Cider Press Hill

Poor slobs

A couple of days ago, the Senate couldn’t pass the the minimum wage bill (with the estate tax exemptions thrown in). The Republicans appear to be wringing their hands and pointing at the lousy Democrats for being so heartless. In this NY Times article this was an utterly stunning quote: “It is an excuse to make it a do-nothing Congress,” Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, said. “And we are turning our back on the middle-class and poor people in this country who depend on the minimum wage and death-tax relief.”

That has grated on me for two days now. So I just want to remark that the Republican congress has refused to do anything regarding a minimum-wage hike for the past decade and they only agreed to this one because of a provision that would allow employee tips to be counted against any minimum wage increase, which could end up being a net loss for the employee. Don’t want the hoi-polloi to get too comfortable.

But, really, Kay— what is this teeth gnashing and hand-wringing over middle-class people depending on ‘death-tax’ relief? Since the bill was supposed to raise the the tax exemption of an individual’s estate up to a value of $5 million by 2015, ($10 million exemption for a couple), I’m kind of wondering what world you’re living in where middle class people have estates that look like that?

I think the secret here must be that Kay really thinks she is middle class, with assets only valued at $6.5 million. I’m sure that’s it. It really is shocking when the middle classes are deprived of their millions, especially after they’re dead. You can sort of understand her altruism toward the struggling millionaire bourgeoisie. It’s the new pitiable social class.

Posted on 08/05/06 at 06:37 PM
 




Linkmeister

My House representative (D) has voted in favor of estate tax reductions just about every time they’ve come up, but Neil has (kind of) an excuse.  Property values in Hawai’i are through the roof and have been for years, so a lot of people one would call “middle class” have homes and land that could tip them into the region where they would have been hit with that tax.

Few are in the $5M range, though (certainly not us; I don’t think we could sell beyond the high six-figure range.)

As a Senator, Hutchinson should know parts of her state aren’t even close to that limit.  The panhandle?  El Paso?  Laredo?  Come on, Madam Senator.

“orrisroot?”

United States   Posted by Linkmeister on 08/05/06  at  07:49 PM





Linkmeister

Oh, ok.

Orris root:  also called Iris, Flag Iris, Pale Iris, and Orris Butter, consists of the rhizomes, or underground stems, of three species of iris:  Iris germanica, Iris florentina, and Iris pattida.

United States   Posted by Linkmeister on 08/05/06  at  07:51 PM





Kate

Since there was that nice little hook built into the minimum wage part of the bill, it wasn’t eactly a humanitarian tour de force, for Texas or elsewhere.

Kay Bailey Hutchison’s actions and words over the past several years don’t point to a long-standing concern for the poor. Rather the opposite. Her nose should have grown twelve feet when she made that statement.

But welfare for the wealthy...that’s a horse of a different color.

When you’re dead, you shouldn’t really care about how much your relatives have left to fight over. They’re the ones who benefit from the exemptions. Might be better named The Survivors’ Greed Tax Cut. But that’s just me.

What is so darned precious about people fortunate enough to be born to wealthy individuals that they deserve one tax cut after another when the rest of us end up paying for it in a multitude of ways? My state and local taxes have sure been on a steep upward trajectory since all this largesse for the wealthy took off with Mr. Bush’s administration.

I dunno. How many millions does a person need to be happy? I am getting tired of paying for their happiness.

I’m glad the stupid bill failed. It was horrid all the way around.

United States   Posted by Kate on 08/05/06  at  08:28 PM





Kate

Orris root is also used as a fixative when combining essential oil scents.

United States   Posted by Kate on 08/05/06  at  08:29 PM





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