Ari Fleischer Pulls Back the Curtain, Then Realizes What He's Done

[kpete]

WED JAN 02, 2013 AT 04:20 PM PST
Ari Fleischer Pulls Back the Curtain, Then Realizes What He's Done
by The Troubadour

Today, Ari Fleischer unintentionally admitted in public what we have long suspected: that he, and many conservatives like him, are sanctimonious, gluttonous fools motivated to good only by self-serving interests.

For here is his response today to the newly-struck "fiscal cliff" deal:

Ari Fleischer
✔
@AriFleischer
I increased donations to charity in 2012. This deal limits my deductions so I, & many others, will likely donate less in 2013.
1 Jan 13 ReplyRetweetFavorite

.....................

So much for empathy. So much for genuine compassion. So much for this: What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?

**************

However, he was appalled to have done so, for after pulling back the curtain today, Fleischer tried to yank it shut, tried to walk back what he had already revealed:

Ari Fleischer
✔
@AriFleischer
For those having a fit re my charity tweet, when gvt reduces ppl's take home pay, ppl have less $ to donate/spend. It's math
1 Jan 13 ReplyRetweetFavorite

Yes. Math, indeed.


MORE:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/02/1175830/-Ari-Fleischer-Pulls-Back-the-Curtain-Then-Realizes-What-He-s-Done

[mykpart]

1. Many of us in the "47%"

donate regularly to charity and don't plan to change the amount in 2013.

[zbdent]

2. He didn't "lose his soul" ...

he sold it for chump change.

That's why I believe that Republicans prove that, when you die, that's all there is. And Religion is BULLSHIT.

If it weren't, when a Republican swears to God to tell the truth, he would instantly be flash fried by a lightning bolt.

[Jefferson23]

3. Busted, nice work. n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

4. "What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?"

We don't have souls (especially not the GOP) so frankly, if you gain the world, you gain everything there is to have.

If we want to stop that, we have to change the laws and the tax structure so that it isn't possible for anyone to gain the whole world.

There's no karma.

No Hell.

No God.

And no justice unless we create it.

[pepperbear]

5. perpetuating the myth that more money in their pockets equals generosity towards everyone else.

[mzmolly]

6. A vile, ugly man

inside and out.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. "charity tweet" lol

that's not a "charity tweet", that's a "patting himself on the back because he's reduced his taxes tweet"

[msanthrope]

8. Not a mensch, Ari. nt

[JBoy]

9. Wasn't that money already earmarked for "job creation"?

I don't understand. I thought every spare penny in the wealthy's pockets was used for job creation.

[pamela]

10. "this deal limits my deductions"

Ha, he didn't say a word about take home pay in the original tweet. What a fucking liar. Does he think we can't read? It's English, asshole.

[marions ghost]

11. Nice

He'll just take it out of his "charitable" giving. I wonder what those were...he's so cheap we're probably only talking about a few bucks anyway.

[randome]

12. He belongs in the gallery of has-beens.

Right alongside Palin, Romney, Rove, Cheney and all the rest of his classless cohorts.

[NICO9000]

33. Yup, nobody even remembers him at this point

He's less relevant than the "Fleischer" I flushed this morning...

[tanyev]

13. "Youse guys better bring back the tax cuts, or these charities might get hurt. Capiche?"

[longship]

31. "Nice work, Boys!" nt

[Rex]

14. Ya Ari we know it is all about the money.

You are part of the BFEE, keep grinning.

[cthulu2016]

15. It is math, and Fleischer is right here (thugh a petulant creep)

Deductibility changes net cost of giving.

What people give is not infinite.

Say you give $8,500/year to charity and giving becomes deductible. So now you can give the $8500 plus the tax you would otherwise have paid on the $8500.

It works out that you were paying $1500 on that $8500 in income, so you send that money to charity rather than to the government.

So now your charity budget is $10,000.

Then the deduction is canceled, and a portion of that same $10K goes the government rather than to a charity, so your net charitable giving is back down to only $8500.

But you devoted the same $10,000 to giving in each year.


What do you think happens when a deduction for something is reduced?

Do you think it goes UP?

[SunSeeker]

25. It depends on why you are giving.

If you are giving just for the deduction or because you have arbitrarily picked some number as your "charity budget," is Ari obviously has done, then your giving will go down. If you give to help a cause, then it will not. I always give the cost of a family meal to a holiday food drive. I always will--whether it is deductible or not.

Ari claims that since his rather sustantial income will be some small amount less than Iast year, he will give less...suggesting the difference will be in direct proportion to the loss of the deduction. Is his budget even tighter than mine? I don't think so. Just his heart. The only reason his giving would go down is because he wants to prove a political point and/or he is not committed to the charity.

[antigone382]

32. Sure, but charity is only necessary in the first place because the system is failing someone.

Or rather, lots of someones. I wouldn't care if the full $10,000 went to taxes with not a cent to charity if it meant universal access to medical care, education, housing, and/or a job that paid sufficiently to provide for these things.

Of course I realize that a perfect system is impossible, and thus there will always be some need for charity. But it is senseless to argue that an adequate social safety net must be relinquished so that the rich will not reduce their donations to compensate for the higher tax rates that would supply such a safety net. It is suggesting that they must be allowed to buy all the bread in order to nourish us with their generously given crumbs.

[Raine]

16. Charity = what's in it for me. Does he think he can get into heaven

with that attitude.

[YoungDemCA]

17. ROFL

What an asshole.

[blogslut]

18. Back when he was Dubya's spokesdemon, he scared me

...because he was really good at it.

Then he retired and got Lasik surgery and became the weakest wingnut pundit evar. I think his superpower was in his glasses.

[uponit7771]

19. How does a person "walk back" anything they say....something GOP came up with

[SunSeeker]

20. So now he's proven he has no soul AND that he is a liar. nt

[onenote]

21. so if the government is reducing Ari's "take home pay" why doesn't that motivate

him to work harder to earn more to make up his "lost" income.

Fleischer's notion of "take home pay is itself fairly amusing, since he works "for" his own consulting firm and decides what he earns.

[Historic NY]

22. Giving to some phony KKKRove faux political charity isn't charity....

and so we're finding out isn't legal.

[chazunit]

23. When

I died on the operating table once, there was nothingness. And it was good.

[Canuckistanian]

24. Ari makes more that $450k?

And at a job that requires zero compassion or empathy?

Nice work if you can get it.

[Cha]

26. Fleischer threatening less for charity..

'cause he's that kinda Whiner.

[antigone382]

27. When gvt properly regulates rich ppl's ability to amass more wealth, poor ppl need fewer donations.

It's math.

[ecstatic]

28. Well thank God for entitlements, because anyone who was forced to depend on Ari's good will

would be screwed depending on his tax rate. Thank you for proving that point, Ari.

[NBachers]

29. What a fucking hemorrhoid

[world wide wally]

30. Actually, with someone in your tax bracket, you'll be better off donating MORE for the writeoff

[ReRe]

34. "Just math"???

Is that like that "It's Just business" meme, when they fire you in a right-to-work state just before your initial period of employment (usually 3 months) comes around? Or when the Corp tells all 100s or 1,000s of employees that this is their last day on their way out the door with a pink slip, saying they are going oversees and it's "just business", and "no hard feelings"? Just like GWB, Ari just needs to shut his big mouth. No matter what comes out of it, it is an indictment of his moral character. They just don't get it. Like Romney. It's a dead giveaway every single time they open their mouths. It's not math..it's MOUTH.

[Smilo]

35. “No one has ever become poor by giving.”

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
― Anne Frank, diary of Anne Frank

[xfundy]

36. I sincerely hope that sphincter is not on the gubmint payroll.

If the taxpayers are footing the bill for that slug, we need to FIRE him.

[progressoid]

37. Ari...

[Sirveri]

38. Good, that guy probably gives to anti-abortion 'charities' and other RW money funnels.

Just like Romney gave to 'charity', that charity being the Mormon church, at least 50%. The remainder he gave to a charity he himself set up, which in turn gives over half to... yep you guessed it, the Mormon church, and BYU which might as well be the Mormon church.

[lumberjack_jeff]

39. The opposite is true. Rich people donate to avoid taxes. More taxes = more avoidance.

My paycheck is dependent on that evasion charity so it's all good.