Obama says Billionaires should pay the same tax rate as a Jew

[red states rule]

Now to be fair, did Obama say "jew" or did the teleprompter?

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[Little-Acorn]

Sounds to me like he started to say. "....as a junior assistant...", or something, and he cut himself off after the first syllable.

[Kathianne]

Sounds to me like he started to say. "....as a junior assistant...", or something, and he cut himself off after the first syllable.

The White House text version says, 'janitors.' I mean I always mix up those two, don't you?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/09/obama-congressional-black-caucus-video-gaffe.html


...His 28 minutes of remarks had a strange tone to them, as if somehow Obama was equating support for his jobs program legislation with the far more important and historic civil rights movement.


He got into the usual yada-yada about rich people paying their fair share of taxes.


And then, deep into the speech, according to the White House transcript, the president said:

When you start saying, at a time when the top one-tenth of 1 percent has seen their incomes go up four or five times over the last 20 years, and folks at the bottom have seen their incomes decline -- and your response is that you want poor folks to pay more?


Give me a break.


If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor. I have no problem with that.
That's what the transcript says he said.


Now, watch the C-SPAN video below, and listen especially to the phrase "the same tax rate as a janitor."


...

[chloe]

The White House text version says, 'janitors.' I mean I always mix up those two, don't you?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/09/obama-congressional-black-caucus-video-gaffe.html


:laugh2:

[Little-Acorn]

The White House text version says, 'janitors.' I mean I always mix up those two, don't you?


Nope. But when I'm stumbling around, trying to compare some very-big-deal person (like a billionaire) to someone very low-level, then yes, the word "junior" is pretty likely to pop up. Do you disagree?

And it sounds to me like that's exactly what he said. He's demonstrated many times how clumsy he can be when he's not reading from the teleprompter. One more time, doesn't surprise me, or mean much either.

I realize that conservatives feel they have to jump on every small gaffe, and exaggerate the hell out of it, trying to make it look as bad as possible. But I suggest they don't have to do that. The REAL things Obama and his cohorts do, are by far bad enough to provide plenty of red meat for his critics... such as people who would like the country to run peacefully and prosper.

To put it another way: Conservatives don't have to lie about liberals to make them look bad. So why try?

[ConHog]

Nope. But when I'm stumbling around, trying to compare some very-big-deal person (like a billionaire) to someone very low-level, then yes, the word "junior" is pretty likely to pop up. Do you disagree?

And it sounds to me like that's exactly what he said. He's demonstrated many times how clumsy he can be when he's not reading from the teleprompter. One more time, doesn't surprise me, or mean much either.

I realize that conservatives feel they have to jump on every small gaffe, and exaggerate the hell out of it, trying to make it look as bad as possible. But I suggest they don't have to do that. The REAL things Obama and his cohorts do, are by far bad enough to provide plenty of red meat for his critics... such as people who would like the country to run peacefully and prosper.

To put it another way: Conservatives don't have to lie about liberals to make them look bad. So why try?

Agreed 100%. It is beyond obvious that the clip RSR shown was chopped up, and there is NOWAY in hell Obama would say something that not only would be stupid to say, it doesn't even make sense. Obama says "billionaires should pay the same tax rate as jews?" What?


Some times it really is as simple as if something doesn't sound true, it probably isn't true.

[Kathianne]

Nope. But when I'm stumbling around, trying to compare some very-big-deal person (like a billionaire) to someone very low-level, then yes, the word "junior" is pretty likely to pop up. Do you disagree?

And it sounds to me like that's exactly what he said. He's demonstrated many times how clumsy he can be when he's not reading from the teleprompter. One more time, doesn't surprise me, or mean much either.

I realize that conservatives feel they have to jump on every small gaffe, and exaggerate the hell out of it, trying to make it look as bad as possible. But I suggest they don't have to do that. The REAL things Obama and his cohorts do, are by far bad enough to provide plenty of red meat for his critics... such as people who would like the country to run peacefully and prosper.

To put it another way: Conservatives don't have to lie about liberals to make them look bad. So why try?

Yes, I disagree. I tend to believe that the White House text version was the j word he was looking for, supposedly. On the other hand, he seems to have little love for Jews, so who knows?

[Little-Acorn]

Agreed 100%. It is beyond obvious that the clip RSR shown was chopped up,

I didn't listen to RSR's clip. I heard this gaffe on radio, which has much more fidelity. It sounded to me like Obama said "...as a jun..... as a janitor", not "...as a Jew... as a janitor."

You might catch it on radio yourself, and see what you think.

[Psychoblues]

Why are some reichwingers trying to create an animosity between President Obama and jews that simply doesn't exist? For once I agree with la. The truth is bad enough. Why lie? I preached that daily to my more progressive friends during the gwb administration and even now on the same subject.

Psychoblues

[Little-Acorn]

Why are some reichwingers

Did somebody mention "trying to create an animosity that doesn't exist"?

Dealing with leftist fanatics is like shooting fish in a barrel......

[Psychoblues]

Did somebody mention "trying to create an animosity that doesn't exist"?

Dealing with leftist fanatics is like shooting fish in a barrel......

If you're wanting to whine about the inability of reichwingers to competently govern and the constant divide between lib and con in this country I'll take your remark only for the humor it implies.

:laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:

Psychoblues

[ConHog]

If you're wanting to whine about the inability of reichwingers to competently govern and the constant divide between lib and con in this country I'll take your remark only for the humor it implies.

:laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:

Psychoblues

You should be banned for comparing conservatives to NAZIS in my opinion. That sort of bullshit adds nothing to the debate.

[Psychoblues]

You should be banned for comparing conservatives to NAZIS in my opinion. That sort of bullshit adds nothing to the debate.

Both the American rightwingers and the German nazi's come from the same fascist fold, ch. In addition, as long as management here permits the constant name calling towards anyone then "reichwinger" remains mild. It's rare that anyone likes their own pictures or the sound of their own recorded voice. Is "reichwinger" hitting a bit too close to home for you? But, ch, you are definitely correct. It adds nothing to any debate and I'll go a bit further by declaring it only serves to stir up passions better left dormant or at least hidden. I gave that nickname for cons up for awhile but I revived it because the slurs and innuendos aimed at me never slowed down an iota.

Psychoblues

[ConHog]

Both the American rightwingers and the German nazi's come from the same fascist fold, ch. In addition, as long as management here permits the constant name calling towards anyone then "reichwinger" remains mild. It's rare that anyone likes their own pictures or the sound of their own recorded voice. Is "reichwinger" hitting a bit too close to home for you? But, ch, you are definitely correct. It adds nothing to any debate and I'll go a bit further by declaring it only serves to stir up passions better left dormant or at least hidden. I gave that nickname for cons up for awhile but I revived it because the slurs and innuendos aimed at me never slowed down an iota.

Psychoblues


I haven't seen ANYONE compare you to an organization which killed millions. Disgusting.

[abso]

may i ask, why should billionaires pay the same taxes as janitors ?

[DragonStryk72]

may i ask, why should billionaires pay the same taxes as janitors ?

We use a "progressive" tax rate, which means that as you start to make more money, a higher percentage of your income is taken as taxes. So a billionaire is paying not only higher taxes by matter of the number, but by percentage as well. However, it does not just punish the super-rich. My mom is a bus driver for special needs kids, and she loves her job, as well as being good at it. A couple of year back she got a 10% raise. Sounds good, yes? Well, the raise knocked her 25 dollars a year ($2.08 a month) over the line into the next tax bracket up. This increase the percentage of her income that was taken in taxes, and as a result, she now takes homes less money than she made before the pay raise.

The progressive income tax punishes success at all levels, and is horribly outdated these days

[Psychoblues]

may i ask, why should billionaires pay the same taxes as janitors ?

America has an entirely regressive tax policy, abso. Billionaires rarely report or receive "wages" and their income is most always capital gains which is taxed at a much lower rate than earned income such as wages for a working job. Rich people also don't eat any more than anyone else but as a percentage of income poor and middle class Americans spend proportionately more for groceries than the wealthy and are taxed in sales for those purchases. Most poor and middle class American live week to week on their incomes while most wealthy Americans simply pile up the wealth especially considering their most favorable tax considerations.

Why have wages been virtually stagnant since about 1981 while the incomes of the wealthy have grown about 1,000% in the same time period? Are they job creators or American job destroyers? I suspect the latter.

Psychoblues

[DragonStryk72]

America has an entirely regressive tax policy, abso. Billionaires rarely report or receive "wages" and their income is most always capital gains which is taxed at a much lower rate than earned income such as wages for a working job. Rich people also don't eat any more than anyone else but as a percentage of income poor and middle class Americans spend proportionately more for groceries than the wealthy and are taxed in sales for those purchases. Most poor and middle class American live week to week on their incomes while most wealthy Americans simply pile up the wealth especially considering their most favorable tax considerations.

Why have wages been virtually stagnant since about 1981 while the incomes of the wealthy have grown about 1,000% in the same time period? Are they job creators or American job destroyers? I suspect the latter.

Psychoblues

You neglected to mention the double hit on investing, as well as hits on savings accounts. Yes, in America, you will get taxed both when you purchase stock, and when you sell stock. PB has a strong habit of demonizing rich people, like Bill Gates, who also has one of the largest philanthropic organizations. He seems to forget that they're human beings as much as anyone else, or that many rich people these started off in the poor or middle class. But yeah, let's keep punishing success. It's been working soooo well

[logroller]

America has an entirely regressive tax policy, abso. Billionaires rarely report or receive "wages" and their income is most always capital gains which is taxed at a much lower rate than earned income such as wages for a working job. Rich people also don't eat any more than anyone else but as a percentage of income poor and middle class Americans spend proportionately more for groceries than the wealthy and are taxed in sales for those purchases. Most poor and middle class American live week to week on their incomes while most wealthy Americans simply pile up the wealth especially considering their most favorable tax considerations.

Why have wages been virtually stagnant since about 1981 while the incomes of the wealthy have grown about 1,000% in the same time period? Are they job creators or American job destroyers? I suspect the latter.

Psychoblues

Another "The rich are rich, the poor are poor." argument-- very definitive PB. As a percentage, how much income tax do the poor pay?

Food from grocery stores isn't taxable; prepared food is though. If the poor have someone else cook their food for them, I guess they're not so poor after all.

The reason wages have been stagnant is because wage workers don't produce more than they did in 1981.

Your suspicions are illogical.

[Gunny]

Now to be fair, did Obama say "jew" or did the teleprompter?

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No, he said "chew" ... you know ... those dirty f-ers than ruin everything.:laugh:

[fj1200]

Both the American rightwingers and the German nazi's come from the same fascist fold...

Too bad nazi's were big government lefties.


may i ask, why should billionaires pay the same taxes as janitors ?

They don't.

[fj1200]

America has an entirely regressive tax policy, abso. Billionaires rarely report or receive "wages" and their income is most always capital gains which is taxed at a much lower rate than earned income such as wages for a working job. Rich people also don't eat any more than anyone else but as a percentage of income poor and middle class Americans spend proportionately more for groceries than the wealthy and are taxed in sales for those purchases. Most poor and middle class American live week to week on their incomes while most wealthy Americans simply pile up the wealth especially considering their most favorable tax considerations.

Why have wages been virtually stagnant since about 1981 while the incomes of the wealthy have grown about 1,000% in the same time period? Are they job creators or American job destroyers? I suspect the latter.

So now you're complaining about the regressive nature of the grocery business? We don't have a regressive tax policy, we have a convoluted tax policy but regressive it's not. There are reasons why capital gains and investment income is taxed at a lower rate; it's beneficial overall to free up capital. Buffett does not pay much in income taxes because he doesn't have much income (I understand his salary is 100k) but he pays large amounts in capital gains because he has a lot of capital.

[LuvRPgrl]

Nope. But when I'm stumbling around, trying to compare some very-big-deal person (like a billionaire) to someone very low-level, then yes, the word "junior" is pretty likely to pop up. Do you disagree?

And it sounds to me like that's exactly what he said. He's demonstrated many times how clumsy he can be when he's not reading from the teleprompter. One more time, doesn't surprise me, or mean much either.

I realize that conservatives feel they have to jump on every small gaffe, and exaggerate the hell out of it, trying to make it look as bad as possible. But I suggest they don't have to do that. The REAL things Obama and his cohorts do, are by far bad enough to provide plenty of red meat for his critics... such as people who would like the country to run peacefully and prosper.

To put it another way: Conservatives don't have to lie about liberals to make them look bad. So why try?

I got the feeling RSR was being a little bit tongue in cheek, it is kinda funny, but I do wish the clip didnt have that stupid editing, I would like to hear the version you mentioned

[LuvRPgrl]

Why are some reichwingers trying to create an animosity between President Obama and jews that simply doesn't exist? For once I agree with la. The truth is bad enough. Why lie? I preached that daily to my more progressive friends during the gwb administration and even now on the same subject.

Psychoblues

pretty bad when a self proclaimed drunk is a able to preach to a crowd, course libs will listen to anyone full of hate and vitriole, nuff said

[red states rule]

Calm down guys. here si the CSPAN feed of Obama's jew comment. He clearly said it and I am not surprised by it

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[sundaydriver]

Your right! I heard it clear as can be...He did stop short and say JU :laugh: