Larry David: "Thanks for the tax cuts!"

[Earth_First]

THERE is a God! It passed! The Bush tax cuts have been extended two years for the upper bracketeers, of which I am a proud member, thank you very much. I’m the last person in the world I’d want to be beside, but I am beside myself! This is a life changer, I tell you. A life changer!

To begin with, I was planning a trip to Cabo with my kids for Christmas vacation. We were going to fly coach, but now with the money I’m saving in taxes, I’m going to splurge and bump myself up to first class. First class! Somebody told me they serve warm nuts up there, and call you “mister.” I might not get off the plane!

I’m also going to call the hotel and get another room so I don’t have to sleep on a cot in the kids’ room. Don’t get me wrong — I love a good cot. The problem is they tend to take up a lot of room, and it’s getting a little tougher in my advancing years to fold it up and drag it to the closet. I mean, I’d do it if I had to, but guess what? I don’t! Not with this windfall coming my way. Now I get to have my own room with a king-sized bed. And who knows, maybe I’ll even get some fancy bottled water from the minibar. This is shaping up to be the best vacation I’ve had in years...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/opinion/21david.html

In the event of those not familiar with Larry David, his political viewpoints and cynicism: :sarcasm:

[Initech]

1. That was hilarious!

[jtown1123]

2. In the words of Wanda Sykes, "Larry Fucking David!" Thanks for sharing :)

[Smashcut]

3. LOL

I love him.

[gratuitous]

4. Oh, sure thing, Larry!

Anything else we can do for you and your wealthy friends? I know what a drag it is to have to pay even that pittance of social security taxes, and you don't even need social security! Can we repeal that for you? How about cutting spending on social programs? When those malcontent poor people come looting up Rodeo Drive or through the 90210 zip code, just tell them you're a personal friend of mine. They'll likely leave you alone. Besides, with all that loot from the continuing tax break, you could hire a few mercenaries (pay them under the table, of course) just to patrol the grounds of your estate. Unlike you, poor people hate getting shot because they can't afford to go to the doctor.

You and Paris Hilton have a good time! I know you will.

[jtown1123]

6. You do know Larry is joking right?

[gratuitous]

7. And you do know I am as well, right?

Comedy is tricky.

[lame54]

15. it sure is - i'm confused

[progressoid]

5. "Life was good, and now it’s even better. Thank you, Republicans."

"And a special thank you to President Obama and the Democrats. I didn’t know you cared."

:

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. Sorry, not buying it

Yeah, it's fun to mock the ultra-well-to-do. They have their blessings and they should pay more to protect the more they have.

But this is a bunch of phony crocodile tears masquerading as moral piety masquerading and something supposedly funny. Why does Mr. David need a federally-mandated higher tax rate to pay more in taxes?

This is the same non-sense that told us to sit-down-and-shut-up-he's-one-of-ours when Sen. Kerry dodged taxes in his home state by using the wealth he married into to fly back-and-forth to RI. None of us are that rich to fly prvate planes to dodge higher taxes and the money he wasn't paying into MA was shorting public programs in the state he supposedly represents.

Mr. David is free to pay as much more as he would like to and no law is stopping him. Instead he snarks about getting a better hotel room.

What's wrong with a better hotel room? I'm sure the single mother of 3 cleaning the room every morning would appreciate that. If she can't get WIC at least keep her steadily employed. Instead of saying "Let them eat snark" try leaving $50 on the pillow with a thank-you card.

He can afford that too now, right?

Chelsea Clinton blew $2 million for one day in her life and every one talked about what a stiumulus that was to the local economy.

Mr. David is invited to stimulate his local economy every day.

Spend. Invest. Mail a check to the IRS. Put your money where your mouth is Mr. David instead of feeding us your mildly amusing opinion. False piety is an insult to genuine believers.

And he made his wealth writing comedy?

sheesh!

What some people will pay for. I want my money for having taken the time to read that.

[kysrsoze]

9. Uhhh... He just pointed out the idiocy of the tax cut and how he doesn't need it

He actually participates in numerous charity functions, including one sponsored by Huffington Post, and he's an uber-leftie.

Funny, that line about being able to give as much as he likes is the same one right-wingers use about those who complain about the tax cut.

Do you criticize every wealthy person who acknowledges upward wealth distribution and the lunacy of it?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

13. Is it also a RW line about those who have more should pay more to protect what they've got?

seriously because that was included in my post as well. The "it's a RW talking point" line has become a crutch at DU. Lots of RWers were upset by the corporate bailouts too, so I guess I should support them lest I be denounced as a RW corporatist.

The one reason the rich are rich is because they keep their money. If you make $2 million and keep a million for yourself you are a millionaire. If you make $2 million and donate $1.5 million you are not a millionaire.

I'm sure the faceless, nameless "rich" we read about here at DU so many times a day also donate to charity and are probably, on balance, decent people. They probably also offered goods and services to get where they are, as opposed to just being really successful muggers. They've probably offered more to society than mere comedy.

And yet we ask them to contribute more because they have more. We protect their property, their legal holdings, their contracts. We mitigate their liabilities and all the rest. All we ask is that single mothers not beg in the streets.

Mr David is free to continue his charitable work. Good on 'im! So are all the other rich people who also contribute to charity but if he is going to run around and pretend he is the *only* rich person to contribute to charity he's no longer a comedian, he's a snake oil salesman. And if he admits that charitable giving isn't sufficient to deal with the social issues of the day then we have to turn back to him and ask is he doing with the millions of other dollars he seems to lament.

I repeat: phony tears.

[hfojvt]

14. but if somebody makes $18 million and gives away $16 million

they are still a millionaire too. But they are impressively generous.

Your suggestion that Larry needs to voluntarily pay more in taxes is just as absurd as asking me to return the stupid 2% payroll tax that I didn't want. Because my own $300, or even $3,000 is infinitesimal compared to the $112 billion, much of which is going to people in the top 20%. It's not about my tax cut or Larry David's tax cut, it is about the collective tax cut going to a group of people like Larry David, and even much, much wealthier than him.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. A voluntary tax payment is no more absurd than a coercive one

Even less so.

What is absurd is crying about something you have the power to affect.

It's phony.

And yes, you can return your 2%. If your sense of social committment is dictated by whether or not the other guy pays first you underestimate your ability to contribute. Mr. David, being as rich as he is for some unfathomable reason, can do more than you can because he has more wealth, for some unfathomable reason. Odds are you, living a very ordinary life, contribute far more to society than some writer of "comedy". Heck, ditch diggers contribute far more vital services for far less compensation.

Heck, I'd rather see people in Hollywood's A-list make $5.75/hr. while burger flippers and hotel maids earn upwards of $40k. Those who serve deserve more than prattling know-it-alls who would sedate us with bread and circuses.

[gaspee]

17. Uh - you do know MA and RI border each other, right?

And it takes less time to drive to Providence from Boston than it takes to get through airport security, right?

I live in RI (central part) and I can be in Boston in 45 minutes.

So I think you have the story about Kerry just a wee bit wrong, wrong, wrong.

He docked his boat in RI to avoid paying MA taxes. Or at least that's what people say. We have boat taxes in RI and Newport is way less crowded than Boston, which was the reason he gave for docking his boat there.

Do some research before you vent.

[Pacifist Patriot]

19. Party pooper

Research takes all the fun out of a rant. ;-)

[RagAss]

10. Brilliant job, Larry !

[pokerfan]

11. That's pretty...

prettay, prettay good!

[Maat]

12. HeeHee. That was great.

It's what my hubby told me say. You see, I used to get into arguments about the whole thing with a young Republican acquaintance (my kid's tutor). He told me to stop arguing. Next time, he said, turn to her and say, "Thank you." So, I did. I told her, "Thank you. Gee, thanks for the mini-vacation I'm going to take. I know that you can't get classes over at the local college because of the overcrowding and funding cuts, but that vacation and my toys ARE more important." I must say, it worked. She shut up.

[Romulox]

18. The first several seasons of Curb... are some of my favorite TV, ever!

Are you my caucasian?