What the Media Won't Tell You About "Class Warfare"

While the corporate media keep obsessing over how "wrong" Shelley Berkley was in saving Nevada's only kidney transplant facility, crying for a "moderate third party" that sounds way too eerily like today's Democratic Party, and misinterpreting poll numbers in trying to predict election results that are still over a year away, we still often see them ignore the biggest stories staring them in the face.

Here it is... Staring them in the face. No really, it's right here!

Many on the right were incensed by the exchange. Why? Well, obviously because the guy who asked the question wants higher taxes on the rich and conservatives disagree. But as it turns out, there’s more to it than that — some are arguing that if this individual wants to voluntarily contribute more to the treasury, he should do so, but people like him and Warren Buffett should leave other wealthy people out of it.

It’s worth pausing to appreciate how ridiculous the argument really is. We’re a massive, modern nation with a vast economy. We face real challenges, and they’re not the kind of challenges individuals can hope to resolve on their own — we need cooperative solutions built around shared action.

Making taxes voluntarily — asking for a little more only from those willing to pay a little more — is absurd.

The GOP’s nonsensical talking points notwithstanding, it’s good to see wealthy individuals stepping up and making the case for more tax fairness. I don’t imagine that will persuade congressional Republicans — nothing seems to persuade congressional Republicans — but it’s a sentiment the public benefits from hearing anyway.

But oh noezzz, he was a LIB'RUL!!!! He was from Teh Googlez!!!

No really, that's all the TEA-nuts have in trying to "refudiate" former Google executive Doug Edwards begging President Obama to raise his taxes in order to invest in the infrastructure we need for more and better jobs for America. And in doing so, they're sloppily glossing over the glaring fact that Edwards pays less in taxes than the vast majority of the rest of us because the capital gains (investment) tax rate is much lower than middle and lower income tax rates.

This is what scares the radical right. When Americans realize how little the super-rich, especially those super-rich that primarily make a living off the financial markets rather than traditional "jobs", actually pay in taxes, they will most certainly be more than willing to send "the tax man" in their direction. Improving tax equity by making the rich pay their fair share is incredibly popular among Americans.

Pay close attention to this recent rant by Elizabeth Warren.



Republicans have been crowing for decades about "class warfare", but they have refused to utter any truth about it. The fact of the matter is that we have indeed seen class warfare in the last forty years, but only the super-rich and largest corporations have been winning this war. Once Americans realize why the rich keep getting richer while they seem stuck in Po'-Town-USA, they may very well redirect their anger in a way that "Tea Party, Inc." fears the most.

And the media fear this as well. They would prefer that we all believe next year's election will be another "neck-n-neck horse race" so they can yet again rake in the millions in ad revenue. That's why we see politics today portrayed as one of those unreal "reality shows" often seen on Bravo or TLC rather than the frustrating growth of inequality and poverty that America's "class warfare" has truly become. So on that note, I should probably get back to browsing through the headlines to see more obsessing over someone pushing to keep open a kidney transplant center, crying for a mythical "moderate third party", and misinterpreting even more poll numbers.