The 1% aren’t the problem. The problem is crony capitalism that rewards billionaires who buy the politicians, control the media, and reside on Wall Street. The game is rigged and we’re all the dupes. How many people do you know that make $30 million per year? ZERO. The vast majority of scumbags raking in that much dough per year live in locked down gated communities or luxurious penthouse suites where they can hit tennis balls in their living rooms. They are protected by men with guns. They commute to work on helicopters or in chauffeured limos. They think you are peasants, to be treated like cattle and sheep. They have a sociopathic desire for more wealth and more power. They never have enough and will stop at nothing to get more. Know your enemy.
Admin – I know 2 folks making $30 million a year quite well, and another handful by name. Nothing like the folks you describe.
The two I know well both wear jeans or overalls every day. Both drive old pick-ups. Both live in very modest houses. Both re-invest every cent they make in their businesses, and have done so for almost fifty years each. They both are property developers – they invest in land in areas they expect to have growth, and have been successful in picking their spots, and develop it themselves.
The other ones I know in that income bracket do not behave as described, either. One owns very large farming interests, and another is also a successful developer.
Each of these folks would be worth hundreds of millions. Best I can tell, they have earned their money honestly. In fact, rather than bribing politicians, the ones I know well spend a lot of their time fighting with them.
You cannot prove your assertions based on the ones I know (one does have a helicopter, though, owing to the need to get around to his various farm holdings).
I have met a large number of very rich folks over the years – at least one in the billionaire category.
Not a single mega-rich person I have ever met behaves as you describe, with one exception (a Rockefeller). The ones I have met are generally self-made (Rockefellers one of the exceptions), and they tend to be frugal mofos.
I have, however, met a lot of modestly wealthy who behave that way.
I do not live in NY, etc., so am not exposed to folks that make their wealth via banks, etc.
The ones I see make their money the old-fashioned way – they earn it.
Fuckmedead. I got $5 mil in the bank and I ain’t even in the top 0.1% Life sucks.
So the people I describe do not exist because the two people you know aren’t like that?
Are you telling me that crony capitalism is not a problem in this country?
Are you telling me that rich fuck billionaires do not buy off politicians and write the laws?
Are you telling me that Wall Street fucks don’t control this country?
llpoh
Why did the incomes of the .01% triple since 1990, while the incomes of the 99.99% have barely budged?
Is it because they worked harder or because they captured the financial and political system?
uh-oh.
Shit. I gotta spend some time elsewhere. Can’t wait to check out this thread in the morning.
I smell a beatdown. I ain’t making no predictions. But, I smell a beatdown.
[/img]
[img
Wall Street and the banksters are the #1 contributors to politicians, followed by lawyers. They own the politicians. Not one single bankster or Wall street criminal ever goes to jail. Corzine stole billions directly out of customer accounts, and the money was transferred to JPM. He walks a free man today. JPM and Goldman Sachs launder money for drug dealers and weapons traffickers. Warren Buffet pocketed almost $2 billion from TARP money stolen from taxpayers. They’re above the law, the laws don’t apply to them. The only consolation is that most will lose their fortunes, and their banks will be insolvent before long. The mother of all financial crashes is coming, sooner or later. There will be consequences for what they’ve done.
Men Who Work Full-Time Earn Less Than 40 Years Ago
April 28, 2014 By Terence P. Jeffrey
(CNSNews.com) – The real median income of American men who work full-time, year-round peaked forty years ago in 1973, according to data published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/men-who-work-full-time-earn-less-40-years-ago
[img
[/img]
My income triple but so did my taxes.The wealthy are good at finding ways to avoid paying taxes .That’s a big ace in the hole.I don’t blame them at all .I hate paying taxes.
Admin – I know more than 2 people. I have met several. None of them are as you suggest. How many do you know? You seem to indicate zero – you said we would know zero. That was a mistake.
On this, you are full of shit.
Again, the ones I know in no way reflect your scenario. The ones I know are folks to be admired, in my opinion.
And your 99.99% factoid has barely moved is bullshit. Parse it some more. I expect that the top 10% have done ok. Maybe even the top 25%. But the bottom 50% or 75% are fucked. They are OVERPAID by global standards.
I have told y’all a thousand times what is happening with wages – the fucking global competitive market is kicking US ass. The average American cannot produce enough to justify his or her wages on the global market, so their wages are falling. And will continue to fall. That is how it is.
The best educated and brightest will be ok. The rest are in for a lot of lumps. Trying to blame falling income on the top 0.1 percent or whatever is bullshit. They are taing advantage of the situation, for sure and certain – but that does not mean they are entirely the cause of it.
For sure and certain there has been a lot of errors that have accelerated the endgame, made by a lot of folks, including the megarich.
But sounds like you want to give the uneducated sheeple a free pass. Poor little sheeple – they did not do anything to deserve their plight? Seriously?
If you think that minimizing the wealth creation of the megarich will help stop the eroding wages of the middle class – you are dreaming.
If you personally know any megarich that behave as you describe, tell us about them. So far, I seem to be the only one who actually knows any of these folks. And my personal experience is that your position cannot be substantiated in the real world.
Makes for a great story, though.
BTW – I have so missed my fights with Admin. Really. Many newbies have not seen a nuclear thread. They are so much fun. Usually two or three folks end up going ballistic, quiting the site for a while, and stomping off. They come back in a day or so.
I always win, of course.
To answer Admin’s questions:
“So the people I describe do not exist because the two people you know aren’t like that?”
I know more than two. My point is many of those folks indeed do not act like that. Some do, I suspect, but none that I know.
“Are you telling me that crony capitalism is not a problem in this country?”
It is a problem. I have many times suggested there needs to be a constitutional amendment eliminating paid lobbyists, for example. It is a damn blight on the country. It is not just the wealthy that need to be curtailed – but also unions, etc.
“Are you telling me that rich fuck billionaires do not buy off politicians and write the laws?”
Some do. Some do not. I suspect that a lot of buying off is not by mega rich, but by modest rich. I do not think it takes a lot to buy a politician. I suspect could do so if I were so inclined.
“Are you telling me that Wall Street fucks don’t control this country?’
You see who is in power? You think the rich Wall Street fucks preferred Obama? Seriously? If they were in such control, you would see diffferent folks in office. Seems to me left wing media and unions and blacks and gays are doing most of the controlling these days. And when they get what they want, the shit just gets deeper. You think it is the rich Wall Street fucks blocking the pipeline, for instance?
There are 145 million working Americans.
The .01% would be 14,500 Americans making more than $30 million per year.
Are many of these people legitimate business owners and entrepreneurs? Yes.
But the vast majority of these 14,500 richest Americans “achieved” their wealth on Wall Street. There are more than 5 times as many Wall Street billionaires than manufacturing billionaires.
I prefer facts to anecdotes.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2012/03/13/how-americas-wealthiest-get-rich/
I know one guy who admin describes although I don’t know what his net worth is. He was briefly an investor in my LLC, but he became disgruntled over an offer to invest much more and I gave him his entire investment back.
He made his money on wall street in investment banking, but went afoul of the SEC, was tried, convicted and spent two years in federal prison. Naturally he says the charges were bullshit, he was set up and he had his securities license restored…dunno bout that. All I know is that he put five figures into our business at one valuation, then based on nothing but then offered to put in much much more (at a sharply reduced valuation). I didn’t tell him to fuck off, I just said “no thanks, here’s your check, goodbye.”
I don’t lnow any megarich folks. i don’t even know any minirich folks. I do know, I don’t give a fuck about them.
llpoh
I suggest you read Flash Boys to understand how Wall Street fucks run the country. Politicians on the right and left are bought off.
You’re an Ivy League graduate who understands probabilities. The Wall Street mega-banks, hedge funds and HFT have gone years without have a losing trading day. What are the odds of that happening in a non-rigged market?
The billionaires running the biggest corporations used globalization as a means of wage arbitrage to enrich themselves at the expense of the middle class. Do the middle class and lower classes control the issuance of debt? Or do the richest fucks in the world?
Your storyline is fascinating, but false.
Where did you get the facts about them buying off politicians, living in gated communities, using helicopters to travel, limos, hitting tennis balls in their rooms, etc.etc? You said “the vast majority” do that.
That was pure and utter bullshit.
The article that Admin posts as fact says the billionaires are distributed thusly:
1. Investments: 143
2. Fashion & Retail: 123
3. Real Estate: 102
4. Diversified: 97
5. Technology: 90
6. Manufacturing: 85
7. Energy: 78
8. Finance: 77
9. Food & Beverage: 69
10. Media: 64
Investments could mean anything. It is not defined. Finance could well be Wall Street. Manufacturers outnumber finance folks. Very interesting.
The article where Admin got the charts says that the very rich are making their money through 1) stocks, 2) investments, and 3) capital gains. It does not say what those are in. However, banksters/Wall Streeters make a lot of money through carried interest. I did not see that mentioned.
Admin may be right re the 14,500 and where they make their money. But I have seen no facts anywhere to back up that position.
llpoh
How convenient you picked the GLOBAL list and not the US list to try and make your case. Were we not talking about the US? I guess you Ivy League types will resort to misinformation when getting their ass kicked.
Here is the US list:
Top 10 Industries Producing U.S. Billionaires
1. Investments: 100 billionaires
2. Technology: 51 billionaires
3. Media: 37
4. Energy: 35
5. Food and Beverage*: 31
5. Service*: 31
7. Fashion and Retail: 28
8. Real Estate: 27
9. Manufacturing: 18
10. Sports: 15
25% are Wall Street fucks. 4.5% are manufacturing.
The 37 media fucks also fit into my category.
Try again.
Admin is right re high speed trading – which is why those fucks have not lost money trading.
Re globalization, I think he is wrong. Billionaires took advantage of the situation (or more accurately corps did). But that was inevitable. No way isolation was going to continue.
Here is why:
5 % of the world’s population is consuming 25% of the world’s resources. That 5% is the US. That simply cannot continue. It will not continue. The Us proportion of the consumption will drop, and the rest of the world’s proportion will rise. In the end, the US will fall somewhere probably around 10 to 15% of the world’s consumption.
So, how is it the billionaire’s fault that the rest of the world will not allow the US to dominate consumption going forward?
Does anyone really think that the current situation is sustainable? Effectively, that is what the Admin is saying – that if the billionaires were not so greedy, the US could keep consuming 25% of the world’s resources.
Really? Seriously?
How is the 5% able to consume 25% of the world’s resources?
Could this be done without rich fuck bankers and Wall Street scum luring the middle and lower classes into debt, while enriching themselves and the mega-corporations supplying the goods to the masses and produced for pennies in slave labor factories in the far east?
You actually blame the working class for our debt based economy that benefits a few thousand rich fucks at the expense of the rest of us?
Really?
Admin – investments does not mean Wall Street fucks, necessarily. Investments means a lot of things. I notice no financiers on the list. Hmmm.
Here is the Forbes 400 list. Check for yourself. There are a number of hedgefund folks. But no way are 25% of the 400 what I would call “Wall Streeters”.
http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/#page:4_sort:0_direction:asc_search:_filter:All%20industries_filter:All%20states_filter:All%20categories
Investments seem to be more like investments, not banksters.
llpoh
Do you actually examine the links you post? Filter the list by Investments and you get:
Buffett – Wall Street fuck
Icahn – Wall Street fuck
Soros – Wall Street fuck
Perleman – Wall Street fuck
Dalio – Wall Street fuck
Simons – Wall Street fuck
Paulson – Wall Street fuck
Wrong again.
In my business career spanning more than 3 decades I’ve come across at least a dozen people in that net worth range and can safely say……they ain’t like us.
Most are crazy as shit and some are scary as shit; kinda alien. Certainly not 100% Human.
Buffett, for instance, is not a Wall Street fuck per se – he is a fuck, but not a Wall Street fuck. He is an Investor. He holds many manufacturing entities, etc. He is from Omaha, for God sake.
If your term “Wall Street fuck” means anyone with diversified investment, but with no personal ties to Wall Street, then please post a definite definition so that we can hold you to a definition. Right now you are playing your game of “I change the rules to suit myself whenever LLPOH is kicking my ass”.
I know you are a master at that, but next you will be saying the Waltons are Wall Streeters, too. They are also fucks, but not Wall Street fucks.
Only Llpoh would contend that uncle Warren isn’t the ultimate Wall Street/Washington insider. He generates his wealth through stock investments. He got sweetheart deals during the financial crisis with Goldman and GE. He is the largest shareholder in Wall Street bank Wells Fargo. He is a major investor in the MSM with Disney and the Washington Post.
The dude was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple. His daddy was a powerful senator. Llpoh buys into the Oracle of Omaha meme. I thought he was smarter than that.
The Investment category is nothing but Wall Street fucks. Read it and weep. Your storyline is failing.
Llpoh – It’s a big club and we ain’t in it.
Damn, this is fun
Thomas Piketty – Capital in the 21st Century.
An obvious viewpoint from the left – but hard to argue against the macroeconomics.
Of course correlation is not caustion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/fashion/Thomas-Piketty-the-Economist-Behind-Capital-in-the-Twenty-First-Century-sensation.html?_r=0
I am not blaming the working class for anything other than being totally stupid. They are responsible for their own actions, and they have been truly stupid.
What I am saying is that the status quo will not hold. Pick your reason why they US consumes vastly out of proportion to its population – it does not matter the reason in this analysis at this time. Whatever the reason, the excess consumption will not continue.
The situation is artificial, and the real, sustainable position will be reached. Current consumption is well above long-term trend lines, and as you well know, consumption will for sure and certain return, eventually, to the long-term trend line.
Which means a drastic collapse in middle-class standard of living/wages is going to happen.
There is nothing – nothing – that will prevent it. You can confiscate all the billionaire’s wealth, throw them and all the politicians in prison, etc., and it will still happen.
The current consumption/standard of living by the middle class (and the welfare poor, for that matter) is unsustainable.
One thing I do like about Piketty’s stuff is that I am fully against the transmission of vast wealth from one generation to another via inheritance. It seems only common sense that to allow that to happen generation after generation will increase power in a very few hands. Major inheritance taxes should kick in at some level of wealth – say $100 million or $200 million or some-such. Allowing tens of billions to pass along one generation to the next will be disastrous. In my opinion.
Admin: 35 punches thrown, 35 landed
Lloph: 0
How about another long cheesy story about dreams and hard work?
Goodstuff – how about you blow me?
Folks prefer to hear how other folks are to blame for their troubles. Makes them feel better about themselves. They do not want to hear about how folks earn their money honestly. That little tidbit makes them face the reality that they have no one to blame but themselves.
Too bad folks cannot see the truth of it. Their problem, not mine.
As I say, I know some of these folks. Admin wants to paint the rich in a light of his own choosing, facts be damned. His right to do so.. My facts and experience are far different.
Llpoh is the type of person that does a survey of 3 people & thinks it’s an accurate representation of the world.
He’s also on the ReTardis flying through ignorance & space. I suspect he is BBQ running comments through grammar correction software before posting.
Damn autocorrect. BBQ = bb.
Llpoh is a Ivy League graduate? They’re the elitist fucks that destroyed America. Krugman, Bernanke, Bush, Clinton, Kerry …
The laziest people with the best connections passing of crackpot economic theories that work on paper – but not in real life.
Don’t stop now!!
I know I have won when such as Economoan side with the Admin.
I might need Stuck to do a thumb analysis of this epic smackdown. Holy shit. This might be one of the most one sided ass kickings in TBP history. I think Llpoh achieved a David Pierre level of support for his weak misdirected arguments.
It’s really quite sad how far he has fallen in his debating skills. I used to have to work up a sweat. Now I calmly refute his drivel as he works himself into a foaming at the mouth mad dog Wall Street supporter.
Widow Who Lost Home Over $6 Had Ample Notice: Judge
A widow was given ample notice before her $280,000 house was sold at a tax auction three years ago over $6.30 in unpaid interest, a Pennsylvania judge has ruled.
The decision last week turned down Eileen Battisti’s request to reverse the September 2011 sale of her home outside Aliquippa in western Pennsylvania.
“I paid everything, and didn’t know about the $6.30,” Battisti said. “For the house to be sold just because of $6.30 is crazy.”
Battisti, who still lives in the house, said Monday that she plans to appeal to Commonwealth Court. That court earlier ordered an evidentiary hearing, which led to last week’s ruling.
Beaver County Common Pleas Judge Gus Kwidis wrote that the county tax claim bureau complied with notification requirements in state law before the auction. She had previously owed other taxes, but at the time of the sale she owed just $235, including other interest and fees.
“There is no doubt that (she) had actual receipt of the notification of the tax upset sale on July 7, 2011, and Aug. 16, 2011,” the judge wrote. “Moreover, on Aug. 12, 2011, a notice of sale was sent by first class mail and was not returned.”
The property sold for about $116,000, and most of that money will be paid to Battisti if further appeals are unsuccessful. An attorney for the purchaser did not return a phone message on Monday.
Joe Askar, Beaver County’s chief solicitor, said the judge got the decision right, based on the law.
“The county never wants to see anybody lose their home, but at the same time the tax sale law, the tax real estate law, doesn’t give a whole lot of room for error, either,” Askar said.
Battisti said her husband handled the paperwork for the property’s taxes before he passed away in 2004.
“It’s bad — she had some hard times, I guess her husband kind of took care of a lot of that stuff,” Askar said. “It seemed that she was having a hard time coping with the loss of her husband — that just made it set in a little more.”
[img
[/img]
Buffet’s dad was a libertarian and believed in the gold standard. Imagine that.
It’s too bad Warren didn’t learn anything from his old man. He never misses the opportunity to scorn gold and make excuses for the establishment.
The masses have been stupid, ignorant and delusional. Our owners are intelligent, manipulative, sociopathic and evil. Bernays laid out the plan in 1928 and the rich fucks have followed it to the tee.
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”
Edward Bernays
“For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure — one world, if you will. If that is the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”
————————David Rockefeller, 2003 book “Memoirs”…
The Age of Neo-Feudalism: A Government of the Rich, by the Rich, and for the Corporations
“The shaping of the will of Congress and the choosing of the American president has become a privilege reserved to the country’s equestrian classes, a.k.a. the 20% of the population that holds 93% of the wealth, the happy few who run the corporations and the banks, own and operate the news and entertainment media, compose the laws and govern the universities, control the philanthropic foundations, the policy institutes, the casinos, and the sports arenas.”
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_age_of_neo_feudalism_a_government_of_the_rich_by_the_rich_and_for_the_c
.
.
.
These Stunning Maps Prove Just How Much the Rich Control U.S. Politics
You have to go to the link to see the maps;
http://www.policymic.com/articles/70811/these-stunning-maps-prove-just-how-much-the-rich-control-u-s-politics
.
.
On the other hand, I think a big problem is our fuckwad politicians, on the left and right, are doling out money to everyone — particularly the poor and middle-class. Just Social Security and Obamacare alone can break the bank. Hard to blame that on the rich.
The widow actually owes $20k in various back taxes, comprised of various state, municipaland school taxes and fines. They used the laws re the $6 dollars to get her, but it seems it was really the $20k that was the issue. The $6 was the easiest to pursue.
We all know you do not own property, you just lease it. She did not pay her lease. The machine does not like it when you do not pay your lease.
Some folks might think this was a real argument. Phhhth. Admin and I are being real gentlemen. Hell, there have been times when it was right nasty. This is just talkin’ politics at the church social. When we start calling each other cocksuckers and such, then you should break out the popcorn.
I notice how most readers run for the hills or just peak from under the covers. Its ok, y’all can join in and play if you want. We will be nice. I promise.
I should dredge up some of the OWS threads. Now those were the days. Everyone should have ducked. I think we lost you, Davos, Smokey and Stuck on one thread.
“I might need Stuck to do a thumb analysis of this epic smackdown” ———- Admin
Thy servant heareth thee.
———————-Thumbs Up ——— Thumbs Down
ADMIN ———– 101 …………………… 8
Llpoh ————- 64……………………….89
As I predicted, an EPIC smack-down has occurred between the biggest of the Big Dogs, The results shouldn’t be surprising.
Llpoh has taken the unenviable position of defending the rich. You have to admire him for that. The man haz Big Ballz! But, Chief Testicles’ strategy was flawed. He relied mostly on personal stories … stories we have all grown to greatly enjoy. He’s had a rich (as in, diversified) life, and “stories” are a wonderful way to learn things. Up to a point. People KNOW in their hearts that what Chief Testicles says about the rich … even though they are HIS valid experiences ……. well, that it “JUST AIN’T SO”.
Admin , aka, Chief Boringassed Beancounter, relied on facts. Imagine that.
Admin wins. Case Closed.
.
Closing Note: This only registered a 2.5 on Shitfest Scale. No one left the building. Admin didn’t even get in a “Blow Me”. Chief Testicles threatened no one and … fuckmedead … didn’t even use cuss words. Nevertheless, we all learned a thing or two from both. So, peace and good will to both the rich fucker and the cheap fucker.
Admin
Am I The Very Wise One …….. or, what?
Stuck
You are a sage and a gentleman. You are wise and your thumb counting ability is 2nd to none. Your analysis was flawless and your declaration of me as the hands down victor in this match is incontestable.
Llpoh will now go into his manufacturing facility and fire someone to rejuvenate his spirits.
It is good to see the Admin come out and play. It is sorely missed.
I didn’t read the entire back and forth between you girls, but it seems to me that both of you can be right to a degree. Admin’s right that the financiers (and their enablers like Marco Rubio proposing income-sharing for student loans) have financialized the poor and – more importantly – the middle class into declining real income. Llpoh’s right that free global trade dooms most Americans to declining incomes without regard to whether the corporatists use their political influence to skim a bigger share of that declining (relative to other countries) national income and wealth.
Iska is right.
BTW, given Admin’s home court advantage, I did real well in the count.
Stucky- Recount! I didn’t get my votes in! WP wouldn’t let me vote!
@Clammy: we don’t let your kind vote around here. Just keep pushing the button like it’s a PS3 and pretend you voted.
I demand a recount as well. Boomers are so willing to discount the millennial vote. Stephanie and I deserve to be heard!
I gave LLPOH all thumbs up, didn’t know Stucky would count the down votes too. So I went back and gave that dastardly Administrator all thumbs down for demonizing those hard working rich folk.
That comment from last night with 24 up and 1 vote down? Yup, that’s me.
I got your back LLPOH.
“Stucky- Recount! I didn’t get my votes in! WP wouldn’t let me vote!” ———– Clams Over Easy
OK. Here’s the new numbers.
But, I did NOT recount. I am fully aware of the love-affair between you and Chief Testicles. llpoh made 18 comments, so that’s 18 more downs. Admin made15 comments, so that’s 15 more ups. Your vote has pushed llpoh to OVER 100 thumbs down, resulting in the most lopsided carnage in TBP history.
He will not deal kindly with you.
———————-Thumbs Up ——— Thumbs Down
ADMIN ———– 116 …………………… 8
Llpoh ————- 64……………………….107
Thank you voting.
” Your vote has pushed llpoh to OVER 100 thumbs down, resulting in the most lopsided carnage in TBP history. ”
[img
[/img]