WARREN: "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody."

[kpete]

My favorite part of looking at this hole, we got in this hole, one billion dollars, uh, one trillion dollars, on tax cuts for the rich under George Bush. We got into this hole two trillion dollars on two wars that were put on a credit card for our children and grandchildren to pay off. And we got into this hole one trillion on a Medicare drug program that was not paid for and was 40% more expensive than its needs to be because it was a giveaway to the drug companies. That's just four trillion right there.

So part of the way you fix this problem is don't do those things!

I hear all this, oh this is class warfare, no! There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there -- good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid forYou didn't have to worry that maurauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea -- God Bless! Keep a Big Hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.

VIDEO & MORE:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/20/1018700/-Warren-Tells-It-Like-it-Is:-No-One-in-This-Country-Got-Rich-on-his-Own?via=siderec

[fascisthunter]

1. I Just heard a Few Heads Pop on Wall Street

oh noooo... you mean the wealthy who claim to be elite, are really just like everyone else?????? Shocking!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

67. I heard them scrambling to fill her opponent's coffers.

God, that's refreshing talk.

[SteveM]

129. I didn't get rich on my own. I didn't even get rich. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

132. Join the club.

[Name removed]

90. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bandit]

94. LOL

If your intention was to show ignorance to the tenth magnitude, you succeeded magnificently....

[Viva_La_Revolution]

95. I make pretty good pizza

you want pepperoni or mushrooms?

[roguevalley]

145. I adore her.

[fascisthunter]

153. Hey... me first!

No seriously, I am very happy she is running in my state.

[bluestateguy]

2. I think she is great. I hope she can do it.

Scott Brown is a seasoned politician who knows how to bullshit his way into office.

I hope that Warren will know how to campaign well because that type of technique cannot be learned in a Harvard classroom or at an academic conference.

[JDPriestly]

91. Elizabeth Warren comes from a pretty normal midwestern background.

She didn't learn what she knows at Harvard. She brought life experience with her to Harvard.

She is a natural campaigner.

[HughBeaumont]

3. K & R

The Myth of the Self Made Millionaire

[TheWraith]

4. When I first saw "Warren" I thought it was Warren Buffett. nt

[stevedeshazer]

5. K / R

+1

[Prism]

6. Oh my, do I like her.

Well-articulated.

[PufPuf23]

7. Warren is smart and wise and I hope she has a brilliant future. nt

[Firebrand Gary]

8. Thanks Kpete for sharing this.

Just showed it to all the people under my roof, very much liked!

[Arctic Dave]

9. I'm swooning..... :)

[Whisp]

10. huge K & R.

[Booster]

11. I really think she could be our first ever female President. I would

vote for her in a heartbeat. She's smart and I want my President smart, not a dumbass cowboy.

[gkhouston]

13. I think you're right. I can't wait to vote for her. n/t

[lumberjack_jeff]

26. I would definitely campaign for her. n/t

[oldhippydude]

41. that was my thought

keynote the 12 convention run and be elected in 16

[daleanime]

46. Oh hell yea...

:bounce:

[Harriety]

79. I totally agree. I've been saying the same thing for awhile now. Go Lizzie!

[Auntie Bush]

80. My only regret is I can't vote for her for Senator...but I look forward to the day

I can vote for her to be our first woman president. I think even DU would be 100% in favor...except for the trolls. I love this woman! :loveya:

[JDPriestly]

92. Me too!

[L0oniX]

101. +1

[wryter2000]

127. That would be beyond awesome! n/t

n/t

[truedelphi]

137. + My household. n/t

[Bake]

12. Wow. She is really GOOD!!!!

I hope she can pull it off, and I BELIEVE SHE CAN AND WILL!!

Bake

[dkf]

14. Funny I doubt the rich person did it the way she is saying.

Built a factory here? Protected by our fire department with workers educated with our dollars?

We wish they had made their money this way, then our people would have jobs.

So since that premise is all off how much do they owe?

[The Magistrate]

50. If There Is An Apology To Be Made For Wealth And Excess, Ma'am, You Can Be Relied On To Make It....

[Horse with no Name]

74. Yes Siree. You got that right!

:thumbsup:

[fascisthunter]

154. Indeed, Sir! (nt)

[Fla Dem]

70. Premise is not off.

Yes, many corporation and manufacturing firms have moved their operations offshore. But to get to the point for them to be able to do that, they built their wealth and companies here. Had the infrastruture (education, man/womanpower, transportation, security) not been here for them in the past, they would not be in a position to now take all those jobs overseas.

[gtar100]

133. You're probably right if you're referring to all the traders and fund managers.

Which in that case, their debt to society is even greater. The wealth these people have accumulated is even less a result of their own hard work. They depend even more on workers, managers, and public infrastructure - including the court system and regulatory bodies - in order to benefit from the economic activity going on. For this very reason, the tax system should be very progressive on capital gains. Start modest but getting up into the millions on returns, the tax should be weighted much more heavily. Not to punish the "job creators" (ha-ha-ha) but to put a curb on excess hoarding of capital, like it's happening today. It's a matter of enacting a principle in tax policy. It's how we regulate and channel money into the directions that are most beneficial for humanity, as opposed to making it a winner-take-all system that leads to corruption, abuse, poverty, ... just look around.

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. The woman is a WONDER! "Pay it forward" escapes the Rethug/Teabagger vocabulary.

Warren for President! :woohoo:

[DinahMoeHum]

16. Warren Buffett and Ben Cohen would agree with her completely.

The link below cites both gentlemen in stating that they didn't make their big money by themselves; that society as a whole contributed to their success.

An oldie (from 2004) but still a goodie:

I Didn't Do It Alone: Society's Contribution to Individual Wealth and Success
http://www.faireconomy.org/files/pdf/notalonereportfinal.pdf

[Mojambo]

17. FUCK YES. n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Finally. Someone is telling the truth.

[fishwax]

19. k/r

:kick:

[ConnorMarc]

20. She Totally ROCKS!!

I think she can pull it off with sheer brute force of being a incessant fighter, which she is and she will be.

If she's leading in the polls already, that indicates that the people of Mass wants what she's selling.

She's squeaky clean so Scottie won't have anything to throw at her.

I think she's got a higher than 70 percent chance of winning.

[dhill926]

21. loving this.......n/t

[Octafish]

22. She sounds like a Democrat.

Maybe she could lend other Democrats her speeches.

...That way We the People vote for people like her. Then we can get lots of good things done. Lots and lots of good things...

[treestar]

23. Love that - going to use it on umpteen independent right

wing nuts who really think they earned it all on their own.

[pscot]

24. Would she like to be President?

I'm ready now.

[TBF]

150. So am I - I'd definitely vote for her. nt

[notadmblnd]

25. I can see her running for president in a few years and winning.

[Douglas Carpenter]

27. kick and recommend

[leftstreet]

28. Actually, most wealthy people in this country inherited it n/t

[bhikkhu]

86. Yes, Warren was being charitable there for the sake of the egos of the rich

...most of them would really like to think they had a great idea, built a factory, brought it to market, and made a fortune.

But really, because of the way our system encourages and protects the concentration of wealth and its transmission through families, most wealth resides not in the hands of Galt-types, but with families who simply own and manage assets rather than build anything.

[mazzarro]

87. But still they did not get wealthy all on their own

Whether inherited or not, someone, somewhere relied on the existing infrastructure to build up that wealth - and the infrastructure included government services and provisions.

[RaleighNCDUer]

117. Even better - most of that wealth originated after the war when the

government built the interstate highway system, when it was not only not controversial but actually expected that schools would be well funded (even if teachers were paid poorly), and the top marginal tax rate was above 90%.

[joshcryer]

29. Does anyone doubt this woman is absoultely presidential material? God.

I love her!

[hulka38]

30. She is awesome.

[drokhole]

31. Most excellent, but even a step further...

...that singular rich-person "you" didn't build the factory. Construction workers built the factory with the help of machinery and tools dreamed up by engineers that was built by other workers. From material and steel transported there that was harvested and tempered by other workers, using machinery dreamed up by even more engineers. And those machines are running on gas from oil extracted by workers busting their balls on oil rigs for an industry subsidized by the taxpayers. And lets not forget that none of these "rugged individualists" dreamed up the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, or electricity. I could even take it further to the mathematical equations discovered by the mathematicians and physicists, or the Earth itself (and the Sun) that developed the raw materials themselves (which they seem to love to exploit with reckless abandon) - but you get the picture.

Life is relationship, and we are a lot more connected than we often realize - that goes for the inner-workings of our economy.

[wiggs]

33. ...and the patent offices that register the factory's exclusive

inventions, and the courts that enforce the patent laws, and the legislative bodies that wrote the patent laws, the election system that produces those judges and representatives.

...and the building officials that reviewed and inspected this job creator's factory and home so that it functions in a safe way and their zoning official friends that prevent his neighbor from opening a gas station next to his home

...and the diplomats, military, and world bank officials who spend tons of our money keeping overseas businesses operating by arranging deals, providing protection, buying officials, keeping locals down, overthrowing the occasional leader, and bribing politicians so that mines or farms can operate in order to send the job creators raw materials

[wiggs]

34. This position is not a hard case to make. Why don't more

dem leaders stake out more positions consistent with progressive thought, history, sound analysis, and vision for the future?

Kudos to Elizabeth. She tells the truth. But she must wonder why these obvious statements are taken as rare and heroic.

[drokhole]

36. Yep!

Very well done! :thumbsup:

(right now I have the guy who programmed the thumbs-up thingy to thank for helping me emphasize the awesomeness of your post...especially the third, abhorrent reality)

[lonestarnot]

44. the world bank.

Fuck the world bank. They help create third world countries.

[JHB]

59. ...not to mention enough people secure and prosperous enough...

...to spend money on the factory's output.

People who don't have money and/or are squirreling away everything they can for the next crisis make lousy customers.

[Zorra]

32. Well, folks, there's our FDR, just waitin' to do what FDR's do. nt

[Jefferson23]

35. K&R for Ms. Warren. n/t

[Marie Marie]

37. Once she is a Senator, any way that we could clone her and Bernie Sanders?

Maybe then the middle class would have a fighting chance.

[yesphan]

71. Love your sig line.

[dorksied]

38. This woman needs a bigger platform. Sanders/Warren 2016!!!

[blueclown]

39. God, if you could sum up what the Democratic Party platform should be in a few paragraphs

That would be it.

Elizabeth Warren for Senate 2012! For the presidency in 2016...

[YvonneCa]

141. You are right. THIS is the Democratic Party Platform...

...in (almost) under 140 characters. :7

[certainot]

40. yeah, really. the more we make, the more we use America, even if it's just sitting by pool collectin

g dividends.

[lonestarnot]

42. K & R!

[lonestarnot]

43. Not one fucking stink'n richie got there by himself/herself. Not one.

[bluestateboomer]

45. So much truth..

In such a short statement. I wish she was running for president. I guess I'll have to settle for Senate, for now.:patriot: :yourock:

[Larkspur]

47. Warren/Schweitzer or Schweitzer/Warren for President in 2016!

My 2 favorite Democrats right now are Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana and Elizabeth Warren.
Both know how to talk to the average person without being condescending and know how to fight the right wing in their own ways.

A Warren-Schweitzer or vice-versa ticket would be a vibrant East Coast--West Coast ticket that would be hard for the Repukes to defeat.

[Fearless]

48. Goosebumps! No more fitting person to gain Kennedy's seat!

[Horse with no Name]

78. I think the mantle is about to be passed.

And it will be known as SENATOR WARREN'S seat!

I think Ted would be okay with that!

[clyrc]

49. How could I not love that?

The fact that she was originally from Oklahoma makes her good sense all that more astonishing.

[PhoenixAbove]

51. With luck and work this woman will become my new Senator!

Warren 2012!

[w0nderer]

52. k&r for reading later n/t

[dogmoma56]

53. and they inherited money untaxed cause we ended the "DEATH TAX", that none of us can use cause its

only for the rich to keep them richer.. without working for it.

[quaker bill]

54. It would be difficult to make it more clear

few words, tons of substance, nice!

[Enthusiast]

55. I love her!

President Obama could benefit from repeating her words.

[florida08]

56. video is great

Love her passion and her ability to cut thru the BS. Yes...unpaid tax cuts, 2 wars and a drug giveaway program were acts of aggression on the middle class. Social contract is a wonderful term. That's how you build and keep a prosperous economy that works for all. But you have to protect it from Wall St.

[inna]

57. k&r 172

[SpiralHawk]

58. yes

intelligence and common sense !!!

RepubliBaggers rip out your weensy brain peanuts - this intelligence will not compute for you.

[hootinholler]

60. Warren-Feingold 2016

[ewagner]

61. Whooooohoooooo!

Elizabeth is off the leash!!!!!

[watercolors]

62. We need her in the senate, you go girl!!!!

[nradisic]

63. Elizabeth Warren will be a Senator...

America needs Elizabeth Warren...more than we need Scott Brown. Big time...I hope the people of Massachusetts are smart enough to get her elected.

[harun]

64. We choose to live in a society, period.

[WillyT]

65. HUGE K & R !!!

:kick:

[Cairycat]

66. I can't wait 'til she kicks Senator Centerfold to the curb. n/t

[Dawgs]

68. She is quickly becoming one of my two favorite progressives.

Sanders is the other one, of course.

[Locrian]

69. good points

But he's talking about businesses.

What about the DO NOTHINGS on wall street? These parasites create NOTHING of any 'real' value. And they really do think the create all the money out of thin air ALL BY THEMSELVES.

[Ilsa]

72. Wonderfully clear and concise message to the selfish, greedy assholes! nt

[Odin2005]

73. This is a REAL Democrat, folks!

[Horse with no Name]

75. I could vote for THAT kind of hope and change!

Look...if you want to espouse to be a "self-made" businessman and don't want to pay taxes, how about we accommodate that request by charging you per-use fees UP FRONT (yeah I don't trust you to pay later) to use the taxpayers roads, bridges, and airports? Business and personal?

How about you handle all of your police, fire and ambulance needs? Business and personal?

How about you don't take a penny of OTHER taxpayer money in the forms of deductions, tax breaks or any other assistance? How about you sign a contract to forgo Social Security and Medicare for you AND your family?

How about we force you to pay your employees LIVING wages and an adequate insurance policy so that they don't have to be supplemented with any type of government benefits in order to survive as a condition of your reluctance to pay taxes?

You don't want to uphold YOUR end of the social bargain, fine. Pay your own fucking way. I am tired of MY tax dollars subsidizing your stingy ass.


What???Crickets???Yeah that is what I thought you fucking scumbucket.

[julian09]

110. Workers who make their products deserve middle class wage

The millions that ceos make are due to workers; without them parts would be piles of junk and nothing useful. The housing magnate who can't bang a nail straight, but gets millions a year, without laborer would own a pile of wood and nails. The corporate farmer with acres and acres of crops are only worth what can be brought to market, the rest will rot. Time for middle class to gain in wages and true worth and Elizabeth recognizes the middle class is being short changed.:toast: :toast: :bounce:

[Doctor_J]

76. Holy crap

I hear all this, oh this is class warfare, no! There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there -- good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid forYou didn't have to worry that maurauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea -- God Bless! Keep a Big Hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.

An actual American who isn't afraid to say this out loud????

I wish she wasn't married. I'd move to Boston and stalk her til she married me.

[Doctor_J]

77. Best part is there won't be any "new Dem" in the primary for the triangulators

to support. It will be her or no one for the party big shots.

[Beavker]

81. Not to mention, we all bought your goods!

That made you rich. WE did. We are the consumers, we NEED money to buy your shit!!!

[Bryn]

82. Love her!

K&R

[blindpig]

83. Gee, you would think that Warren Buffet would know how it works.

Calling for his fellow capitalists to be 'kinder', 'gentler' is a great pr coup and no doubt makes him feel good about himself. But surely he understands that all capitalist are under the gun of capitalist competition, they must invest the majority of their profits in further production and capital improvement else their competition will steal a march on them in said competition. Their personal wealth is something of a by-product of this process. His plea is for some crumbs, that the burden of the capitalists system not be so heavy upon the working class that they become restive. But the bear's share of the money extracted from society by capitalism is not in the personal accounts of the capitalists but is dedicated to the maintenance and expansion of the capitalist system itself and there lies the greatest robbery.

Thanks but no thanks, Mr Buffet, next time no half measures.

[ooglymoogly]

84. This woman cuts to the chase without smoke and mirrors

and that is rare and refreshing. Time to fill her coffers because she is going to be up against the big money.

[BigD_95]

85. She is 100% right!!!!

I pray she wins!! We need more like her

[Tennessee Gal]

88. She is brilliant and

what makes her brilliant is the simplicity with which she makes her points. Anyone can understand what she is saying and that is a skill that is sorely lacking in the political discussions taking place right now.

[patrice]

89. Thank you, Elizabeth!!

[Name removed]

93. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FarLeftFist]

97. I hope you choke to death on your mouth vomit.

[valerief]

96. But we're not humans to the very rich. We're tools, like robots, to them. Or maybe more like dogs.

[saras]

98. AFAIK no one has ever built a factory by themselves either

"You built a factory out there -- good for you."

So you designed the infrastructure, dug the trenches, laid the pipe, hooked up to the utilities all by yourself - wait a minute, you can't use utilities if you're doing this yourself - okay, you dug your own geothermal well, smelted the silicon to make solar cells, after throwing together a semiconductor plant in your spare time, you crushed the rock and mined the materials for your cement, poured and mixed it yourself, built the building, built all the machinery inside it, made all the tools you used for this construction, mined and smelted all the metals yourself, and you write the advertising as well as serve as the company's attorney...

nah, I don't think so.

[hifiguy]

99. Now this is what a real Democrat sounds like

I suspect Professor Warren has a very bright future and hope that I get the chance to vote for her for POTUS some day!

[Hissyspit]

100. Were all the messages from "Deleted Message" about how they are so much smarter than Elizabeth

Warren?

[SwampG8r]

102. what about joe francis?

the girls gone wild guy?
he made millions with free drinks and a videocamera

[firehorse]

103. I'm glad the term: "social contract" is used. The tea baggers don't seem to know what that means.

[newspeak]

104. what a breath of fresh air!

Go Ms. Warren!!!!! Also, when I think of the wealthy, I think many get even wealthier off of war; also our government tends to protect corporate business interests by funneling our money into conflicts. So, I think that they not only benefit from using the country's system (education, highways, even inventions), but also benefit from protection.

And inherited wealth--should one benefit, tax free, on wealth that one didn't even earn? It was someone in the family who earned the wealth, not the recipient. I think inherited wealth should be taxed after a certain amount-I'm keeping in mind those who do have family farms. Continued generational wealth accumulation by one family leads to too much power and influence in the political arena.

[NoGOPZone]

105. 'When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: "Whose?" ' - Don Marquis nt

[totodeinhere]

119. Ms. Warren makes a lot of good points. She is right. Nobody gets rich in a vacuum. But that doesn't

mean that hard work and initiative cannot have positive results. Steve Jobs started out in his garage and put in 18 hour days. Yes, he was probably in the right place at the right time and he benefited from the infrastructure that Warren talks about it. But he also worked very hard and would not be where he is today without that initiative.

[gratuitous]

106. Now why would you want someone like this running the Consumer Protection Bureau?

It's pretty clear that she would spend all her time protecting consumers, and really, isn't that the last thing we want out of the CPB? You sure as hell don't see the Environmental Protection Agency running around trying to protect the environment!

[econoclast]

107. Be careful with this argument. It is a double edged sword.

Society has created the infrastructure that allows people to become rich

We provided the roads and bridges and ports. We provided the educational system. The public utilities. The police and fire and public safety. The rule of law. All of that.

But beware. there are logical implications on the other side of this coin.

The argument implies that the poor are poor through their own fault. If society provides all the infrastructure that enables people to become rich ... Why do the poor exist? With all the foundations laid to become wealthy, why don't they too become rich? If society has provided all the means, why do so few make full use of what is provided? Can only be their own fault.

[Horse with no Name]

108. You know the twisting of this really had to hurt

and for some reason I have a pain in the neck.

Can you recommend a good chiropractor? I am pretty certain with the acrobatics displayed here that you must have one on retainer.

Thanks in advance.

[econoclast]

109. Not twisting

Marx would have called it standing the argument on it's head. It pays to examine a
Line if reasoning from all sides to see whether you are comfortable with
All the implications

[mmonk]

112. A recent study:

A new report from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) finds that social mobility between generations is dramatically lower in the U.S. than in many other developed countries.

So if you want your children to climb the socioeconomic ladder higher than you did, move to Canada.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/17/social-immobility-climbin_n_501788.html

[Martin Eden]

118. One edge of that sword is not sharpened

Arguing that the rich could not have gotten rich without the infrastructure and education of the commons does not necessarily imply that those resources are sufficiently funded. In fact, the counter-argument you offer can be stood on its head by pointing out how these resources necessary for prosperity are currently being neglected and underfunded -- and that the wealthy let this happen at their own peril (and everyone else's as well).

This is, in fact, an argument for Obama's jobs bill that invests in infrastructure and education -- and is contrary to Republican policy.

[julian09]

122. Everyone can't be entrepreneurs, so keep wages low to make sure

you can build another factory on stockholder money and money that should be going to workers in fair wages. If everyone was super rich, there will be no one to build roads, bridges, cars, teach etc, then back to dark ages.

[HughBeaumont]

123. Interference from the wealthy and just plain long odds, that's why.

Success to the level of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or even Tom Cruise requires every one of your planets to be aligned and for you to stand out in a world of 7 billion people and even countless more circumstances, laws natural, governmental and economic, and other assorted factors working against you. Let's not leave out that nobody has to like you, your service or product.

Used to be that Joe Sixpack could invent something in his garage and, should everything come to pass and fall in place, he'd be a millionaire, maybe even a multi-millionaire. Inventions happen mostly in corporate labs nowadays, with entire legal teams to work for the corporation's patent benefits.

Nowadays, any way the jackals/bean counters/MBAs can find to screw hard-working people out of even making a mere living, they'll do it.

It's called the Iron Law of Oligarchy. Any system, no matter how socially or democratically accommodating, will eventually be subject (usually due to human greed) to the whims of those that are UN-democratic and empirical.

[LynneSin]

111. I knew Scott Brown was a lame duck the minute he was elected

Bye-Bye Brown

[totodeinhere]

114. A lot of people "knew" he wouldn't get elected in the first place. And we know how

that turned out. Brown is going to be rolling in campaign cash. Elizabeth Warren is going to be one of the main targets of big moneyed interests and they will pull out all of the stops to try to defeat her.

I'm sorry for the negativity, but I would only rate her as a slight favorite at this point and a lot can happen between now and November 2012.

[LynneSin]

125. Not the same thing - that was an off-season election and Mass is a liberal state

Martha Coakley was a poor candidate who assumed having a "D" next to her name was enough to win Ted Kennedy's seat. She deserved to lose that race.

I highly doubt that Elizabeth Warren will run her campaign that poorly.

[liberal N proud]

113. K&R as if it needs it

[Blue Owl]

115. Sounds like some badly-needed sanity

n/t

[MH1]

116. Maybe I'm too impatient,

but I'm just waiting for this hugely positive thread to match the rec power of some 'bash Obama' threads I've seen here lately. :)

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren simply rocks.

[YvonneCa]

155. Yes, she does. Wish I could...

...vote for her. :hi:

[Uncle Joe]

120. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[midnight]

121. K&R

[mistertrickster]

124. The Right-wing smear machine is already hard at work ad homenim-ing Buffett--

"He sells tax havens and life insurance (which can be used as a tax shelter).

Therefore, he profits from higher taxes."

Don't you just hate what they do . . . Fox and Rush tell them what the attack d'jour is, and they run with it.

[Moostache]

126. Separation from the politics bonds that bind us is becoming likely...

The Cons and Baggers simply do NOT believe in a social contract - at least not one that takes "their" money and gives it to those shiftless workers, who you know, actually DO THE WORK BUT RECEIVE A BARE MINIMUM OF THE PROFITS.

If these sub-humans want to collectively sit around and train their guns on the guy next to them while pray ing for Jeebus to come and rapture them (but not that motherfucker sitting next to them), well, take Montana, Idaho, North and South Dakota and Wyoming as a gift from the citizens of the United States and LEAVE. Please just LEAVE. Go up there and build your very own Randian Utopia and police each others' bedrooms and piety. Go up there and spit on your neighbors' problems and ignore the social fabric and get back to me in about 5 - 7 years.

I have lost all patience for dealing with these idiots and I really do want to see them LEAVE and LEAVE NOW. They don't want to pay a fair share for the benefits that the country built up for them in most cases BEFORE THEY WERE EVER BORN? Well, fuck them....move up to the least developed infrastructure in the country, take Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman and her gay-ass husband up there and have at it hoss.... Build it YOUR way....show the rest of us rational humans that you can succeed and in fact blow our American way of shared infrastructure and public safety and social nets totally away. PROVE it and I will gladly admit I was totally wrong, you were 100% right and I might, just might even start praising Jeebus right there with you...

[elleng]

128. Kind of hate to say this because my predictions don't often pan out,

so I won't predict, just wish. ELIZABETH WARREN FOR PRESIDENT! Won't state a year, but Dems have a GREAT one here!!!

[katty]

130. well that is for sure!

[gtar100]

131. There's a reason "Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" is so apropo for the Repubs...

because it's impossible!

Let them snout out their self-righteous claim to their "independence". Just don't forget that they have hung their hat and bet the farm on principles and ideas that just plain don't work.

[bertman]

134. REC. for a woman who knows what it's all about. Warren for Senate!! nt

[Doc Holliday]

135. I guess I'm lucky.

I work for a small corporation (a construction company employing 135 souls) which is definitely not one of those Big Evil Corporate Behemoths. The owner is one of the best (and humblest) people I've ever worked for, and I've been with him for about eight years now. He knows and acknowledges that he wouldn't be successful if not for the hard work of his employees. He has a poster on his office wall which depicts two men rock-climbing, and the caption reads thusly: "There is no such thing as a self-made man. You can only reach your goals with the help of others." This man actually "walks the walk", and that's rare around these parts, where businessmen tend to be about 60% bullshit and the rest hot air.

[hifiguy]

143. I know a guy just like your boss.

Started in his garage 25 years ago and now makes what are (by consensus of both critics and the public) the finest loudspeakers in the world. He once told me "I would be nothing without the people who work for me, and I am the luckiest guy in the world because I make a great living doing something I love." He treats his employees like family and there is zero turnover in his shop unless someone retires or he creates a new position that needs to be filled.

I'm an atheist socialist and he's a devout LDSer and very conservative, but I've never met anyone I respect more.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

136. My husband's favorite thing to say is...

..."Behind all great fortunes are some great crimes." He sites Rockefeller's violent union busting, Kennedy's bootlegging, etc...

[BEZERKO]

138. Sounds like she's channeling George Lakoff

Bout time somebody did! Way to go!

[lsewpershad]

139. Only the absolute heartless and braindead

would believe that he alone is responsible for his well being let alone his wealth.

[Major Hogwash]

140. How old is she? Because that sounds pretty knowledgeable for someone her age.

The fact that she is talking about a "social contract" shows you that she is pretty smart.
The Dems don't do this often enough.
They don't remind the wealthy that we have provided for their ability to be that way through taxes.
The wealthy only want their names on buildings and tollways and boulevards to remind everyone else who they were after they are gone.
I say, lets start replacing some of the names on those tollways, airports, and boulevards every 25 years or so and then let the market place really work the way it should.

[Cass]

142. She is so awesome!! I wish I could cast a vote for her!

Well, maybe one day I will be able to if she ever decides to take it to the next level. ;-)

[Zax2me]

144. Brave talk from someone who will NEVER have less than the finest

Cars, homes (plural) food, furniture - vacations.
He doesn't have to keep his billions.
No one has a gun to his head.
Donate it ALL Warren! COME ON!

[fascisthunter]

146. Not Brave to Tell a Truth Most Already Know

the wealthy and rich didn't do it by themselves, and we all know that. That is why they need to pay their fair share and to get over themselves when they claim the rest owe them something.

[TBF]

151. Read the OP - it's Elizabeth Warren talking, not Buffett. nt

[robbob]

147. I've been saying for a while now:

George W. Bush is going to go down in history as the man who bankrupted the U.S.A.

[Swede Atlanta]

148. Bingo......

The way people have gotten wealthy in this country is not just by the sweat of their brow. They may have inherited seed money that then grew into wealth or started a company, etc. But it is the totality of the American (and now increasingly the world economic system) that affords them the opportunity to make this kind of money. Given a very different type of economic system that type of wealth may not have been achievable. Something else they forget is we have legal protections for business investors whether it is the corporate form, the LLC, LLP, LLLP, etc. that enable them to shield themselves from personal liability (assuming they are not involved in the daily operations and haven't engaged in any kind of illegal activity. That is a tremendous boost to investors. It relieves them of one big concern of being held liable if the business in which they are investing does something bad.

[AnnieK401]

149. Great Post!

Couldn't agree more.

[chill_wind]

152. Just excellent. K & R.

[and-justice-for-all]

156. Kick their ass Warren!! nt