Stingy 1 Percenters Stand in Solidarity with #OWS, Demand Government Tax Them to Share Ill-Gotten Gains with the Rest of Us

Via Good magazine, I came across the website "We Are the 1 Percent We Stand with the 99 Percent." I suppose I should have put a spoiler alert in that previous sentence, but the title of the site pretty much gives the plot away. The site consists of photos of affluent young folks who are literally begging to be taxed more than they are.

Aping the style of "We Are the 99 Percent" sites, the contributors obscure their faces not with Zapatista-style ski masks but signs touting their good fortune to be born lucky and rich, but their ardent desire for forcible redistribution of income.

Some of the sayings are almost like fiscal koans:

In my home town, everyone had enough. Growing up, I thought it was like that everywhere.

Why can't it be?

Some are more straightforward in what might be called trust-fund masochism. Rather than getting on with giving away their gains, they need to be forced to do so.

I am a beneficiary of my family's wealth, but I did nothing to earn it. I happened to be born into a family that has made lots and lots of money, invested it wisely, and established trusts for future generations. Because of that wealth, I have led a very privileged life.

Because of that wealth, I have a responsibility to give back, and to call for social and economic justice. I am the 1% and I stand with the 99%.

Kudos to the guilt-ridden 1 percenter scions who are doing their best to get rid of all the money burning holes in their pockets and their souls:

My dad has spent his life accumulating wealth, because to him, money is love.

My parents both grew up with the fear of not having enough. Their parents grew up poor.

When I was 25, my parents gave me a $100k check. There's lots more where that came from.

The money sent me into a spiral of shame and denial.

Now at age 30, I've started giving it away to organizations working for ECONOMIC & RACIAL JUSTICE.

That's something I can do, and it makes me feel better, but I know it's not enough.

I don't want to live in a world where money represents love.

I don't want to live in a world where some people accumulate way too much - because they're scared of not having enough.

We ALL should have enough.

I am the 1%

I stand with the 99%

I don't mean to sound glib when I say to the person above: All child-parent relationships involve shame, denial, recriminations, positive and negative feelings, ambivalence, you name it. None of that is made worse by getting money from the people responsible for your being born. I am quite confident that my generally very good relationship with my folks would have been better still if they had been able to hand me a $100k check when I turned 25. Or when I turned 35, or 45, or even when they passed away.

Look, even the Beatles knew way back when that money can't buy you love. But you know what? It can buy a lot of other things. And if you think you felt shame and denial when your 'rents were tossing $100,000 in your lap, think about what you'd be feeling if they were asking to bum some money off you instead.

If these latter-day Veronica Lodges and Reggie Mantles are interested in doing something right now to help relatively poor people out, I would recommend that they create a nonprofit designed to pay taxes for whatever subset of the 99 Percenters they want to support. Due to FICA taxes, everybody (even most illegal immigrants who, far from being "undocumented," have fake Social Security cards and hence kick in payroll taxes they will never recoup in any way, shape, or form) gets taxed every pay period from dollar one until about dollar $108,000. That would be one way to help the less-fortunate out and it wouldn't involve forcing all of us to drop more tax money into the already-leaky bucket that is government spending. And if that doesn't float your boat, then just send your money directly to the U.S. Treasury, who will doubtlessly put it to good use retiring the public debt.

Incidentally, if anyone is wondering what it takes to crack the 1 Percent of households in these United States, here you go: $343,927 in 2009.

Earlier this year, horror novelist and rich guy Stephen King, along with Hillary Clinton and Warren Buffett, asked why he wasn't paying 50 percent in taxes.

The short answer is that people in his wealth class were too busy paying 40 percent of all income taxes:

Comments

[CE]

So why don't these bleeding heart one-percenters take a basketful of their cash and go hand it out directly to the OWS protestors, and cut out the middle man?

[Maxxx]

No Shit.

Is it so fucking hard for these douchebags to give their money away that they prefer robbery?

[mad libertarian guy]

Because they don't REALLY want to give their money away to help those less fortunate, they want to watch the government force rich bankers to give theirs.

It's not about giving, it's about taking.

[Matt C]

So let me get this straight: the fire-crotch in the pic is from a family where the parents were born poor, went to public school, served in the military, and worked their assess off and became rich? And the system is FLAWED??

[Enjoy Every Sandwich]

Christ, if you boneheads want to help the poor, use your wealth. Create a useful business and hire some folks. That's a thousand times more helpful than giving it to some dipshit politician.

[Sparky]

You think they would know how to do that? These morons had money dumped on them and are begging someone to come steal it. All they know is that money is a dirty word and they are immensely shamed by having so much of it.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Assholes, all of them.

I didn't have a deprived childhood, my father was a successful businessman due to his own efforts and risk-taking. As a result, I was afforded a good education and opportunities.

I always figured that it was my responsibility to take advantage of the opportunities given to me and make them pay off for myself and my family without taking advantage of anyone else. That means hard work and during this economy, a lot of delayed gratification, in order to make sure the family business will be around when the market turns.

If you feel guilty about your privilege, then work to feel you deserve it. Contribute to society by delivering a product that someone else wants. If you don't know what to do or don't have skills, invest in someone who does. Give them an opportunity to succeed. Real capital is a hard thing to build and a powerful asset for progress. If you've got it, use it.

[Loki]

+ 1,000,000

[asdf]

I cried a little

[Judy]

Please run for president . . . you are filled with common sense and the American dream. Felt good to read your comments, Judy

[Alan]

Well said.

All the people who say they didn't deserve to be born rich are looking at this from the wrong direction.

It's true - they did nothing, but their parents, or their parents' parents, did everything they could to successfully pass on their genes - including establishing their offspring as a viable continuation of their line.

When these ungrateful children reject what their parents established for them, they dishonor their parents and themselves.

That's not saying that they can't contribute to charity or the like, but they should save a large portion for themselves and their kids - and they certainly have no right to tell other families how they should invest their resources.

Of course, to a good looking rich kid who is likely to be passing on their genes regardless, forcing other rich people to give up their resources is actually evolutionary warfare. Some people don't have good looks or a charming personality, and the only way they're going to pass on their genes is by being filthy rich. If you can take that advantage away from them, however, then the cool, hip, trust fund kids can outcompete the ugly, dorky, but socially useful kids who only have money to attract the opposite sex.

In other words, the desire to steal from second parties to contribute to third parties is an incredibly selfish act of evolutionary warfare. They are willing to punish themselves in order to punish their sexual rivals more, and thereby gain a comparative advantage.

[Public School Victim]

Create a useful business and hire some folks.

How do you do that? I don't know what that is.

[romulus augustus]

Surely, with all the "greedy" businesses out there, the Occupiers could use their social media skills to put together new businesses to undercut the "greedy's" profit margins?
Some asshole at Goldman is making $500K
"doing nothing?" So go to the head honcho at Goldman and say you'll "do nothing" for $250K. If Goldman is so greedy, they'll be happy to fire him and hire you. Unless of course, his
"doing nothing" isn't quite what your "doing nothing" is.

[cdub]

f'n aye right! the protests are so tedious, worst of all they shift the focus from spending to taxation. Free market comparisons of two individuals negotiating payment for doing nothing aside, its time to refocus on the size and role of government.

[Zeb]

This is what I always tell my liberal friends. Capitalists motivated by greed have done more to improve people's lives and lift people out of poverty than all of the charitable giving and government welfare programs ever have. If you want to do good with your money, start a business.
A lot of people seem to think that wealth is a big pile of money that isn't doing anything, when for most wealthy people their wealth is in the form of companies that employ people and make things that people want.

[Bill Gates]

Wait, are you saying that the business I started created tens of thousands of opportunities for others, made some of them fantastically rich, and improved the lives of all the people who willingly bought the stuff I sold? No way, dude. Society would have been better off if Microsoft had been regulated and taxed out of existence in 1985, before it could contribute to any economic ineqaulities.

[Clich? Bandit]

eeehhhhhhh...I agree with your principles there...your example?...man thats a toughy.

[Suki]

Aren't you listening? Apple users are the 99%! 100% of them are in a park in New York right now being silenced!

[99]

From my iPhone

I resent that Suki. Not all of us apple users are complete douches.

[robc]

A self-employed person in the 25% bracket is paying damn close to 50% on their last dollar.

25.0 FED
15.3 FICA
5.8 KY
2.2 Lou
----
48.3%

That is for my location, your state/city tax may vary.

Bump it up a tax bracket and it easily goes over 50% marginally.

[Self-Employed Person]

Which is why I offer my customers two different rates. One if they pay cash, and one if they do not. I don't think I've had one residential customer opt for the higher price. Not even the ones that are liberal Democrats.

Most of my commercial customers do not have that option, but they do not mind paying the higher price.

[Almanian]

My kind of self-employed person 🙂 I ALWAYS ask contractors/service providers if they'd like to do bidness on a cash basis and cut some slack on the price. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how many are willing to do so.

If only there were a way to encourage people to work above board so the gummint didn't lose out on tax revenue....

Fucking people adapting to reality - how does it work?

[Drake]

A corporate employed professional is pretty close to 50% on each incremental dollar once s/he hits the top rate.

At year-end review time, my boss will try to make a big deal out of bonus and / or raises. But I've already divided the numbers by two, so I'm not excited. Instead, I'm trying to figure out if those numbers divided by two exceed inflation or if I'm earning less in real dollars next year.

[Ted S.]

You haven't included property, sales, or excise taxes.

[robc]

Those arent last dollar taxes.

[sloopyinca]

5.8 KY

You lucky bastard! In California, they don't even offer us the use of a lubricant when they are fucking us out of our money.

I would gladly pay my state 5.8% to get fucked with grease. As it stands, our rate is higher and they go in dry.

[Almanian]

...but it's a DRY fucking...or is that Arizona?

[sloopyinca]

That's Arizona. In CA, it starts dry but becomes wet due to all of blood vessels the state ruptures upon initial penetration.

Think of a reverse Episiotomy. Or think of a night out with Episiarch. Same thing, really.

[mad libertarian guy]

That's what you get for living in that infernal city of Louisville.

Move to real Kentucky and nix that extra 2.2%, AND get out of liberal hell.

[Juice]

Or move to Tennessee and get rid of the whole thing.

[mad libertarian guy]

Touche.

[JD the elder]

A self-employed person in the 25% bracket is paying damn close to 50% on their last dollar.

Thank you. I once did some BOTE calculations and figured out that roughly 50% of my income was going to pay taxes of one kind or another. We can argue back and forth about exactly what the marginal rate on capital gains should be, but one thing I know for sure is that a government that cannot run a tight ship with 50% of my money will not be able to do it with 60% or 70% either.

[CatoTheElder]

Actually, with the phaseouts of deductions and credits, the rate can be greater than 50%. Every year I run pro-forma TurboTax returns for year-end tax planning. In 2007 my marginal rate on self-employment income was 52% -- in Texas, which has no state income tax.

[Federal Dog]

Look at all the greedy shits hoarding their money and refusing to pay anything until the government forces them to.

Until then, they will continue to do drugs, get drunk, rape people, steal, screw on the street, heap up filth, and sleep around in their own garbage until the government throws them out of their own sty.

[o3]

libtoidz are forced to dismiss this desire to pay moar taxes because it doesnt fit the preferred randian memes. same w financial crime which libtoidz are ideologically forced to deny even exists.

[Sparky]

You idiot, nothing is stopping these people from giving all of their money directly to the government.

Fuck you and your stupid fucking troll trap. I know I'm an idiot for even responding.

[o3]

emotive reaction shows ur weakness

[Joe M]

It's not a desire to pay more taxes. It's a desire to force others to pay more taxes. If they truly had a desire to pay more taxes, they could, just, you know, do it.

[o3]

referring to the clinton tax rate on millionaires, their signs read "raise MY taxes" & "tax ME".

[Juice]

nothing disingenuous about that

[Red Rocks Rockin]

referring to the clinton tax rate on millionaires, their signs read "raise MY taxes" & "tax ME".

They can send an amount equivalent to that percentage to the Treasury every year. What are they afraid of, that the government will say, "Thanks, but you already give us enough."?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Shouldn't you be up on that other thread, wearing your diaper and sleeping in your "adult" crib?

[o3]

u mean as opposed to pointing-out this citizen behavior doesnt conform to randian memes.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Since when was "not too lazy to do the math and write a check to the Treasury" a Randian meme?

[Franklin Harris]

Dear 99 percenters, Sturgeon's Law still applies.

[?]

I inherited a few theoretically high-value but illiquid assets I couldn't afford the taxes on, because I'm not as 1%-y as my parents were. So these kinda assholes have all my stuff.

I AM THE ?

[Clich? Bandit]

No you are the "Beloved Commentor ?"

[GILMORE]

We Are the 1 Percent We Stand with the 99 Percent

this whole 'percenter'-meme has offically gone full-retard.

What the fuck % am I?

Because if this 1% merges with the nominal 99%...uhm....carry the one....

I just suspect I don't exist in their conceptual framework at all.

Honestly, I think if you put them all together, they maybe add up to 2.7% at best.

Can't we just quit with the numbers thing and just call them "Assholes"? I don't think distinguishing between the richer or poorer assholes is particularly important.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

You call it full retard. We the 99 Percent call it the Singularity.

[Almanian]

lulz

I am the morning DJ
on WOLD-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D....

[R C Dean]

Because if this 1% merges with the nominal 99%...uhm....carry the one....

I think the term you're looking for is Vanguard of the Proletariat.

[T]

Good thing the bourgeoisie has all the guns in this country.

[asdf]

Assholes has a nice ring to it, I think it will catch on.

[Joe M]

The funny thing is, a lot of the so-called 99% are trust-funders with parents in the 1%.

[Invisible Finger]

In any case, the 99%ers don't seem to have many of the bottom 30% with them. Maybe if they'd be truthful and called themselves the 69%ers they'd get a little more support.

[Lost_In_Translation]

I am the 11%. I stand vanguard defending the 10% from the 12%. One day I aspire to be the 10% with all its rights and priveleges, but today I must oppress those in the 12% to earn my keep.

[CoyoteBlue]

The solution to all our problems?
One word baby: Alchemy.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/man-j.....gold-.html

[cynical]

Did he look like President Obama, except for a goatee?

[DesigNate]

http://the53.tumblr.com/

Can I get a hat tip?

[DesigNate]

J/K

[Clich? Bandit]

Solicitous commenter DesigNate

[DesigNate]

It has a nice ring to it, thanks.

[yonemoto]

http://goo.gl/zZkWG

[Atanarjuat]

Instead of taking the time to craft a poignant answer, I'll be lazy and just say "+1".

[libertarian Viking]

This has to be one of the most idiotic things I've ever seen. Why doesn't someone ask these assclowns why they haven't CHOSEN to use their wealth in a positive way in the past? Or why it takes the use of government force to MAKE them use their wealth for good? If they feel so guilty about their wealth, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT ON YOUR OWN. Not having an overly burdensome or intrusive government allows them that freedom.

[PantsFan]

Their complaint is in the article:

Now at age 30, I've started giving it away to organizations working for ECONOMIC & RACIAL JUSTICE.

That's something I can do, and it makes me feel better, but I know it's not enough.

They want to do more, but they only way they know how to do more is to Force everyone else to do more.

[Sparky]

And since everyone isn't being forced to do more they're not going to do anything but sit on their giant pile of money.

[mad libertarian guy]

Because it isn't about them giving more money, but watching with a smile as others are forced to give theirs.

It's not about giving, but taking.

[NoVAHockey]

"spiral of shame and denial"

WTF is that? Damn that pisses me off. Fuck 'em. My grandfathers didn't work in the coal mines and steel mills of western pa so I could sit around a feel ashamed that their work and sacrifice gave me a better life. what an ungrateful piece of shit.

[Pro Libertate]

This whole business is such a joke.

[John]

That one holding the note in front of her face is pretty cute. It is unfair that God gave her those looks. She needs to share herself with the collective starting with me. Then she can give me her money so that I can make sure it goes to good causes like the Astin Martin Motor Company, the great scotch whiskey makers and the economy of places like Bali and St Lucia.

If she were my daughter, I would disown her

[sloopyinca]

If she were your daughter, I would have written the first paragraph to her. And I would have spent mine on an Aston Martin, not the cheap Korean ripoff.

[John]

Spelling fascist

[Sparky]

Your bizarre taste in women continues. You can have my share too if she starts sharing herself.

[sloopyinca]

If he's talking about the tubbo in the first pic, I'd have to agree with you. She looks like a curly-haired Shrek.

The sweet little thing in the last pic, however, looks pretty fucking cute.

[John]

I am talking about the one in the last pic with the note about her parents being the American dream. You can't see her face, but what you can see looks pretty damned cute. Yeah, the top tubbo is not who I mean.

[Sparky]

I guess if you like long-haired young boys (NTTAWWT).

[John]

That is sarcasmic. That girl is cute. Yeah, she is a elite college victim and is probably annoying as hell. But her bank account would make up for that.

[Mensan]

I'm pretty sure that's a guy.

[El Commentariosa]

Looks more like Carrot Top.

[Enzo Ferarri's Ghost]

A British Car?

[sloopyinca]

Aston Martin: what happens when Samwise Gamgee and Navin Johnson decide to get into the motor racing game.

[sloopyinca]

Fuck! That's what an Astin Martin is.

[John]

Yes. They run and are made sensibly. I love you people. But I really don't want a car that wants to kill me.

[T]

They run

I have literally a lifetime's worth of experience with British machinery that says otherwise. Gorgeous, yes, practical, no.

[John]

Astins are different. They have gotten better. The stuff made in the 1960s and 70s by communists in the midlands, never ran. But the new stuff does.

[sloopyinca]

I'm sorry, but I've got to correct your spelling again. Every time I read "Astin," I think of Samwise fucking Gamgee hopping on the bed with Frodo and the rest of the circle-jerk halfling crew.

NTTAWWT

[John]

Spelling is statist man!!

[sloopyinca]

Here's the Astin John so desperately wants to get into.

[sloopyinca]

And here is an Aston v12 Vanquish

Note that there are no similarities.

[El Commentariosa]

one of them has a larger gear shifter

[John]

If you weren't a spelling statist, you would have known what I meant in the first place.

[John]

Statist.

[Restoras]

Bastard.

[Frankie]

If she were my daughter, I would disown her

If she were my daughter I'd cover my baby in chocolate syrup and strap her on again.

[Libertarian $lut-$haming...]

...is in $e$$ion.

[Episiarch]

"Link via corpulent mongoloid commenter rectal."

So, is rectal as fat as she is stupid, or as stupid as she is fat? Discuss.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Trick question, Episarch. Infinity is not defined, so it is impossible to establish what the order is between rectal's stupidity and fatness.

[Episiarch]

Excellent-and correct-response. You win...NutraSweet?

[Sparky]

Hold on. We do know that infinity divided by infinity is 1. And since she is infinitely fat and infinitely stupid the ratio of stupid to fat is always going to be 1. In other words, the correct answer to Epi's question is: Yes!

[Episiarch]

Holy fucking shit, these people are fucking stupid. Hey, dudes, you don't want your money? You can always give it to me.

There is nothing more pathetic than stupid bored shitheels jumping on a populist bandwagon to assuage some demented, retarded guilt complex.

[Pro Libertate]

I have a cunning plan. Let's form an LLC--let's call it Social Laundry--where people who share these concerns turn their money over to us, which we ritually purify in a socially conscious manner, for a small, five percent fee. We'll knock off 50 basis points if they direct deposit their weekly pay (e..g, from mom and dad, from their student loan provider, or, I suppose, from their jobs) for weekly purification.

Of course, this might not work if they don't have that much money.

[Episiarch]

Volume, dude. Volume. There are a lot of these morons out there.

[Paul]

I can tell you right now that there are people right here, in my neighborhood that would go for this.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes. Good. The beauty of Social Laundry, LLC is that it's not a scam. We'll be absolutely forthright about our services. We take your money and, for a small fee, we ritually purify it for great social justice. And give it back to you, less the fee.

[Paul]

I'm still thinking it would sell better if it involved something to do with Africa, an impending airplane flight, and needing to show trust. Just as an example.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, Bono speaks for Africa. Maybe we could hire him as an alternative, for the socially conscious who don't like Buddhists?

[BakedPenguin]

You could always "invest" the money in "green energy" companies. By invest, I mean put in a Swiss bank. And by green energy companies, I mean in your account.

When the companies inevitably fail, you can send them a note telling them that they have lost whatever portion of their account that was. Then, throw a party.

[Pro Libertate]

See, that would be fraud. With a ritual blessing of great social justice--which we'd fully disclose in all its particulars--we're legal. It's a service. It may seem silly and worthless to some, but it has real, measurable meaning to our beloved customers.

[Mad Scientist]

"Sigh"
"What's wrong, Penelope?"
"It's these trust fund dividends. They keep showing up in my bank accounts from that fortune daddy left for me and Thurston. I mean, I'm ever so grateful, but did you know that some people, some really smart people with degrees in Womens Studies or Russian Poetry, have to work at jobs they hate for big, faceless corporations for minimium wage? It's such a dirty existence, feeding yourself that way. I should know, because my daddy made his fortune on the backs off all those people he employed. I want to make a bigger difference in the world than just depleting the caviar reserves."
"You could buy one of those awful companies and pay its employees better."
"Oh, no that sounds like work! And working for a living is dirty, which is why I won't do it."
"I know! You should send it to Social Laundry!"
"Social Laundry? What's that?"
"Social Laundry is the progressive, forward-looking organization who can invest your trust fund money in activities that promote social change! They built a tantric harmony temple for dolphins off the coast of San Diego last year. And right now their specially trained teams of socialologists are bicycling through the Amazon rain forest giving lectures to the indigenous peoples about how they can contribute to saving mother earth's precious resources! Social Laundry uses your dirty money and makes it clean by giving back and doing good and stuff!"
"Oh, that's perfect! I'll call Social Laundry right away!"

[Pro Libertate]

We need to work out the details of the ritualistic blessing. Something that doesn't actually cost much money, as both we and our customers need the cash.

I know, let's hire the Dalai Lama. He can ritually bless the bank account once a week. Something like--

Gunga galunga. . .gunga, gunga-lagunga.
May this money be filled with loving kindness.
May this money do good things.
May this money make its owner peaceful and at ease.
May those who have provided this money be happy.

[sloopyinca]

The fucking Dalai Lama? Really? That 1% fucker doesn't even tip his caddies, so he's right out.

[Pro Libertate]

His cheapness shows his willingness to take money for our cause--maximizing shareholder equity. Technically member equity, but let's not confuse everyone.

[John]

What achieving total consciousness on your death bed is nothing?

[Pro Libertate]

For a small fee, the Lama will provide that blessing as well. Over the Internet.

[John]

And don't forget, he is a big hitter too.

[Pro Libertate]

Big hitter, the Lama.

[Joe M]

Anyone who has their money purified through this service will receive total consciousness on their deathbed.

[Pro Libertate]

For a small additional fee, yes.

[sloopyinca]

I'd be willing to bet we could institute some kind of "Smails' Law" that states any thread, becoming long enough, will ultimately be compared to Caddyshack.

This looks like it could be gravy.

[Pro Libertate]

Hat tip to judicious commenter, sloopyinca.

[John]

I have local sustainable organic solar company where these people can invest that will launder their sins away forever

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The sad thing is that there is a line of con artists ten miles long just drooling over the prospects of sticking it to these idiots. Carbon trading schemes, environmental credits, etc... and none of it, NONE OF IT, benefits the greater good. It's just an old-fashioned fleecing by the corrupt and powerful on the wealthy and stupid.

[John]

Yup. It would be funny if they didn't plan to let them steal our money too.

[GILMORE]

Given that government debt has negative effective yields, T-Bills have already satisfied your scam-concept.

[Pro Libertate]

Scam? It's not a scam. We'll really do something symbolic with the money. We would never deceive our customers about that.

[John]

This is why the English kept an empire. It gave their upper class twits a place to assuage their guilt withou doing any damage to the home country

[Episiarch]

This is eminently appropriate here.

[John]

Upper class twit of the year is going to be very competitive this year

[Raston Bot]

I rest soundly knowing there are plenty of spoiled trust fund kids who plan to keep every unearned cent of their daddy's money and are right now making fun of these stupid fuckers.

[D. F. Linton]

"Listen, Mr. Rearden," said a man that looked like a factory worker, "it's the rich who're selling us down the river. Tell those wealthy bastards, who're so anxious to give everything away, that when they give away their palaces, they're giving away the skin off our backs."

[cmoney]

Nothing angers me more than guilt-ridden spoiled brats.

When I was 22, my dad (who taped drywall every day) loaned me some cash for a used car. I paid him back eventually. And I was spoiled to even have such a privilege. I don't take it lightly.

Here's the thing. Every wannabe revolutionary knows being poor is cool. Some are so daring to pose as a squatter or some shit. For these people, it's a way to feel "with it" or "hip to the cause." They are legitimately annoyed that they never had to struggle. That their voice is 100% meaningless in the fight against , because they've never struggled a fucking day in their lives. So they yell as loud as they can "I'M WITH YOU GUYS DOWN THERE!"

Of course, what they won't do is give away their house, donate all their money, and then work 50 hours a week, keeping enough for themselves and donating the rest. That won't ever fucking happen. It's easier to be artsy on the internet and feel a part of it.

[ob]

I think they're just bullshitters of the first order who have nothing better to do than grandstand in public. If and when someone threatens to take away from their current standard of living, they'll scream like stuck pigs.

[Paul]

Re: the alt-text on the first picture... I see what you did there.

[P Brooks]

Now at age 30, I've started giving it away to organizations working for ECONOMIC & RACIAL JUSTICE.

You've been donating to the Institute for Justice? Good for you!

Also- when did Mike Teutel start painting his fingernails?

[1%er SOROS]

I'm funding this whole OWS thing -- that's why the OWSers stay away from the anti-war and anti-Obama protesting, because I fully support Obama too.

[Apatheist]

I was born in America instead of a Ugandan village. Please rape and murder me. I am the 1% and I stand with the 99%!

[War On Terror....]

....don't worry, we're coming your way soon!

[War On Prosperity....]

Don't worry, we love the rape part...

[STEVE SMITH]

YOU CREATE GOVERNMENT JOB FOR STEVE? BUT STEVE NO RAPE OWSers. THEY FILTHY HIPPIES AND HIPSTERS WHO NEED SHOWER.

[P Brooks]

Seriously- when did Americans become completely incapable of independent thought or deed?

Let's kill all the Degreed Educators.

[Sparky]

An "expert" has to have written a book about it.

[Sparky]

Stupid Amazon link...

[yonemoto]

hey wait. I'm a degreed educator.

[TrickyVic]

A fool is a citizen that willingly transfers their power to the government.

I don't think I would call them assholes, but they are fools. They obviously are not educated in the fights citizens had to do to get the powers from government they have now.

If they think government will spend their extra tax money in the way they expect, they are fools to infinity.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They're assholes. They won't give their wealth to the public kitty without ensuring that you have to do it too under threat of force.

[asdf]

They're assholes because they wrap themselves in a blanket of altruism, while they won't do anything charitable with their money unless it's coerced by force.

[OWS 99%er]

I support 1%er Obama and his African wars because he says he supports us.

[P Brooks]

I don't want to live in a world where money represents love.

I will heap abuse and scorn on you for a fee, if that would massage your guilt-withered ego.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

"There's lots more where that came from."

Is there enoughs for you to learn the difference between a singulars and plural?

[Pro Libertate]

Imagine there's no grammar.
It's easy if you try.

[Groovus Maximus]

And the world will lives as ones.

[sloopyinca]

Quit it! I'm now reading this subthread in the voice of Gollum/Smeagol.

[OWS 99]

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

[Gilbert Martin]

"Because of that wealth, I have a responsibility to give back, and to call for social and economic justice. I am the 1% and I stand with the 99%."

If the twit thinks he has a responsibilty to "give back" then why hasn't he already done it?

The US Treasury will gladly accept voluntary donations.

It's always the same routine with these characters - grandstanding about how noble they in advocating that OTHER PEOPLE BE FORCED TO MORE.

But I always get a kick out of the reactions of leftists when it's pointed out that none of these clowns are being prevented in giving their money to the government. They never have any legitimate comeback for that - just a bunch of idiotic blather.

[P Brooks]

But I always get a kick out of the reactions of leftists when it's pointed out that none of these clowns are being prevented in giving their money to the government.

Jared Bernstein and Krugabe say this idea is just too silly to merit a response.

[Gilbert Martin]

And that is known as pseudo intellectual bluffing.

Which is the ONLY thing that Krugnuts is an expert at.

[Tony]

It is. Even though it passes for great wit in these parts.

[Barack Obama's Cock]

HAHAHAHAHA!!! That tickles, Tony! Quit it!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Show us some math, twink.

[Garrett J]

I'm a member of the 1% and rather than give my money away to help the poor and disadvantaged, I'd rather the government spend it on arresting black people for marijuana possession and the targeted killings of American citizens without due process.

[Lord Humungus]

Kevin Williamson: Ten Things to Keep In Mind for 2012
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....-mind-2012

1. There is no austerity.

2. There was no deregulation.

3. You can't trust Republicans on spending.

4. Wall Street loves Democrats.

5. People who voted for Barack Obama on civil-liberties grounds are fools.

6. If you aren't for massive entitlement reform, you're for massive tax hikes.

7. But taxing the rich won't close the deficit.

8. The housing bubble was largely a political creation.

9. Well-meaning politicians are just as dangerous as self-serving ones.

10. There's no way out of this jam without big cuts to popular programs.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

All painfully true

[Joe M]

Great list.

[How about....]

11. These things do not "keep us safe': Endless expansion of the national security State; the War on Drugs; the invasions, assassinations and wars in Asia and Africa.

[Politburo Security Commissar]

But these Junior Gestapo highway stops and searches in Tennessee will certainly stop domestic terrorism.

http://www.newschannel5.com/st.....-statewide

[Stan]

It warms my heart that you guys want to do something meaningful with your money. But please realize that taxation is not the solution.

[1%er]

Fucking Uncle Toms.

[JW]

I swear to fucking Zod, that if my kids ever show an iota of of the ingratitude and moral confusion that the 99% Retarded show, I'm going to take every cent I've saved for them, including college funds, and blow it on a weekend of hookers, cars and blow in Vegas.

I doubt that will happen, since the she-spawn hates Obama and believes that capitalism and competition is the best system. He-spawn likes money too much. He was complaining last night that his savings account is too small.

[John]

If I were those kids' parents I would cut their dumb asses off. If the money makes you feel so bad, fine, now you don't have any. I am just doing it for your own good.

[sloopyinca]

I want these guys to take their money and do with it whatever makes them happy.

All I want in return is for them to offer me the same courtesy.

[GW]

You ever notice how those rich folks who think they should pay more taxes always seem to have occupations where their workload and responsibilities are relatively low while the pay is astonishingly high? Actors are a good example. Warren Buffet is in the same camp, given how he started out.

It's as if they think being rich is easy...easy for everyone who has become one of the 1%....such that everyone should pay more.

What a bunch of clueless bastards.

[John]

Exactly. If you are a famous actor, you really did get there by chance. There are tons of people who can act. And some of the greatest ones are lucky to get onto Broadway. To be a millionaire actor is just a question of having the right look at the right time. That is is. These people have no idea what the rest of the world has to do to make money.

[sloopyinca]

Watch soe b-movies or anything with John Travolta in it and get back to me.

There are great actors, good actors and bad actors. If you cannot tell that George Clooney is a great actor relative to John Travolta, or that Jack Nicholson is a great actor compared to Paul Hogan, then you are a fool.

its like saying every actor who played Bond was just the right guy at the right time. Sorry, but there is a reason why the movies with Timothy Dalton were horribly unpopular yet the ones with Sean Connery were successful. It's because one was a good actor and one was not.*

*This may be a poor example, since Roger Moore was the best James Bond BY FAR!

[John]

There are some great actors. But every Connery who makes millions, I can name you ten Travoltas and Daltons who also make millions but aren't as good as the average actor in decent local theater.

That was my point. And you just made it for me.

[sloopyinca]

Travolta was broke most of his career because he is a shitty actor. Its why Clooney still commands top dollar for every film he is in, and always will.

the greats have staying power.

[John]

Quality lasts, that is why Mat Damon is so hard up for parts.

[Lost_In_Translation]

MATT DAMON!! /matt damon

[Sparky]

You forgot to add PWN'D!

[Zeb]

Does that really show anything besides the fact that not-great actors can become stars by luck or having the right look at the right time?

I do agree about Roger Moore.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Of course the Beatles not only sang "Money can't buy me love;" they also sang, "Money don't get everything, it's true; but what it don't get, I can't use - just give me money; that's what I want."

[John]

They also sang Tax Man. That's one for you 19 for me. When you die, declare the pennies on your eyes.

[Brett L]

The second one was a cover the sang when they were eating out of German trash bins.

[Drake]

A century ago the second and third generation rich were not so useless. How many schools, hospitals, libraries, etc... are named after Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, etc...?

If you are rich, bored, and civic-minded, be a philanthropist! Don't wait for the government to take your money and waste it!

Start a scholarship fund so some of these kinds aren't so far in debt. Fund a school so tuition is lower, whatever.

[P Brooks]

Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman
And you're working for no one but me.

[Restoras]

Great tune by The Beatles. I was floored when I heard it for the first time a few years ago, when I got my first iPod.

[John]

John Lennon's old girlfriend says that he had turned into a free market Republican in the last years of his life. According to her he used to love to start arguments with his leftist friends and laugh at them and wonder why he ever thought that way. It really is a shame he was murdered. How fucking sweat would it have been to see the biggest boomer icon of them all come out as some kind of free market Paul supporting libertarian?

[Paul]

The Beatle's in general were most misunderstood by their more rabid fans. All of those guys were way more level-headed than the hippie generation that idolized them. Harrison's famous jaunt through Haight-Ashbury was a crystalline example of that.

[John]

Yup. And So were the Rolling Stones, sans Brian Jones and Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, who were total capitalists and freely admitted Heigh-Ashbury was after about 1965 a dangerous joke.

[Paul]

Ahem, "Beatles". Whatev.

[Chris]

He also stated that he was personally fond of Reagan as they hit it off well when they met. Whereas, he was blown away by the fact that Carter had no idea who he was when they met.

[IceTrey]

How dare that selfish bitch keep 20%. Doesn't she know there is someone somewhere who needs that money more than she does?

[RoboCain]

These people don't look rich to me. And I object to absence of top hats and monocles.

[Glenn]

My parents worked their whole lives to move our family into the 1%. They didn't ask for handouts, or cry, or protest. They WORKED. Now as the newly 1%, I will do EVERYTHING IN MY POWER to make sure my family not only stays in the 1%, but even advances. _I_ am the 1% and I _don't_ side with the 99%. Matter of fact, I'll continue to work hard and hope I can move into the .5%.

[Lost_In_Translation]

The 99% should be trying to figure out what the 1% want to buy so they can take the 1%'s money for goods and services rendered. That's how you get your money back from them.

[plutosdad]

None of that is made worse by getting money from the people responsible for your being born. I am quite confident that my generally very good relationship with my folks would have been better still if they had been able to hand me a $100k check when I turned 25.

Actually I think you are wrong on this. From my anecdotal experience: I know someone who had themselves written out of an irrevocable trust. Now she is the only one who has a good relationship with her father. The other two who are keeping their trusts, barely talk to him and are always angry with him and about their lives. Clearly , the money that they never earned is affecting their relationships.

That is just one family, but I think when people are handed something for nothing, they aren't proud of it and they don't respect it. Hell isn't that the same argument we make on how charity is often bad for people?

[Old Soldier]

Bah. Only an asshole banks on a trust or sits around waiting for family to die. I might inherit a lot someday, I might not if my parents have serious health problems. It doesn't change the way I live or my relationships.

[Rob McMillin]

The world is full of assholes. This explains the Democratic party's popularity.

[.001%er]

Dropping in to repeat what others have said. My brother and I grew up wealthy and were expected from an early age to work hard to provide for the future of the family. Beyond businesses which employ people and investments that help them run, the charities we give to actually help those in need -- as opposed to whatever some politician wants to do with it. I pay my taxes dutifully, but I (and the vast majority of the wealthy in this country) work and create wealth, even if circumstances wouldn't force us to.

[Rob McMillin]

I've been repeating this several times over ... I've seen at least a couple of people claiming to be college professors who are rightly concerned about the huge debt their students are taking on to get that sheepskin. (Here's a representative sample.) Yet for all that, I heard no consideration for the part they played in this drama. Did they offer to take a pay cut? Find a more economical way to teach? The college-for-all movement has heightened costs (expanded the number of instructors required, added facilities and administrative staff) while not materially changing the overall worth of a degree. The lack of self-awareness is pretty staggering.

Supposedly, the main reason for getting a college degree is the bump in lifetime earnings, but not all degrees are created equal. Engineering, math, and the hard sciences dramatically pull up the averages for everyone, while the humanities languish. It was this way when I was in college back in the 80's, and it's only gotten worse since. If you're slaving away to get that PhD in medieval literature and racking up $150,000 in debt, you might want to revisit that life plan.

[mad libertarian guy]

I slaved away at earning a Ph D in medieval literature (which I never completed) on my own fucking dime (while the university continued to make me pay out of state tuition despite living here for 7 years, and owning 2 separate properties in the state), and I should have revisited that plan.

It doesn't take someone in debt to their ears to look at medieval literature and say, "you know, there isn't much of a market for these skills and perhaps my energies might be better spent elsewhere."

The only difference is that I obviously valued the education I was getting as a means of personal and intellectual growth more than any of these morons as I went on my own dime and never got a single cent from the state for my Ph D (that I never completed). Nothing says "I value education!" like demanding that someone else pay for it.

[GILMORE]

A former middle-manager boss of mine had a MA in Medieval *Poetry*....

He was good at his job. Which, naturally, was doing research on financial services markets. So it goes.

[TrickyVic]

"Earlier this year, horror novelist and rich guy Stephen King, along with Hillary Clinton and Warren Buffett, asked why he wasn't paying 50 percent in taxes."

Deductions?

[rob]

Clearly both of the girls pictured are trying very hard to be the girl in this song... (It's OK to thank me for not using the Shatner version!)

Pulp - Common People http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqgXzPfAxjo

[Michael J Green]

So, what, pretty much all of them inherited wealth? They're not actually pulling in $300k a year?

First, isn't the "1%" defined by income? How are these moronic twenty-somethings going to be affected by a rise in the top income tax brackets? Second and more importantly, how am I supposed to take any of them seriously? Can they fit the stereotype of vapid, white-guilt-ridden hippie any better?

[Democratic Strategist]

We must raise income taxes on the top 1% in this country in order to take their money hidden under a mattress and put it to use!

[adam]

These people need to be reminded about what the government actually does with tax money. It doesn't go to some "racial and economic justice" fund, as they seem to think. It goes to pay for dumb wars, enforcement of stupid drug laws, corporate welfare, etc.