Forum Post: Best response to 'class warfare' accusation: America is classless.
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 9, 2011, 5:18 p.m. EST by Alternatives2WallSt
(62)
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I call myself a "Coffee Republican." I like Ike. However Democrats who simply advocate equitable taxes for millionaires are now being accused of "class warfare" by Donald Trump and every eely Republican nominee. Even worse, I do not believe the Democrats are responding forcefully. Here is what they should say...
"AMERICA IS A CLASSLESS SOCIETY. Are you advocating that multimillionaires are a special class?"
The best defense is a good offense. One reason that I became a Republican is simply that Democrats do not seem to know how to score their points.
Similarly, I like some of Micheal Moore's suggestions of November 22. In particular:
- Require all Americans to pay the same percentage of income to Social Security. Thus increasing the social security payments of millionaires from 0.6% to 6%. http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/where-does-occupy-wall-street-go-here
However it might be more practical to proceed as follows.
Ask for multimillionaires to be legally defined as a "job creator class," and therefore they legally deserve special privileges because they smell better.
Therefore ask for multimillionaires to pay only 1/2 of their social security, or only 3%.
Therefore in addition to asking for an easier goal, you will shame the opposition for refusing that goal.
Therefore also in future, if any politican wants millionaires to pay the normal 6%, nobody can say this is about "class warfare." On the contrary, the discussion must become all about whether or not America should have a special class. It would be interesting to see how the eels try to wiggle out of that.
Warren Buffett: 'There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.'
This is the most realistic response I've heard yet, Thank you Mr. Buffett.
"AMERICA IS A CLASSLESS SOCIETY. Are you advocating that multimillionaires are a special class?"
We are not advocating that, but they sure are, and have been since the inception of the country when the rich were allowed to keep slaves. We are still a classless society only on paper.
Why does Romney lie about a dead priest?
http://occupywallst.org/forum/mary-jo-kopechne-and-leola-anderson-rest-in-peace/
Monseigneur Albert Marie, a vehicular manslaughter in 1968, and the victim: Mrs. Leola Anderson.
Amazing the lies that Romney and his crew can generate.
Google has this post with a comment that links to the "Mary Jo Kopechne and Leola Anderson. Rest in peace." post.
But when I check, the link is gone.
So let's have a new one:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/mary-jo-kopechne-and-leola-anderson-rest-in-peace
I didn't post the earlier comment. So it's even.
Who cares about bankrupter D. Trump? What is bad about class warfare?
Well said!
Get rid of the bribery and watch the American people come up with a fair tax system. Here's my 2 cents:
There are a lot of improvements that need to be made. The list reforms people Americans want to see is long and varied depending on who you talk to. That said, I believe there is one reform that would provide the American people the best chances of seeing other meaningful reforms actually happen - that is REAL, loop-hope free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM! I have seen others on this site calling this the "fulcrum" or pivotal issue. Right now the current legalized bribery, pay-to-play system of campaign donations and paid lobbyists has disenfranchised the American voter. Until this is fixed, any other reform the politicians may try to placate us with (be it a change to healthcare, clamping down predatory school loans, new financial regulations, etc.) will be about as effective as a farmer putting a new roof on his CHICKEN COOP, but still letting the FOX guard it.
We need to go back to the original political currency. Instead of the current system of who can collect the most money from corporations and special interests it should be who has the BEST IDEAS to EFFECTIVELY RUN THE COUNTRY (we don't need "Wealth Redistribution," what we need is "Political Influence Redistribution")!
For the sake our our children and future generations of Americans, we need to take back our democracy from the rich and powerful who are using their vast sums of money to "speak" as if they represent millions of Americans. This "Corporate Personhood" that has crept into our laws is allowing them to manipulating our policies in their favor at the expense of the average American (the recent "Citizens United" Supreme Court ruling is a miscarriage of justice and must be reversed. The $50 or $100 a normal American may give to a political campaign becomes meaningless when corporations or other special interests are handing our millions to buy political access to the decision making process.
For decades now the corporations and special interests have had our "representatives" bought and paid for (both on the right and the left). Concentrating our efforts on getting the money out of our politics is the best way we can create an environment in which further reforms can be realized. Until we end the current system of legalized bribery (campaign donations) and paid lobbying our politicians will continue to be the LAP DOGS of the corporations and special interests. What we need first and foremost is real, loop-hole free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!!!! If the corruption is not dealt with first, the chance of any other meaningful reforms becoming a reality is almost zero - the special interests will just use their money to buy votes and put forward bills that create loop-holes or otherwise twist the law in their favor. If we want our children to live in a country where there vote matters, we need to get the money out of our politics, otherwise they will increasingly become the 21st century version of the "landless peasant." Spread the word - End the LEGALIZED BRIBERY!!! CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM needs to be THE main goal of the protests!!!
Re: ""I believe there is one reform that would provide the American people the best chances of seeing other meaningful reforms actually happen - that is REAL, loop-hole free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!""
I agree that campaign reform is important. However the one person to lead this seriously was Ralph Nader. Then he basically derailed his credibility by running for president. It is interesting how Nader was very mainstream and Michael Moore is much more radical, but has evolved into a more pragmatic figure.
I am not even aware if Nader is still alive, but I hope his movement is going strong. However the limitation of Campaign Finance is simply that sorry, even perfect Democracy has serious limitations. Voters are not especially intelligent. If China were democratic, they would immediately destroy every remnant of Tibetan culture, and goodbye to the population control program, and that is not good for the planet. Similarly, the moment that the American economy goes down, it is "drill baby drill" and dismantling all ecological safeguards from most voters--regardless if this has anything to do with the economy. As Michael Moore says, Washington is the puppet and Wall Street is the puppet master.
Therefore my emphasis to MAKE WALL STREET OBSOLETE. In this regard, I am far more radical than Michael Moore. I have posted a discussion about this here: http://occupywallst.org/forum/make-wall-st-obsolete-in-1-yr-with-moorgocom
Thank you everyone for the friendly comments. Best of luck to all in all your endeavors.
class warfare is code for economic warfare.
i think a sales tax on new, non-necessities would be more fair. i.e. no taxes on food and drink. income tax was never supposed to exist and the IRS is not even an actual government organization, hell its based in puerto rico.
"America is a classless society" may be interpreted as Americans have no class.
Nikita:To me, class is good manners and consideration for others. Someone with no class has none of these qualities and may have all the money in the world. Money can't buy class, you are either born with it (in your personality) or learn it with time.
jacksmum:if you have class then you are well mannered, tactful and comfortable in social situations, you know how to conduct yourself in a manner that won't offend others, you don;t flash your money about, if you have no class then you are the opposite to the above
"Communists have no class."
The conundrum is that so many immigrants are here that emigrated from countries with oppressive social class structures that have left irreparable psychopathological damage. There are a lot of American impostors meaning they may have citizenship, a green card, a H-1B visa, but they do not act like Americans.
One example stands out, Rupert Murdoch.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/07/b122948.html
Evidence - Fox News, NY Post, Wall St. Journal. These, once respectacle news organizations, have sunk to the level of propaganda mills with some of the most bombastic news coverage and opinions in print.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=5rqdtZlec0s&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXJIV4f4ZQ0&feature=relmfu
http://www.foxnews.com/
The class warfare is linked to immigration. For the most part, unless you have refugee status, it takes a lot of money to immigrate here legally. Once here what's next, assimilation? Unassimilated immigrants comprise a new class.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFMcWjaMXwo&list=PL3C962DF2838F8628&feature=plpp_play_all
Having money enables purchasing power. This is what a captialist society needs. This is where privatization of national treasures accelerates the division between citizens.
Is Bill Gates doing anything else besides growing the Microsoft brand under the guise of worldwide philanthropy?
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There used to be a "luxury tax" It was a failure. It killed off a lot of businesses. The big high end things.In other areas, many people payed cash,.........no paperwork, no tax involved.