Why do you even print this crap? This letter, I mean.

Right, I'm unemployed with $30,000 in student loans because I bought beer, cigarettes, and "dope." I can't wait for his generation to fucking die off already.

tl'dr

Old people should shut up. When they were kids, the top tax rate for the rich was 90 percent. Ninety percent.

It was lowered to 70 percent by a Democrat.

Ah, have compassion on FP Deeny. ;) He's only got so much to work with.

I got half-way through but couldn't finish reading it, the tone actually made me feel ill. What an asshole.

Besides "idiot", is there an official term for non-rich people who vote against their own interests either because they think they believe the simplistic "flat tax"-y hype or think they are going to accidentally become rich (tax-revenue-enhancing lottery tickets?) and not want to give any of it up?

To be fair, most of the people I've encountered who share approximately this belief are more like Stockholm-Syndromed underemployed people who believe that rich people (their employers) will be nice to them if we don't tax them and move their jobs away if we do. (and the rest of the rationalization is reverse-engineered from that fear)

It's spelled "bimmer" shithead.

@6 - Yeah, the term is 'moral'.

Really? The poor use most of the public services? Well-off people don't use sewers and roads? They don't have children in schools? They derive no benefit from public parks or libraries? They never, ever call the police or the fire department?

God, I hate this tired rant. But there's a way to make both old Deeny and me happy; Deeny wants those who earned their wealth to keep more of it. OK, I can get behind that, on one condition. Fuck those who inherit wealth. What did they do for society? Bring back the days of the 90% inheritance taxes for the third generation. Why should anyone who has accomplished nothing in their lives inherit a life of privilege from their grandparents? That just creates a permanent oligarchy, a society of Paris Hiltons and Ryan Blethens.

Five bucks says this guy spends every penny he makes, and maybe more.

the TOILET PAPER! HOO BOY!

FP Deeny, wherever you are, your genius is truly being wasted.

If you get an income tax in Washington state you'll be just like all those other left leaning states like Georgia and Montana.

@9- Paris Hilton actually has done things that earned money. OK, she did things that only earn the girls on Aurora $20, but still I've met rich people who did less to deserve their money.

@13 we shut down those hotels. At least the ones in Fremont. You guys up around 80th to 90th ... well ...

Uh, Will? An awful lot of Slog readers would lump you (you're at least 50, right?) in with the "old people" you keep disparaging.

Well, Mr. (or Ms) FP Deeny, I noticed you didn't even try to refute Mr. Sander's actually-based-on-facts first two lines:

Washington State has the most regressive taxes of any state in the country. In Washington, poor people pay 17.3 percent of their income in taxes, while the filthy rich pay only 2.6 percent of their income in taxes.

That's fair? You defend such a system?

If it hurts when you read and think, you're doing it wrong.

@14- The majority of Northern Aurora is North of Fremont. The majority of the hooker activity has always been North of Fremont, given that a good chunk of the Fremont section of Aurora is far above ground.

If it hurts when you read and think, you're doing it wrong.

ahh, the feudal mind of a serf.

so what if they worked harder (i know a lot that didn't)? they still have more ability to pay to support this civilization.

and it's the civilization - sewers, cops, firemen, EMTs, etc. that keep the enraged poor from burning down your mcmansions and eating your pedigreed pets.

Time to break out the pitchforks.

I love how people always say that the poor use more services than the rtich. I don't imagine that the poor get much use out of the SEC, or the FDIC, or as much police protection as the rich, or use the roads as much, or take advantage of Pell grants, or the Commerce Department, or the Trade Representative, or have the fire department to protect their non-existent property, or any number of government services that the rich get such an enourmous benefit from the government providing.

hoity toity! bitch!

"By the way, rich most often means they worked harder, studied more and didn't buy the dope, cigarettes and beer."

Oh! Snap!

"Oh yes, I am not a member of the rich. I just hurt myself by occasionally reading and thinking."

I'm an expert so poo poo.

FUCK THE RICH THAT GET RICH ON MY CHEAP LABOR AND LEAVE US TO ROT. THAT is fucking class warfare bitch. Not by what we say, by what the rich DO.

It's so cute how guys like this think sticking up for the interests of poor, beleaguered rich people will earn them a place at the table.

I support the new income tax initiative.

But the anti-rich sentiment here on SLOG is tiresome, pathetic, and is almost entirely a function of ignorance, envy, and insecurity. Stop mistaking your personal hangups about money for some righteous political cause.

I wish it was a steadfast rule that hard work, education, and healthy choices guaranteed success. That would make the world more fair than it is now.

@25 I read the comments as a balance to the posted letter. Most of them are just saying that the rich use public services, the poor also work hard, and money isnt always deserved/earned. It's not anti-rich, it's refuting Deeny's comments about the poor.

@27: Sorry for the confusion - I'm talking about SLOG in general, not necessarily in this particular post.

@27 is correct.

The rich's paid apologists posting here are not.

My Brother-in-law was railing against this tax. I asked my sister for a loan, cause if they're making over $400,000, they must be doing pretty good!

shit's totally going to fuck with my 3rd house in Cabo

I love the rich. I just hate it when they freeload off of the rest of us.