J.D. Prose – 12/5/10

This page was last updated on December 7, 2010.

A Tea Party Christmas; J.D. Prose; Beaver County Times; December 5, 2010.

As you read this opinion column, keep in mind Mr. Prose wears at least one other hat for the Times. In addition to being an entertainer/pundit, Mr. Prose is a part-time reporter covering political stories. Ask yourself this. When a pundit gives his political opinions in one part of the paper, can he be trusted to report politics objectively elsewhere in the paper? After all, would a person whose opinion is 1+1 equals 3 report 1+1 really equals 2? Does he have a “Chinese wall” in his head to keep his opinions from bleeding into his reporting? (You may recall NPR claimed it fired Juan Williams for doing exactly what Mr. Prose does.) If it can get worse than that, Mr. Prose has made name-calling and personal attacks a foundation of his columns. If pushed, I’d be willing to bet Mr. Prose would try to excuse his writing by claiming he’s paid to be controversial and stir debate. The problem is, you don’t need to get into name-calling and personal attacks to accomplish those goals.

You can find the archive of my Prose column critiques here.

Much of what is in this “column” is wrong, but since I don’t know what Mr. Prose knows/believes, I don’t know if his writing represents lying, writing out of ignorance, or a combination of both. Also, it’s another exercise in name-calling so forgive me for not highlighting every occurrence.

Below is a detailed critique of a portion of this column.

“Well, well, well. Wasn’t it great to the see those preening Congressional Republicans in the Christmas spirit last week? What, you missed it? Oh, yeah. They were so intent on giving millionaires tax breaks that they got mad and voted against giving the rest of us normal folks a cut.’”

[RWC] First, congressional Republicans and an increasing number of Democrats – particularly in the Senate – believe everyone’s rates should remain as they are. It’s folks like Mr. Prose who want to divide us and believe some of us should get to keep our current tax rates and others should have their rates increased. Lefties never seem to get tired playing the class warfare card.

Second, no one is talking about anyone getting a tax cut. Unless Congress and the President act, current tax rates that have been the law of the land since 2001 and 2003 will go up on January 1, 2011. The reason for this is when the current tax rates were enacted, Democrats refused to allow them to be permanent. Now that the current rates are about to go up, it’s the Republicans’ fault? Sure.

Third, Mr. Prose wrote about giving “millionaires tax breaks.” I hate to break the news to Mr. Prose, but you can be subject to the higher tax rates without being a millionaire and be a millionaire but not subject to the higher rates. That’s because we’re talking income taxation, not wealth taxation.

Fourth, Mr. Prose failed to mention House Democrats implemented rules that prohibited Republicans from even offering amendments for consideration. In other words, Speaker Pelosi told Republicans to take it or leave it.

Fifth, Mr. Prose failed to mention the subject bill (H.R. 4853) passed 234-188.

“That’s quite a principled stand, by which, of course, we mean it is breathtakingly stupid.”

[RWC] It’s not surprising Mr. Prose would find “a principled stand” like equal treatment under the law to be “breathtakingly stupid.” After all, “a principled stand” would mean Mr. Prose could not concurrently write “news” and opinion pieces on the same topics. Note: I used “equal treatment under the law” very loosely since high-income taxpayers are already hosed. You’ll see what I mean in the next section.

“But thanks to the Teabaggers and anyone else dumb enough to fall for their hate-disguised-as-populism rhetoric, this is what we can expect for at least the next two years. Happy now, Teapublicans? Or, are you too busy trying to prove President Obama is Kenyan to realize that you were played for suckers by the GOP in their eternal quest to right the wrongs imposed on those poor robber barons that just can’t eek out a living on, say, $10 million, without a tax cut.”

[RWC] “hate-disguised-as-populism rhetoric?” You’ll note Mr. Prose didn’t give any examples. Have you noticed Mr. Prose never seems to mention all those peaceful and friendly rallies conducted by his fellow travelers?

Again, no one is talking about anyone getting a tax cut. We’re talking about tax rate increases.

Based on 2008 income tax data, the top 1% of filers paid 38% of the total and the top 5% paid 59%. Mr. Prose doesn’t tell us why those who pay the least in taxes should retain their tax rates but those who pay the most should have their rates increased.

Finally, why does Mr. Prose want to pick on “the rich” to have their taxes raised? Does he believe “the rich” deserve what they earn less than the rest of us? I know nothing of his financial status, but could Mr. Prose be jealous of “the rich” and believes increasing their tax rates is a good way to get even? That said, forcing “the rich” to pay higher tax rates doesn’t help Mr. Prose. Then again, perhaps Mr. Prose is wealthy and feels guilty for some reason and believes supporting increased tax rates for “the rich” counts as penance. If Mr. Prose is indeed wealthy, there’s no law stopping him from paying more taxes without forcing his feelings on the rest of “the rich.”

Boy, is Mr. Prose going to be upset when he learns many Republicans refer to themselves as Teapublicans. Mr. Prose probably thought he was name-calling.

“We’re guessing you’re still gullible enough to believe the (to borrow a phrase from eloquent House Speaker-to-Be Orange Glow) ‘chicken crap’ that America’s mom-and-pop small businesses will be driven to ruin if, heaven forbid, Dubya’s tax cuts died? Don’t say anything. We know the answer. Here’s the truth, they won’t.”

[RWC] This always happens to lefties. If you don’t believe as they, you’re “gullible,” stupid, et cetera.

FYI, the “chicken crap” comment by Mr. Boehner (R-OH) was in reference to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), for purely political reasons, pushing through a bill she knows has no chance in the Senate. The entire comment was, “I’m trying to catch my breath so I don’t refer to this maneuver going on today as chicken crap, alright? But this is nonsense. Alright? The election was one month ago. We’re 23 months from the next election and the political games have already started, trying to set up the next election. We had an honest conversation at the White House about the challenges that we face to get out of here and to take care of what the American people expect of us. And they roll this vote out today, it really is just what you think I was going to say anyway.”

“Here’s the truth, they won’t.” “They won’t” what? Looks like the Times cut some proofreader jobs.

“According to PolitiFact.org, ‘Sure, some extremely successful small businesses would be affected, but probably not many.’ PolitiFact.org looked at the research that shows 540,000 filers would be affected by taxes on ‘top earners.’ That’s 540,000 out of 155.4 million tax filers. So, what’s the GOP do? Hold middle-class tax cuts hostage for 98 percent of the country so their friends and big donors can get spare change for a bigger yacht.”

[RWC] “PolitiFact.org looked at the research …” Liar, liar, pants on fire. Read the PolitiFact article and you find “The Tax Policy Center, a research group started by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute” “looked at the research,” not PolitiFact. You won’t be surprised to learn all three of these organizations are leftist think tanks.

As for the “98 percent of the country” comment, it sounds nice until you know the bottom 50% of filers pay only 2.7% of the total, and that doesn’t count the approximately 15 million filers who pay nothing. As I wrote above, based on 2008 income tax data, the top 1% of filers paid 38% of the total and the top 5% paid 59%. Mr. Prose doesn’t tell us why those who pay the least in taxes should retain their tax rates but those who pay the most should have their rates increased.

What does Mr. Prose have against the workers who would be employed building “a bigger yacht?” Why does Mr. Prose believe the feds should get the money and not the boat builders?

“But, Teapublicans weren’t in a very giving mood for everyone. Nope, if you’re a lazy, good-for-nothing average Joe who doesn’t have a job, the GOP says you are out of luck. No extended unemployment benefits for you, slacker!

“Again, tax cuts for rich people? Yes. Unemployment benefits for struggling Americans? No.”

[RWC] Once again, liar, liar, pants on fire. Though I opposed it, congressional Republicans have consistently supported extending unemployment benefits. All the Republicans want is offsetting spending cuts so our debt/deficit doesn’t get worse. Heck, Republicans say they’d be happy to include unused portions of the stimulus bills. Keep in mind it was Democrats themselves who passed a law (“Pay-Go”) earlier this year requiring any new spending to be offset with other spending cuts or tax increases. Since its passage, Democrats have consistently violated their own law, proving passing the law was only for show.

Mr. Prose doesn’t tell us why he wants increased unemployment. Remember, when you subsidize something, you get more of it, and unemployment payments subsidize unemployment. Why does Mr. Prose want more and more of his neighbors dependent on government handouts for survival?

Perhaps I’m being insensitive. Given the ever-shrinking size of the Times, could Mr. Prose’s alleged concern about “Unemployment benefits for struggling Americans” be personal?

“Hateful? Sure. Surprising? Not at all, at least not to anyone who really paid attention to the Teapublicans over the last year or so. To quote Lynyrd Skynyrd: ‘Oh, that smell/Can’t you smell that smell?’”

[RWC] I get a kick out of lefties who complain about hate they make up when a major leftist tactic is to divide people into grievance/victim groups along lines of age, education, ethnicity, income, religion, sex, skin color, wealth, et cetera and then pit them against each other. In Mr. Prose’s case, you have to love the hypocrisy from a guy whose body of work is an archive of mean-spirited writings.

“Yep, it’s Teapublican chicken crap. Get used to it.”

[RWC] Blah, blah, blah. Oops, was I just hateful?

Finally, I know I’m repeating myself, but I just don’t get why folks like Mr. Prose are so angry high-income earners may get to keep their current tax rates just as the rest of us. How does taking even more from the paychecks of high-income earners make Mr. Prose’s life better?