for everyone, but it's more complicated than just thinking that taxing the rich into oblivion will solve all the debt problems of the U.S.

• hollabackgurl | Sep 19, 2011, 10:11 AM EDT

  George W. Bush gave the rich massive tax cuts every year of his presidency (and those cuts are STILL in effect) so where are all the jobs these job creators were supposed to bring us? And why did the Bush economy nearly destroy the American economy?

• colkelley | Sep 19, 2011, 09:56 AM EDT

  And Obama does nothing to protect his billionaire buddies George Soros (who wants to collapse the American currency like he did in Europe so he can make more Billions), or Warren Buffet? Grow up Cahir and educate yourself beyond what your knee-jerk radicalism allows. On average, Democrats in the Federal government have greater individual wealth than the Republicans and use their offices to enrich themselves further. Nancy Pelosi has heavy investment in tuna canning in American Samoa so the last increase in the Minimum Wage did NOT apply to...wait for it...AMERICAN SAMOA! Show some brains and call for the Constitutional ban on allowing lawyers of either party to hold any public office not directly related to law enforcement.

• tom/peggy | Sep 19, 2011, 09:53 AM EDT

  I hope you've asked President Obama why he hasn't demanded that Warren Buffet pay the millions of dollars of business taxes he owes going back to 2002.

• wjb1tex | Sep 19, 2011, 09:52 AM EDT

  "America has slipped so far to the right these days that we can't tax billionaires at the same rate as the middle class, without the GOP screaming that we're becoming the Soviet Union." Are you suggesting that we do tax billionaires at the samw rate ? If so I don't think you would like the result. Check the tax rates instead of trying to inflame the peole who take your misreprestations as gospel.

• michaelobrien | Sep 19, 2011, 09:49 AM EDT

  you're just another Looney Left Wing mouthpiece. If you claim that America is such a horrible place to live, then why don't you just haul your little psuedo news operation back across the pond and concentrate on my beloved Ireland's problems (which seem to be a little more serious). Your little electronic rag is no longer welcome in my home.

• DLW12183 | Sep 19, 2011, 09:49 AM EDT

  A better article would be titled "Same the USA and its People: Defeat Obama"!