John Harwood of CNBC interviewed senator Elizabeth Warren the other day. It was quite a sight. You had a reporter who clearly hates President Trump and Republicans interviewing a left wing Democrat senator who also clearly hates Trump and the GOP. They are entitled to their views, but it nevertheless surprised me just how blatantly Warren attacked Trump's policies.
The big issue was taxes. Warren says that if the Democrats take back control of Congress in November, they will substantially raise tax rates. Harwood actually tried to pin Warren down as to how high the rates would go, and Warren stated that a 50% marginal tax rate would be fine. She alluded favorably to the years during and following World War II when a 90% tax rate was used. Then Warren spoke of the need to raise the tax rate on corporations and other businesses. She didn't give any detailed rates, but she made it clear that she is in favor of there being higher rates than those that were in place BEFORE the tax cuts passed last December.
Warren also said repeated the Democrat talking point that the tax cuts were only for the rich with the rest of America only getting "crumbs". She said it as if it were true (which it isn't.) Warren said that it wasn't a question of money, but rather of "values". She made clear that she doesn't want there to be any rich people in America.
I know that Warren may actually believe what she is saying, although I have to wonder why she has amassed a small fortune over the years if being rich is such a bad thing. Nevertheless, I strongly doubt if the average American thinks that the tax law ought to prevent anyone from being or at least becoming rich. The family that starts a small business doesn't want to hear that they will never get wealthy from that business. The worker who hopes to advance and get to the point where he or she can provide for the family to live in some luxury doesn't want to hear from rich Liz and the Democrats that it's wrong for that family to accumulate wealth. There are just too many Americans who aspire to success and the wealth that it brings for Liz's message of high taxes and wide spread poverty to be accepted by a majority.
So the message is likely to fail, but the reason for the message is even stranger. Warren makes clear that it is just wrong for there to be rich people. She's angry at the possibility that Americans will be well off. She wants everyone to be equal, but equally poor. The rich, you see, are evil. That's why Warren can believe that aside from the rich, the average American got only "crumbs" from the tax cut bill. In truth, the overwhelming majority of the benefits from the tax bill did NOT go to the wealthy, but this fact is one that Warren and the left ignore.
It makes me wonder why so much of the left is motivated by anger and jealousy. They're angry at the rich, so rather than bringing others to wealth, they want to tear down those with money. They're angry at what they perceive as racial injustice. Rather than trying to raise minorities, however, their focus is on destroying "white privilege" so that future generations of whites will suffer. They're angry at President Trump for beating Hillary Clinton. That makes the oppose whatever he does. If he's tough on North Korea, they tell us he's leading us to war. If he's not tough on North Korea, they tell us that he's weak. If he asks NATO countries to pay their fair share, they tell us he's destroying the alliance. If he ignores the decline of the military in the Western world, he's a puppet of Putin leading us to our doom. It's actually just an expression of anger, non-stop anger.
Think of the people from NARAL. They don't argue why abortion is proper. They attack those who oppose abortion.
Think of the people who promote fighting climate change. They don't reason with those who don't agree. Instead, they just angrily denounce them a "deniers", like holocaust deniers.
Think of the people who want to protect the border. The left doesn't tell us why open borders would be a good thing. No, they denounce anyone who wants the border enforced as a racist. They tell us that all who oppose open borders are anti-immigrant (which is clearly not true.)
Almost every issue where the left takes a stand, the opponents are derided as horrible, awful people. It was no accident that Hillary called the Trump supporters a "basket of deplorables". She was angry, like most of her supporters. They aren't even sure what the source of that anger is. It's just that they're angry and they want retribution.
If the GOP wins in November and (gasp!) if Trump is re-elected in 2020, the left is likely to lose it completely. The really angry ones will find it hard to contain themselves. You know, this may be a good time to invest in companies that make anti-depressant medications.
The big issue was taxes. Warren says that if the Democrats take back control of Congress in November, they will substantially raise tax rates. Harwood actually tried to pin Warren down as to how high the rates would go, and Warren stated that a 50% marginal tax rate would be fine. She alluded favorably to the years during and following World War II when a 90% tax rate was used. Then Warren spoke of the need to raise the tax rate on corporations and other businesses. She didn't give any detailed rates, but she made it clear that she is in favor of there being higher rates than those that were in place BEFORE the tax cuts passed last December.
Warren also said repeated the Democrat talking point that the tax cuts were only for the rich with the rest of America only getting "crumbs". She said it as if it were true (which it isn't.) Warren said that it wasn't a question of money, but rather of "values". She made clear that she doesn't want there to be any rich people in America.
I know that Warren may actually believe what she is saying, although I have to wonder why she has amassed a small fortune over the years if being rich is such a bad thing. Nevertheless, I strongly doubt if the average American thinks that the tax law ought to prevent anyone from being or at least becoming rich. The family that starts a small business doesn't want to hear that they will never get wealthy from that business. The worker who hopes to advance and get to the point where he or she can provide for the family to live in some luxury doesn't want to hear from rich Liz and the Democrats that it's wrong for that family to accumulate wealth. There are just too many Americans who aspire to success and the wealth that it brings for Liz's message of high taxes and wide spread poverty to be accepted by a majority.
So the message is likely to fail, but the reason for the message is even stranger. Warren makes clear that it is just wrong for there to be rich people. She's angry at the possibility that Americans will be well off. She wants everyone to be equal, but equally poor. The rich, you see, are evil. That's why Warren can believe that aside from the rich, the average American got only "crumbs" from the tax cut bill. In truth, the overwhelming majority of the benefits from the tax bill did NOT go to the wealthy, but this fact is one that Warren and the left ignore.
It makes me wonder why so much of the left is motivated by anger and jealousy. They're angry at the rich, so rather than bringing others to wealth, they want to tear down those with money. They're angry at what they perceive as racial injustice. Rather than trying to raise minorities, however, their focus is on destroying "white privilege" so that future generations of whites will suffer. They're angry at President Trump for beating Hillary Clinton. That makes the oppose whatever he does. If he's tough on North Korea, they tell us he's leading us to war. If he's not tough on North Korea, they tell us that he's weak. If he asks NATO countries to pay their fair share, they tell us he's destroying the alliance. If he ignores the decline of the military in the Western world, he's a puppet of Putin leading us to our doom. It's actually just an expression of anger, non-stop anger.
Think of the people from NARAL. They don't argue why abortion is proper. They attack those who oppose abortion.
Think of the people who promote fighting climate change. They don't reason with those who don't agree. Instead, they just angrily denounce them a "deniers", like holocaust deniers.
Think of the people who want to protect the border. The left doesn't tell us why open borders would be a good thing. No, they denounce anyone who wants the border enforced as a racist. They tell us that all who oppose open borders are anti-immigrant (which is clearly not true.)
Almost every issue where the left takes a stand, the opponents are derided as horrible, awful people. It was no accident that Hillary called the Trump supporters a "basket of deplorables". She was angry, like most of her supporters. They aren't even sure what the source of that anger is. It's just that they're angry and they want retribution.
If the GOP wins in November and (gasp!) if Trump is re-elected in 2020, the left is likely to lose it completely. The really angry ones will find it hard to contain themselves. You know, this may be a good time to invest in companies that make anti-depressant medications.
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