When was the last time you filled out your 1040 and wrote in $3,700,000,000 as your gross (pun intended) annual salary? John Paulson did for tax year 2007. And how did he reap such a bounty? Did he invent a cure for cancer? Compute the elusive formula for achieving Peace In Our Time? Help the human race in any way, shape, or form? Not quite. He 'earned' it by managing an investment hedge fund, betting against homeowners while hoping and praying to the Almighty Dollar Devil that those homeowners would default on their subprime mortgages!
Paulson ranked number 1 in this salary category, best described as obscene, that would have made the robber barons of Teddy Roosevelt's day cringe and join the Socialist Party in protest. Paulson did NOTHING to benefit the people of our great land. He is a vulture feeding off the carcass of a badly wounded mortgage industry. Had he been an inventor who rolled out an inexpensive, 150 MPG car that made the USA less dependent on foreign oil while simultaneously saving every family in the country a hefty amount of money and improving air quality, I would congratulate him.
But even then, how much compensation would be appropriate? Astronomical salaries like Paulson's stir up bitterness (like mine) and distrust for an economic system that, with tweaks here and there, has served us so well. Have we, as a nation, become so 'me-centered' that we judge people by their paychecks rather than their principles? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that our Constitution's preamble begins with the words, "We the People", not "Me first, the rest can go to Hell". Why do people like Paulson funnel their considerable intellects and energies toward self-aggrandizement rather than selflessness? Is it a character flaw? Insecurity? Hatred or jealousy... or never having developed past the anal-retentive stage?
Had Paulson been around back in 1776, he probably would have been a Boston bookie laying odds against the revolution. Then, when his bets lost, he would have high-tailed it back to not-so-Great Britain to kiss up to King George III by preaching the virtues of monarchy over democracy.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Clinton and Obama Supporters Will Unite
The New York Times Op-Ed columnist, Nicholas Kristof, wrote an article, 'Divided They Fall' (click here to read more) Its main thrust is that people tend to see what they want to see and interpret data in a way that supports their preconceived notions. Fair enough. What I object to in this piece is the following: "That’s what we seem to be seeing in the Democratic primaries. Even though the policy differences between the two candidates are minimal, each camp is becoming increasingly aggravated at the other. A Washington Post poll published Wednesday found that more than one-third of Democrats say that they may not support their party’s nominee if it is not their own choice."
I have been on the streets during this campaign, serving as both an Obama precinct captain and delegate to the county Democratic Party convention. During the Nevada caucus in January 2008, I interacted with many Clinton supporters. Emotions were freely expressed on both sides. But there was nearly unanimous opinion that each side would support the ultimate Democratic Party candidate. During the county Democratic Party convention, emotions were at an even more feverish pitch. Both Clinton and Obama had been getting less civil in their statements. Yet again, all the delegates I spoke with stated that although they were passionately committed to their candidates, all will join together to support whomever is chosen. I was, quite frankly, surprised both times. Apparently, the ordinary folks volunteering untold hours of their free time are more conciliatory than some of those in the upper echelons of the campaigns.
Mr. Kristof, I suggest you interview some ordinary campaign volunteers who have spoken to their peers at the other campaigns. For while you reference a Washington Post poll that supports your viewpoint, and criticized both liberal and conservative bloggers for failing to link to blogs of differing opinions, you fell into the same trap: you failed to supply any type of information contrary to your view.
I have been on the streets during this campaign, serving as both an Obama precinct captain and delegate to the county Democratic Party convention. During the Nevada caucus in January 2008, I interacted with many Clinton supporters. Emotions were freely expressed on both sides. But there was nearly unanimous opinion that each side would support the ultimate Democratic Party candidate. During the county Democratic Party convention, emotions were at an even more feverish pitch. Both Clinton and Obama had been getting less civil in their statements. Yet again, all the delegates I spoke with stated that although they were passionately committed to their candidates, all will join together to support whomever is chosen. I was, quite frankly, surprised both times. Apparently, the ordinary folks volunteering untold hours of their free time are more conciliatory than some of those in the upper echelons of the campaigns.
Mr. Kristof, I suggest you interview some ordinary campaign volunteers who have spoken to their peers at the other campaigns. For while you reference a Washington Post poll that supports your viewpoint, and criticized both liberal and conservative bloggers for failing to link to blogs of differing opinions, you fell into the same trap: you failed to supply any type of information contrary to your view.
Allow me to introduce myself
My name is Wayne and I get high on politics and news. In order to feed my habit, I will choose a newspaper article, blog, or current topic and analyze it from my own perspective. Once a week at first, on Fridays. Nothing fancy. Just entertaining, and maybe thought-provoking. Thanks in advance for spending a few precious, never-to-be-seen again, moments of your day with me. Readers are leaders, so please convert me from writer to reader by sending me your thoughts, opinions, gripes, and assorted pet peeves. Have you ever noticed that 'writer' and 'rioter' sound similar?
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