The 1 Percent Republic

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/News/224945/the-1-percent-republic/

The 1 Percent Republic
El Diario, Spain
By Iñigo Sáenz de Ugarte
Translated By Laura L. Messer
19 October 2013
Edited by Bora Mici

“Really, if the lower orders don't set us a good example, what on earth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility.” Oscar Wilde was trying to be ironic when he had Algernon, a character in “The Importance of Being Earnest,” pronounce these words. Now we are living in an era when very real characters are clearly at the height of the aristocracy Wilde imagined.

Let us take as an example multimillionaire Stephen Schwarzman — with personal assets of $6.5 billion — CEO of the Blackstone investment fund. When asked about America's fiscal problems, he noted the 45 percent of his compatriots who did not pay federal income taxes:

"The issue isn't the amount, it's the concept that we are all in this together, solving problems together. I can't micromanage what anybody pays or doesn't pay. But the concept that half of the public isn't involved with the income tax system is somewhat odd and I'm not saying how much people should do, but we should all be part of the system."

That 45 percent is mainly made up of taxpayers who do not meet the minimum requirements to pay direct taxes: the unemployed, students, retired people. Obviously, they do pay indirect taxes.

[Demeter]

1. Irony so hard, you can kill with it

Mr. Schwarzman needs to spend some time in the lower classes...without his $6.5 B cushion.