Arkansas Blog

>>if Senator Obama wants to raise taxes, he should say so<<

Mr. Stephens should have watched the last debate. I clearly heard Senator Obama say he intended to raise taxes on folks making more than $250,000.

Poor little Warren. I'll shed a tear for him...as I enjoy a real belly laugh! Here's a guy who builds his own personal golf course, builds his own private school to further undermine public education in Little Rock, and now wants me to feel sorry for him and his tax burden. Warren, you ought to be ashamed to flaunt your greed so publicly. Go Obama!

Yeah, all of us making less than $250,000 are paying no income taxes (eyeroll). It's easy for Warren to spout off, considering he won the lucky sperm club lottery.

Hey, Warren Stephens earned all that money by his hard work, the sweat of his brow, etc.!

Oops. I meant Warren Stephens earned all that money by being lucky enough to have been born to wealthy parents.

Too bad Little Rock's resident billionaire can't be more like Omaha's Warren Buffett, a man whose great wealth doesn't blind him to the fundamental need for a truly progressive tax system and our current failure to have one. Here's Buffett on taxes:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/tax/article1996735.ece

Buffett (income of $46 million) paid a lower tax rate than his secretary (income of $60,000). Not quite a "redistribution of income," is it?

To whom much is given, much is expected. I read that somewhere, some really famous book.

In the spirit of the campaign of our next President , let's not be mean, but let's say Warren Stephens represents 8 more years of sameo, sameo. At the very least of course......

I just got this in my email and thought it was neat. Click name to calculate your tax savings with Obama.

tax cut under Obama

Ha ha ha - does anyone really take this guy seriously? Let's pay attention to those that actually created their wealth, like say, Warren Buffet.

No one likes the idea of paying more taxes, yet like a spoiled over weight brat, that spent until debt levels hit the ceiling, we as a nation must grow up and start paying down our debt and prepare for future liabilities.

I'm far from clear if Obamas proposals are worthy - yet look at the long and impressive list of economists, advisors and supporters of his and take some comfort that he should be able to proceed prudently.

As for Warren, I hope you are not too distraught and can wipe your eyes long enough to drive out to your entitled golf course overlooking us plebiens.

Boo hoo hoo.. Ebenezer Stephens may not be able to buy another fascist President for Christmas this year.

Pitiful, just pitiful. One of many truly sad statements about our society.

"I am not afraid of Senator Obama becoming President because he is a bad person. Rather I am concerned about his policies and their effect on our economy both in the short and long term. Higher tax rates will discourage investment and capital formation and that is not good for anyone."

Forgive me for being a little fuzzy on this -- age, ya know, and having no first hand experience, darn it -- but wasn't the tax rate for upper income brackets something like 90% in the olden days? Olden days being the 1950s or 1960s?
Maybe Warren needs a little more encouragement to work like his daddy did. Why, just think what he could accomplish . . . Oh, wait, no . . . I guess he means he will sit on his little nest egg and not try to make any money if the rest of us don't help him out on the tax rate schedule.
Pssst, Warren, dear, I have a little proposition for you. (Now get your mind out of the gutter, folks.) Hows about you pay a proportional share of your income for, oh, food, health care, including especially medicine, gas, electricity, water, insurance -- what have I forgotten? Anyway, the good things in life.
Say you "earn" 1000 times more than I do, so you pay $4,000 for a gallon of milk. Not a milk drinker? You do the math for your favorite beverage.
Oops. Tain't easy to make ends meet, is it, son? By the way, what DO you do to earn your living? Aside from turning a once decent paper into a worthless rag, that is?

I think everyone is aware of this, but if anybody has mentioned it this morning, I missed it. In talking about the "percentage of taxes" that rich folks pay, Stephens means INCOME TAXES. Wage earners, even minimum-wage earners, pay a flat tax of more than 16% in payroll taxes, if you count both what is withheld from their paychecks and what is not put into their paychecks by their employer, so the employer can pay his half of payroll taxes (which are deductible as a business expense). And it is not as though social security and medicare taxes were going into the famous lockbox; they are being "borrowed" by the government to pay current expenses -- the wars, the bailouts, etc.

Why can decent, intelligent people like Mr. Steplhens not understand that a person being paid $10 million can pay 35% of it in taxes and still have $6,500,000 to make do on, while one being paid $20,000 and surrendering 6.3% to FICA and Medicare can't exactly live it up on $18,740 per year?

Photo reminds me of a character in a Harry Potter movie.... one of the spoiled rich kids who would prefer to turn Harry into a toad for a few measly pieces of silver.

You guys are too nice. This guy makes me ill.

One positive: I have been detecting a slant in the Bureau's news coverage. Mr. Stephens helps his readers connect the dots today when he inappropriately puts his ultra-conservative "logic" on display from the top of the organization.

Bad taste for billionaires to whine about money, period.

"Rather I am concerned about his policies and their effect on our economy both in the short and long term."

Hey, little rich dude....look around. Your asshole heroes in the White House have already FK'ed us in the short and long term. Since you're all happy and stuff....I have to assume your asshole heroes in the White House are doing something good for you. In times like this...how un-American is that?

Look...no one likes to pay taxes. I hate it that some people pay 50% of what they earn in taxes, even if it still leaves them with millions per year to live on. I still entertain the fantasy of a fair tax system that prevents anyone from being slammed by a government that doesn't seem to help me or anyone I know. But reelecting Republicans will make sure we never see that kind of fairness in America. What Bush needs to do is appoint a rich man's Tax Czar....yeah...that's the ticket! Cry me a river Warren, cry me a river.

Gosh, I'm surprised the rich boy didn't say "Let them eat cake."
I'd just hate it if Warren's heirs weren't able to build their own Alotians too and had to join the country club instead because of a tiny bit of tax burden on dear ol' dad, who luckily inherited most of this wealth. He's the perfect example of the greed that's eventually going to kill this country, with his buddies from Alltel Corp. being right behind. But not before his kids have golf their ever-livin' guts out at Augusta, Alotian and all the other sanctuaries away from the real people, while they go to school away from the real people, and hump the rich bitches who attend school with them, and be served all plantation-style morning, noon and night.
Frankly, I'm surprised he hasn't started his own church where he doesn't have to attend with the real people. He and Hussman and Philip Anderson and a few wannabe-rich Episcopalians can all hang out together and worship the Lord, who's granted them such good fortune and has saved them nice big mansion rooms in the here-after (not to be shared with the real people, of course).

Let's turn the "logic" around a little. The top 5% holds more than half of all the great wealth of this nation. They are getting a deal at only paying 60% of the taxes. That is an equity in numbers, all else aside. Once you begin to take into consideration little factoids surrounding real life, like what it is really like to starve while toiling for the minimum wage to build all of this wealth...

I think a day in the projects or in the hills of Appalachia, not to mention the Ozarks, would only get one of those platitudes that people like this also reserve for the homeless: they have every opportunity in the world to get a job.

The original Stephens brothers built an empire from nothing, growing up poor, and, I suspect, feeling lucky every step of the way.

Try doing that now.

What else could be said that AT bloggers have not mentioned above.

But I noted a disconnect. Warren said "wage earners" as if Warren is a high wage earner.

Warren when was the last time you earned a wage? Son, you have that capital advantage.

Monopoly protection in the main areas of yo income.

And speaking of CAPITAL ADVANTAGE...Warren you should glance over the NYT once in awhile
just to be nice to liberals who tell you the truth YOU NEED TO HEAR.

DEMOs are better for yo Capital, das right. You will make a pile more of money, just as yo daddy did for you if Demos are in office.

And yes, Warren, again someone has done the heavy lifting for you and to prove it
it's on Blue Name. Have your secretary click it.

.

Good point about "wage earners."

We tend to forget that way, way, down at the bottom of the economic food chain exist the people who make rich people possible. People who have to use their backs or their brains to make a living.

People who weren't born rich, or who can't use other people's wealth to make money.

HOWEVER WARREN,

If you vote McCain-Palin ticket.

Even out of Fear as you indicate.

Imagine You, hero of inheritees being so FEARFUL,

Keep in mind should McCain croak and we ALL know he could,

MooseWoman is a SOCIALIST,

Not

A closet SOCIALIST, She's a proven SOCIALIST

With Credentials.

Like the largest TAX INCREASE ever seen in ALASKA, her home state.

She directly taxed the natural resource capitalists big time, BIGGEST EVER

And did what with the tax proceeds? ? ?

She up and redistributed the people's WEALTH

Gave each Alaskan resident a whopping $1200 per YEAR not

A one-time attempted pay-off like Bush , But ANNUAL

So Warren you better Review Yo Choices, cause John McCain, having

CANCER

You never know when MooseWoman could inherit , there's that word again,

the OFFICE and REDISTRIBUTE NATURAL RESOURCE WEALTH

NATIONALLY.

Think about it WARREN. Think seriously if you want to roll those dice.

Your daddy would.
.

Wow, a really, really rich guy supporting a republican. What a shocker. This says as much about McCain as it does Stephens.

Screw Warren Stephens.

He is so far beyond feeling the effects of any increased tax burden - on money he didn't earn - he needs to shut the fuck up.

What an asshole. He thinks we should care about his money? I think his little piece should go viral! Could you imagine if someone well known (someone who earned his money himself - Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, etc.) had written a piece bitching about how the tax cuts are bad for him.

Stephens, get your pasty flabby white pale ass out of the spotlight.

There, I feel better. And, I really have no ill will towards Stephens. Just shut the fuck up. Thank you.

What a picture you've posted of Stephens. Are those actual Billionaire Specs he's wearing. Warren, step it up a notch with that next billion your inheritance files under your name and splurge on a monocle. Then, you'd look just like the Robber Baron from Monopoly! You'd rock!

People like Stevens,Trump,Buffet and all other rich bastards out there all got their money by screwing the poor people out of theirs.They steal the money from the less fortunate.Like all the banks are doing to hard working families now by foreclosing on their homes and sitting them out in the streets.Now what damn good has it done besides allowed them to act like Mr big shot and use their power over the home owner.After they get the home it just sits there and deteorates.They can't sell it because everyone is in the same boat.Instead of selling this home for 20,000 dollars and taking a big loss on it,why not allow the home owner they took it from live there and let them have it for the 20,000 they sold it for.Because they couldn't show their asses by taking it away from these hard workin folks.They are all out to screw the poor people.The hard workin people that allows them to sit on their asses and rack it in with both hands.I hope all the sorry son of bitches go broke and have to ask the poor people for something to eat so we can kick their freakin teeth down their throats.The dollar needs to be made worthless so we can all start over as equals.The rich would all jump from the Empire State building.I would have to laugh.Go screw yourself Warren Stevens my ass is getting sore.

Very disappointed to read this from Warren Stephens.

As long as we're "picking" on Warren, how about the fact that the River Trail has just one stretch to be completed after the general public raised over $1M for it. That would be the section at Episcopal Collegiate School (Stephens) and Dillard's headquarters. Guess why? Because these worms don't want common folk treading on their land. Sweet.

After well over a Century, the Robber Barons are STILL with us, keeping the great unwashed underfoot...although Dillard's retail empire is pretty clearly headed into the crapper. "Richly" deserved!
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PS

I'm in a "time warp!" WTF is up with the posting date/time on this thread???????????????????????????????
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The most powerful thing Stephens said in his article was: He leaves social issues to the individual but taxes are facts.

That is, he doesn't think the economy is a social issue when, in fact, it (economic disparity) is THE social issue that makes Arkansas 49th in everything except super-rich people.

He doesn't care about all the "social issues" (race, religion, sex, marriage) because they DONT MATTER except to the fat, stupid sheep who eat it up and forget their getting screwed .

Norgi

Amanita, I think I'm in love! Raise hell, beeaaaach. Don't apologize.