Oh fer crying out loud.
Jonathan Capehart Ron Christie was just on MSNBC saying of President Obama’s plan to tax millionaires, “they can write a check to the IRS any time they want!” He then called the president a hypocrite for taking advantage of the Bush tax cuts, instead of voluntarily taxing himself at Clinton-era levels.
Har de har har! Oooh good one! You got us now! /sarcasm
I hear this crap from conservatives a lot, but usually it’s coming from the idiot ahead of me in the beer line at a hockey game, or overheard at the Pancake Pantry, or it’s some internet troll posting over at Post Politics. It’s not something we hear from professional political pundits who are members of the Washington Post editorial board who once advised Michael Bloomberg and have won Pulitzers. who are adjunct professors at George Washington University.
So I’ll explain it slowly and carefully to you:
If it’s voluntary that means it’s not a tax. Got it? That’s called charity. No, really! Look it up! And if we could depend on charity to do everything from feed the poor and provide for the sick and vulnerable to paying off our national debt which includes trillions spent on our pet wars and global empire-building, we wouldn’t be in this position, now would we?
And simply crossing your fingers and hoping people will do the right thing isn’t a practical or effective national policy, now is it? It’s not like it’s ever worked before, anywhere in the world, ever in time, now has it? Now grow the fuck up, people.
I swear to God, Republicans are putting satirists out of business.
[UPDATE]:
Apologies to Jonathan Capehart. It was Ron Christie making that bone-headed point. Jonathan Capehart is much better looking than Ron Christie. Don’t know how I could have made that mistake. Hazards of blogging in a hurry, I guess. Lesson learned.
Southern Beale 
The Repugs are working themselves into a froth over Obama’s tax the rich idea, and Democrats are working themselves into a tizzy defending the President – both acting like there really is any chance in hell that such a proposal would ever pass Congress. It’s great pre-election marketing, much like the phony vendettas between two professional wrestlers before a big match. If Obama wanted to tax the rich, he had two years with a solid Democratic Congress and a huge mandate from the American people to get ‘er done. Now when there’s no way it can happen, he’s suddenly for it. Ho hum.
Ha ha, I don’t need no “police” telling me I can only drive 25 mph in this school zone!
I can choose at any time to limit myself to that speed. Why do they think they need Big Gubmit to rob me of my choice of how fast to drive in front of the kindergarten play area?
It’s thinking like this that robs us of our Freedom.
Charles D:
“If Obama wanted to tax the rich, he had two years with a solid Democratic Congress and a huge mandate from the American people to get ‘er done. Now when there’s no way it can happen, he’s suddenly for it.”
You’re a fucking moron. Obama never had a solid Democratic majority, you imbecile.
Whatever happened to patriotism and making a sacrifice for the good of the country? I guess that only applies to poor people.
I’m not even sure current rules allow for people just “giving money” to the government. There’s ethical issues for the government accepting money they don’t solicit through regular channels. Thinking about the potential pitfalls of, say a corporation, just “voluntarily” giving over excess funds to the government should be enough to inform the densest why that would be so. I know there’s a mechanism for voluntary transfer of some things, the way people turn their useless acres over to government wildlife preserves and such, but I bet they’re not as simple as Joe Republican thinks they are.
Of course the world isn’t much like Joe Republican imagines it about anything really, is it?
I’m not even sure current rules allow for people just “giving money” to the government.
The IRS will be happy to accept money to pay down the national debt. It can be specified as such.
Dear Southern Beale,
You need new glasses and you need to do better research. That was not me slamming President Obama’s plan to tax millionaires. I haven’t spoken about it. I did mention it in my piece “Democratic ‘panic’: Enough with the circular firing squad.” (http://wapo.st/peHcZP) The headline of that piece and others in the archive you kindly linked to should have been a clue to you that I am not who you think I am. The picture atop the archives should have made that clear.
The person I suspect you’re thinking of for “GOP Stupidity, Now With Electrolytes” is Ron Christie, an African-American Republican who was on MSNBC right after the President’s Rose Garden address.
You’re not the first to make this avoidable mistake. But let this be a lesson to you and other bloggers eager to be a part of the national conversation: when targeting someone for sarcasm and ridicule, triple check that you’re aiming at the right person. In this case you missed — by a mile.
Jonathan Capehart
Mmm… Sorry! I came in at the end of the segment. Maybe it should have been Jonathan Capehart. I guess you wouldn’t have made such a stupid point about the president paying Clinton level taxes whenever he wanted.
Time for another blogger ethics panel!
Correction made.
Mr. Capehart:
No offense intended, but having your name dragged through the mud, as unpleasant as that might be, pales in comparison to the disservice that is done by the MSM having assholes like Christie using their bully pulpit to poison the discourse with distortions and outright lies. I have not seen the segment so I don’t know what, if any, your involvement might have been in this situation. If you were “debating” Christie or rebutting his talking points and you didn’t just call him a lying sack of shit (in as polite terms as possible) then you are part of the problem. If you had no involvement then I withdraw my criticism.
He wasn’t involved. I confused Capehart with Christie. Actually if you Google them they look nothing alike, it was a dumb mistake on my part. I was in a hurry. Mistakes were made. Etcetera.
Egos may have been wounded (mostly mine) but no one died. It’s not like I started a war in Iraq or anything.
Southern Beale:
Hence my weaselhedging:0)
What does Mr. Capehart think of the comments by Mr. Christie?