I adore Elizabeth Warren and everything she stands for and wish her well in her run for the U.S. Senate. But it's frighteningly reflective of how twisted our nation has become that no matter how many thoughtful and intelligent things she says, it seems nearly 50 percent of Americans still don't want listen to her. Forget about this viral quote throwing (a splash of) cold water on the idea of a "self-made" millionaire, she couldn't even convince half this nation that banks and credit lenders shouldn't have the right(!) to rip off consumers -- of all income levels. I fear for the future, and it has nothing to do with the debt.
There is at least one thing in this widely quoted speech that is driving me crazy. She keeps saying that this hypothetical factory owner is benefiting from things "the rest of us paid for," as if the factory owner didn't pay a hell of a lot in taxes and fees. He did, and for her to suggest otherwise (intentionally or not) is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAnd her employer is tax exempt and she's making a hefty salary. She's more like her hypothetical factory owner than any real factory owner is.
Ken, even though the country is full of loons, there are legitimate disagreements with what she is saying, as Mike points out. See here:
ReplyDeletehttp://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/128434/
It's hard to take anything serious that uses this (below) as a comeback to the "you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate" argument!
ReplyDeleteNo, you did not educate them. You babysat them for 12 years. Then I hired them, taught them how to be responsible and show up for work, taught them how to communicate in clear sentences, taught them that there are rights and wrongs and (unlike with your schools) wrongs have consequences in the workplace. Then paid for extended education for my employees so they could continue to improve themselves and better add value to what we do around here.
To Mike and Anonymous i think that's exactly her point. It is ridiculous to suggest that the factory owner or super-rich etc...shouldn't pay taxes because their wealth is independent of a government's obligation to its citizens. I think her point is that there is no such thing as "independently wealthy."
ReplyDeleteMike's second paragraph hits the nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteKenneth I think you have never been an employer. While the comment you deride is a bit over the top, it covers a lot of the reasons people aren't getting the available jobs. Recently CBS or NBC (can't remember which) ran a story about the 3,400 well paying job openings at Siemens that they can't fill. In their turbine division only one in ten applicants can pass the reading, math and aptitude tests for a training program. Aptitude is not the problem area.
Mike's second paragraph hits the nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteKenneth I think you have never been an employer. While the comment you deride is a bit over the top, it covers a lot of the reasons people aren't getting the available jobs. Recently CBS or NBC (can't remember which) ran a story about the 3,400 well paying job openings at Siemens that they can't fill. In their turbine division only one in ten applicants can pass the reading, math and aptitude tests for a factory job training program. Aptitude is not the problem area.
Elizabeth Warren is my hero.
ReplyDeleteYou should run this photo too-
ReplyDeletehttp://joemygod.blogspot.com/2011/09/photo-of-day_29.html