Stephen King: "Tough Shit;" Tax the Rich

Author, and 1-percenter, Stephen King wrote an Op-Ed piece into Newsweek/The Daily Caller yesterday castigating the calls of some prominent Republican legislators (he specifically calls out New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie) to such 1 %'ers as King, as Warren Buffett, as Bill Gates, and many more, to just write a check to the IRS and "shut up" instead of questioning why their tax rates are so low and demanding politicians raise their rates to fix the fiscal mess plaguing the country.

King, ostensibly insouciant to any political fire that may result, pulls no punches in his argument for increased taxes on the wealthy, and seems particularly disdainful of Christie's "rudeness." What I think is important here is that even though Democrats have (for now) lost the vote on President Obama's "Buffett Rule," some people are not done having this debate.

"Tired of hearing about it, they said," King paraphrases opponents to the rule.
"Tough shit for you guys, because I'm not tired of talking about it."

King goes on to explain that yes, he and many other (even the Koch brothers) charitable, wealthy 1 %'ers already give millions in donations every year, but it's simply not enough.

"What charitable 1 percenters can’t do is assume responsibility—America’s national responsibilities: the care of its sick and its poor, the education of its young, the repair of its failing infrastructure, the repayment of its staggering war debts. Charity from the rich can’t fix global warming or lower the price of gasoline by one single red penny. That kind of salvation does not come from Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Ballmer saying, “OK, I’ll write a $2 million bonus check to the IRS.” That annoying responsibility stuff comes from three words that are anathema to the Tea Partiers: United American citizenry." [Emphasis not mine.]

You can read the entire article here.

Romney's Swiss Bank Account

On Monday, President Barack Obama's campaign held a conference call discussing their push for higher taxes on millionaires, and the discussion quickly turned to Obama's presumptive opponent in the general election, Mitt Romney, and his Swiss Bank account.

The conference call held between Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Ill), and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill), revolved around discussion of the 'Buffett Rule,' a law the Senate plans to bring up for a vote on April 15th, tax day. The 'Buffett Rule' seeks to raise revenue in order to reduce the deficit by closing tax loopholes that unproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans and help to ensure every American is paying their fair share. Income inequality in America is at an all-time high, where the richest 1% of Americans own over 40% of the total wealth of the nation (a figure unseen since right before The Great Depression), continue to slowly siphon wealth from the middle- and lower-classes, while the lower classes are increasingly squeezed by rising food and gas prices as well as budget cuts at the state and federal level.

And Mitt Romney seems to be the ideal poster-child for this widening income gap in America. Besides a majority of Americans supporting increased taxes on the rich, Romney has embraced Paul Ryan's "marvelous" budget presented by the House last week. Romney paid less than 15% in federal taxes over the last two years, despite making millions of dollars. He worked for Bain Capital, a venture capital firm notorious for buying struggling companies, laying off workers and selling the company for enormous profits while leaving them shackled in debt. Now, the Obama campaign wants to focus their attacks on Romney's overseas accounts, asking 'Why do you have a Swiss Bank account?'

I think Warren Buffett's response best captures the essence of the inquiry. Durbin asked the billionaire investor if he had a Swiss Bank account. Buffett simply responded, "No, there are plenty of good banks in the United States."