• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Books are my comfort food!

He really is that stupid.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

This chaos was totally avoidable.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2008 / BoBo Closes Ranks

BoBo Closes Ranks

by John Cole|  July 1, 20087:40 am| 69 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008, Media

FacebookTweetEmail

Daivd Brooks sure closes ranks fast, doesn’t he? Now that Obama is the nominee, gone are the somewhat interesting columns, and now we can expect a steady drumbeat of anti-Obama BS. Today we get a healthy preview of the coming class warfare as seen by Brooks.

It is how the hive mind works.

*** Update ****

Jesse Taylor notices something.

A commenter here points out the code.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Hey, This Guy Served Honorably, TOO!
Next Post: The Real Bush Legacy »

Reader Interactions

69Comments

  1. 1.

    dslak

    July 1, 2008 at 7:50 am

    So, because government by corporate stooges is bad, we should vote Republican? Methinks Kristol may have challenged Brooks to a duel over who could show himself to have the least amount of shame.

  2. 2.

    jake

    July 1, 2008 at 7:52 am

    Shorter David Brooks: Obama is kicking McCain’s ass when it comes to fund raising. Therefore Obama is EVILE!

    Over the past several years, the highly educated coastal rich have been engaged in a little culture war with the inland corporate rich. This is a war over values, leadership styles and social networks.

    Yeah! Like that time the highly educated coastal rich ran around screaming that the inland corporate rich were as bad as terrorists, wanted to burn our Bibles, force our children into gay marriages and made God so angry He flooded New Orleans!

    Socially liberal knowledge workers naturally want to see people like themselves at the head of society, not people who used to run Halliburton and who are supported by a vast army of evangelicals.

    This is a bad thing? Really? Does he think this is a bad thing?

    If the Democrats are elected, this highly educated class will have much more say over policy than during the campaign.

    HOLY SHIT! You mean this country won’t be run by Bible zombies. We’re doooomed!

    Over the past few years, people from Goldman Sachs have assumed control over large parts of the federal government. Over the next few they might just take over the whole darn thing.

    Yeah. Wow. Unfortunately Brookie has no idea how that happened. I mean, someone at the White House must have left the door open and G-S snuck in when no one was looking.

    Jesus Christ on a moped. What a douche.

  3. 3.

    dslak

    July 1, 2008 at 7:55 am

    This is a bad thing? Really? Does he think this is a bad thing?

    Yeah, I know Brooks isn’t so naive as to think that people don’t vote for politicians with whom they identify. That’s a big hint that his whole column is an exercise in disengenuousness.

  4. 4.

    donnah

    July 1, 2008 at 8:00 am

    Over the weekend my husband and I attended one of the Obama Houseparties. My friend’s nineteen-year-old son is a campaigner for Obama and he organized and hosted it. He invited fifteen people; twenty-six showed up.

    None of us are corporate bigwigs. None of us have large disposable incomes. The Obama campaign we saw is based on registering voters, talking to people about Obama, answering questions and concerns, and encouraging people to vote.

    Brooks can quote all the stats he wants to. But Obama’s support will come from people like us, who go to events like this one, listen, and come away with motivation to “do something”. We aren’t starry-eyed goofballs. Every person at the houseparty was sincerely concerned about the state of the country and we all feel that electing Obama is a big step in the right direction.

    Little donations do add up.

  5. 5.

    TheFountainHead

    July 1, 2008 at 8:01 am

    I won’t even wipe my ass with his words any more, too much risk of a rash.

  6. 6.

    Wilfred

    July 1, 2008 at 8:02 am

    Pat Lang got Brooks perfectly:

    It is increasingly clear that David Brooks is not an editorial columnist. He is a propagandist for the hard right in this country and in Israel.

    Read whatever he writes with that in mind.

  7. 7.

    Bernie

    July 1, 2008 at 8:05 am

    It never ceases to amaze how ivory towered hacks like Brooks, Kristol, and Krauthamer have such fear and contempt for people who are actually knowledgable about how government agencies function and real world economics. They seem to believe government should be run by goobers who act “manly” (something none of them are) and spout a bunch of tough sounding bullshit instead of by people who are competent.

  8. 8.

    Punchy

    July 1, 2008 at 8:15 am

    If the Democrats are elected, this highly educated class will have much more say over policy than during the campaign.

    Please tell me he meant this as a good thing, not a bad one. If not, is he implying it’s better to run a country using uneducated, illiterate fucks?

    The mind reels at such abject stoopididy.

  9. 9.

    Punchy

    July 1, 2008 at 8:20 am

    A little OT, but for the lawyers:

    Does this make sense? Is a U.S. airport really not on U.S. property?

    Adjusting the tin-foil hat, does this really give all legal cover for agents to jack foreigners at leisure, as long as they’re in an airport? The implications are astounding.

  10. 10.

    Dreggas

    July 1, 2008 at 8:24 am

    Punchy Says:

    A little OT, but for the lawyers:

    Does this make sense? Is a U.S. airport really not on U.S. property?

    Adjusting the tin-foil hat, does this really give all legal cover for agents to jack foreigners at leisure, as long as they’re in an airport? The implications are astounding.

    I know International Airports tend to be duty free but last I knew the ones on U.S. property were considered part of the U.S.

  11. 11.

    Wilfred

    July 1, 2008 at 8:25 am

    If not, is he implying it’s better to run a country using uneducated, illiterate fucks?

    No, he’s stating it’s necessary to elect a government with the votes of uneducated, illiterate fucks. Brooks, Krauthammer, Kristol, et al. are the public apologists for the imperial faction that runs both parties. They’re latter day Kiplings, in a way.

  12. 12.

    dslak

    July 1, 2008 at 8:32 am

    They’re latter day Kiplings, in a way.

    Minus the introspection and ambiguity, of course.

  13. 13.

    Otto Man

    July 1, 2008 at 8:34 am

    Given BoBo’s Seinfeld sociology approach to politics, I look forward to endless variations on “black candidates drive a car like this, but white candidates drive a car like this!”

    He’s right! We’re so lame!

  14. 14.

    Gregory

    July 1, 2008 at 8:35 am

    That’s a big hint that his whole column is an exercise in disengenuousness.

    Another is “by David Brooks”.

  15. 15.

    Zifnab

    July 1, 2008 at 8:35 am

    White Man’s Burden! White Man’s Burden!
    I CAN HAZ IT BACK?

  16. 16.

    nightjar

    July 1, 2008 at 8:38 am

    He has indeed had great success with small donors, but only about 45 percent of his money comes from donations of $200 or less.

    The real core of his financial support is something else, the rising class of information age analysts. Once, the wealthy were solidly Republican

    ZOMG, those wealthy traitors to the wingnut cause. The $201 dollar BIG money country clubber elitists have been co-opted by the smooth talking brother from the hood.

    “Information age analysts” wonder if that includes Cheeto crunching bloggers.

    Brooks = MegaPutz

  17. 17.

    AkaDad

    July 1, 2008 at 8:40 am

    FTA

    Corporate managers tend to vote and give Republican.

    On this, Brooks is correct.

    ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, and FOX, constantly give McCain favorable coverage.

  18. 18.

    dslak

    July 1, 2008 at 8:49 am

    Professionals, like lawyers and media types, tend to vote and give Democratic. Corporate managers tend to vote and give Republican. The former get their values from competitive universities and the media world; the latter get theirs from churches, management seminars and the country club.

    What about churchgoing university professors? Managers in media corporations? I seriously could give two shits where people get their values from; I want to know what those values are, and if they’re commensurate with the public good.

  19. 19.

    RSA

    July 1, 2008 at 8:53 am

    Amazingly, Democrats have cultivated this donor base while trending populist on trade by forsaking much of the Clinton Third Way approach and by vowing to raise taxes on capital gains and the wealthy. If Obama’s tax plans go through, those affluent donors could wind up giving over 50 percent of their income to the federal government.

    “Could”? Does anyone know how this might work? I flat-out don’t believe it. That is, it sounds less believable than something like, “If McCain’s tax plans go through, the country could be bankrupt in a generation.”

  20. 20.

    greynoldsct00

    July 1, 2008 at 8:56 am

    He has indeed had great success with small donors, but only about 45 percent of his money comes from donations of $200 or less.

    I’d be curious to know McCain’s percentage of small donors (which I’m sure is much less than Obama’s), funny how he doens’t offer that statistic. Probably because McCain’s a corporate whore like the rest of them.

  21. 21.

    DannyNoonan

    July 1, 2008 at 8:57 am

    but only about 45 percent of his money comes from donations of $200 or less.

    Um, that’s a record percentage, asshole.

  22. 22.

    Perry Como

    July 1, 2008 at 9:05 am

    While Brooks is an asshat, he is right. Goldman Sachs is one of the few Wall Street firms that didn’t completely fuck up with CDOs and the accompanying mortgage meltdown. The information economy is one of the few sectors that doesn’t have EPIC FAIL written across it right now (you can still thank Republicans for killing union and honest labor work).

    Apparently Brooks thinks companies that suck off the Federal teat, like Halliburton, are somehow better than innovators. It’s amazing how people like Brooks — disconnected fuckwits — have no idea how the real world works. I lived through the devastation that happened post-cold war when Federal largesse was removed from the midwest. No more lucrative contracts making space missiles that didn’t work.

    So people moved away from the heartland to places where interesting things were being developed, like, internets stuff, tubes and all. Somehow, in Bobo’s world, this is a bad thing. And giving money to a candidate that often “gets it”[0] in the information age is also a bad thing.

    Disclaimer: I indirectly get paid by Harvard (among others). They are a client of my client. Apparently this makes me a bad person in the eyes of Bobo. Somehow doing bleeding edge information work is not as honorable as war profiteering.

    [0] – open government initiatives that include standardizing government documentation in machine readable formats

  23. 23.

    pinola

    July 1, 2008 at 9:09 am

    I can think of nothing more horrifying than having ‘highly educated’ people who can think for themselves running our government.

    I.am.petrified.

  24. 24.

    nightjar

    July 1, 2008 at 9:11 am

    Brook’s litany of Right Wing Code
    code Talk.

    lawyers
    employees of the University of California
    Harvard and Google.
    liberal suburbs around San Francisco, L.A. and New York
    Harvard and Berkeley
    litigators.
    lawyers and media type
    Clinton Third Way approach
    raise taxes
    tort lawyers
    special groups
    American elites
    highly educated coastal rich
    culture war
    Socially liberal knowledge worker
    highly educated class
    elites (again)

    Hope I didn’t leave anything out.

  25. 25.

    pinola

    July 1, 2008 at 9:14 am

    Oh, and could we get some stats on all these sweeping assumptions about Democrats. I’d like some backup, pls.

    *crickets chirping*

  26. 26.

    Zifnab

    July 1, 2008 at 9:15 am

    If Obama’s tax plans go through, those affluent donors could wind up giving over 50 percent of their income to the federal government.

    “Could”? Does anyone know how this might work? I flat-out don’t believe it. That is, it sounds less believable than something like, “If McCain’s tax plans go through, the country could be bankrupt in a generation.”

    I like how he pulled the number 50% out of his ass. Currently, the Capital Gains rate maxes out at 15%, with the ATM scrapping off a bit more by preventing you from taking deductions and the like.

    With Obama as President, the capital gains rate won’t just revert to the 25%(?) rate we had before Bush, but catapult past that – and the 33%(?) earned income tax cap – to soak you for 50% of your income.

    How did Brooks arrive at this number? Probably by drinking lots of fluids and then figuring out what value would make him pee himself in fear.

  27. 27.

    Dennis - SGMM

    July 1, 2008 at 9:15 am

    Brooks’ disingenuous piece of tripe invokes the specter of Goldman Sachs taking over. Yeah, right. Goldman Sachs employees contributed two tenths of one percent of Obama’s total ($571,330). I’m sure he’ll fall under their spell for less than a quarter of a percent.
    Second in contributions were the employees of the University of California who gave $466,410. Looks to me as though only $5000 separates the guys who are taking over from the eggheads at UC. If UC pulls ahead will Brooks write a column prophesying the takeover of government by ivory tower intellectuals? I know; grass green, sky blue.
    Sixth on the list of top contributors are the employees of National Amusements, Inc. at $322,050. National Amusements runs a chain of movie theaters, including the IMax’s. Look for a Brooks column wailing about how Obama is gonna’ make us all go to the movies.
    Brooks real fear is that campaign funding no longer fits the model that he’s accustomed to which makes the shallowness and irrelevance of people like him glaringly apparent.
    Here are the numbers from Open Secrets.org.

  28. 28.

    grandpajohn

    July 1, 2008 at 9:19 am

    Why would anyone even believe Assholes unsubstantiated supposed facts, as I recall asshole brooks has been caught before using made up data, and why do people even bother to read his crap.
    At what time do people in this country get tired of having the media openly lying to them on a daily basis for example the blatent lying taking place about what Clark said. Hell, its on tape and the media liars are still lying about it with no fear of being called out for it.
    When do enough of the public do as I have done and refuse to support any of the media liars with my viewership or with buying their papers, driving them to bankruptcy is the only way to get their attention that we are tired of their lies. I can use the internet to locate more unbiased news than you will ever find in the MSM

  29. 29.

    RSA

    July 1, 2008 at 9:19 am

    From opensecrets.org, we have these numbers for donor demographics (formatting will be screwed up):

    Obama:
    less than $200: 141,658 (45%);
    more than $2,300: 28,215 (28%);
    $4,600: 2,652 (5%).

    McCain:
    less than $200: 52,564 (24%);
    more than $2,300: 15,953 (46%);
    $4,600: 1,386 (8%).

    That’s a little bit different picture than Brooks paints. It’s just as reasonable to point out that Obama has three times as many small donors as McCain, and that if 45% of the funding (rather than the number of individual donors) is worth paying attention to, Obama’s getting it from small donations while McCain’s getting it from big ones.

  30. 30.

    cleek

    July 1, 2008 at 9:20 am

    If Obama’s tax plans go through, those affluent donors could wind up giving over 50 percent of their income to the federal government.

    shorter Brooks: marginal rates? never heard of them.

  31. 31.

    Face

    July 1, 2008 at 9:21 am

    It’s amazing how people like Brooks—disconnected fuckwits—have no idea how the real world works.

    You’d be disconnected from the “real world” too if you inexplicably got paid easy 7 figs to pen non-sensical tripe, show up on TV every Sunday morning to discuss said tripe, and–incredibly–have it all published and broacast on major media outlets, despite having no actual talent or ability to creatively opine.

    He’s the Kimbo Slice of the MSM.

  32. 32.

    Dennis - SGMM

    July 1, 2008 at 9:22 am

    Double post, for the lose.

    I thought you were just being emphatic.
    I thought you were just being emphatic.

  33. 33.

    Dulcie

    July 1, 2008 at 9:25 am

    nightjar, it’s like Brooks put all your coded phrases in the BrooksBot 3000 and came out with a column. And they accuse the Dems of class warfare. Projection: It’s not just for breakfast anymore.

  34. 34.

    protected static

    July 1, 2008 at 9:29 am

    Is a U.S. airport really not on U.S. property?

    It isn’t that the airport isn’t US territory – it’s that since he was nabbed before clearing customs, he wasn’t on US soil and therefore not entitled to whatever legal protections that might afford him. Legally and technically speaking, true. Practically speaking, vile.

  35. 35.

    DrDave

    July 1, 2008 at 9:31 am

    I get the same nonsense from some of my Kool-Aid drinking Republican friends and acquaintances. They hated McCain when he was still competing for the nomination and Obama was “interesting” before he had locked up the nomination because they hate the Clintons even more than they dislike McCain.

    But now that it’s Obama – McCain, they close ranks and McCain can do no wrong and Obama is toxic.

    And it is all code; all the same bullshit that they ran out against Kerry and Gore.

  36. 36.

    Richardson

    July 1, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Why aren’t the GOP hacks writing about their own candidate? Shouldn’t they be singing the virtues of the GOP’s finest? It’s not like Bob Dole, I mean John McCain, is not exciting or anything. I’m sure he has a lot to offer America – like 4 more years of the same for starters.

  37. 37.

    Crust

    July 1, 2008 at 9:36 am

    Over the past few years, people from Goldman Sachs have assumed control over large parts of the federal government. Over the next few they might just take over the whole darn thing.

    In other words, Obama is a Manchurian candidate for Goldman Sachs? And what have people from Goldman controlled other than the office of Secretary of the Treasury? Brooks does realize that governor of New Jersey is not a federal office, right? Right? Man, Brooks is smoking some good stuff.

  38. 38.

    MattF

    July 1, 2008 at 9:37 am

    Yeah, class warfare, as seen from Bethesda.

  39. 39.

    dslak

    July 1, 2008 at 9:42 am

    It isn’t that the airport isn’t US territory – it’s that since he was nabbed before clearing customs, he wasn’t on US soil and therefore not entitled to whatever legal protections that might afford him.

    Given the recent ruling on the right of habeus appeals for prisoners at Gitmo, I would expect a strong chance of this ruling being overturned on appeal. The “not US soil” argument didn’t seem to cut it there, since it was clear that the US is in control of the territory.

  40. 40.

    ThymeZone

    July 1, 2008 at 9:43 am

    Dog bites man. Film at 11.

  41. 41.

    A.Political

    July 1, 2008 at 9:43 am

    Face Says:

    He’s the Kimbo Slice of the MSM.

    ——

    Well said, and infuriatingly true.

  42. 42.

    DougJ

    July 1, 2008 at 9:47 am

    I’ve never understood why anyone takes Brooks seriously. He’s nothing more than a male, conservative, wonkier version of MoDo.

  43. 43.

    AkaDad

    July 1, 2008 at 9:52 am

    Not raising the minimum wage for 11 years, giving tax incentives to outsource high wage jobs, denying needed medical care in order to increase profits, eliminating the estate tax, busting unions, and cutting veterans benefits.

    That’s what I call class warfare.

  44. 44.

    The Thinking Man's Mel Torme

    July 1, 2008 at 9:53 am

    Bobo in print is detestable enough, but there’s nothing like Bobo in full sound and vision on one of the gasbag outlets for stroke inducement.

    One can always tell when he’s in the windup for one of this little bons mot (e.g. the Thai-restaurants-in-blue-states vs. churches-in-red-states thing) in that he starts lowering his head and getting that cheesy little grin. When he finally unloads, his head starts bobbing and he bounces in his chair like his ass had been dosed with itch powder. He probably wore on the upholstery with this one.

    Didn’t we have ye olde revolution to purge ourselves of the toxic fops? Christ, in a right-thinking society, he’d be living in perpetual fear of swinging from a noose made from his own intestines.

  45. 45.

    dslak

    July 1, 2008 at 10:01 am

    TTMMT, part of what you’re putting your finger on is that Brooks simplifies the Midwest and central states as much as the supposed liberals who figure into his strawman arguments.

    Brooks seems to think that the middle states are all composed of slack-jawed yokels who believe that Jesus spoke English and that the US was founded as a corporate theocracy. This, of course, is because Brooks and his ilk have never spent any appreciable time in the rural parts of the country and thus project a romantic picture of idyllic farming communities with “family values” and wealth passed down from one generation to the next.

    This picture, of course, was never real, and the policies supported by Brooks and the like are often detrimental to the “traditional” ways of life in rural America that they claim to esteem so much.

  46. 46.

    Andrew

    July 1, 2008 at 10:06 am

    WHAT COLOR ARE THE COUNTERTOPS AT THE APPLEBEES SALAD BAR!?!?

    Someone put Friedman in a taxicab so we can find out why all of this matters.

  47. 47.

    rts

    July 1, 2008 at 10:16 am

    Growing up in the NY suburbs (Nassau County) in the 1970s (which I doubt Brooks did) I know pretty well that ‘burbs were not exactly liberal bastions. In fact, in my home town we consistently voted for Republicans and against progressive Democrats both on a local, state and national level in the 70s and 80s.

  48. 48.

    DougJ

    July 1, 2008 at 10:17 am

    I find Bobo’s writing about “Red Americans” detestable. It’s condescending, devoid of sympathy, and, more than that, devoid of any sense that these people are human beings. It has all the flaws of Tom Wolfe’s writing and very little of the charm.

  49. 49.

    Decided FenceSitter

    July 1, 2008 at 10:20 am

    Re: Class Warfare

    “It’s class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn’t be.” – CNN Interview, May 25 2005, in arguing the need to raise taxes on the rich.

    “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” – New York Times, November 26, 2006.

    Quotes courtesy of Wikiquote

  50. 50.

    mark

    July 1, 2008 at 11:07 am

    If the Obama Money Machine isn’t stopped, we will have a president in the hip pocket of millions of voters!

  51. 51.

    Blue Raven

    July 1, 2008 at 11:31 am

    When the rich perform class welfare, it’s making sure every American can have a piece of the pie. When the lower classes note that their piece of the pie is burned, small, and getting smaller before they’ve even picked up their forks, they get told they’re being ungracious guests and could they please go back to the servants’ quarters and stop their silly insurrection.

  52. 52.

    Gregory

    July 1, 2008 at 11:48 am

    Professionals, like lawyers and media types, tend to vote and give Democratic. Corporate managers tend to vote and give Republican.

    Since when are corporate managers not professionals?

    On second thought, don’t answer that…

  53. 53.

    Fledermaus

    July 1, 2008 at 11:54 am

    I find Bobo’s writing about “Red Americans” detestable.

    I remember hearing Brooks on NPR during the ‘bittergate’ stupidity and he said ‘rural voters don’t like being psychoanalyzed by some ivy leauge elitist’ without a single trace of self awareness.

  54. 54.

    Xenos

    July 1, 2008 at 12:09 pm

    Brooks was the hot new writer for the National Review back in the day, but WFB would not give an editorial position to a non-Christian. The fact that Brooks remains loyal to those creeps to this day demonstrates his folly, dementia, and servile nature.

    He got a nice gig out of it, tho.

  55. 55.

    Teak111

    July 1, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    Currently own stock in GS and G and feel these are the types of smart people I want running the country.

    Both companies are weathering the current financial squeeze well enough. And GS especially is doing well as many of its competitors are taking billion dollar write downs or being bailed out by the Bush admin.

    The people running these kinds of companies are smart and if they are donating to Obama, that tells me something important.

    Thank you Mr. Brooks for continuing to inform the public about important matters.

  56. 56.

    Brachiator

    July 1, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    Professionals, like lawyers and media types, tend to vote and give Democratic. Corporate managers tend to vote and give Republican. The former get their values from competitive universities and the media world; the latter get theirs from churches, management seminars and the country club.

    Wow!. David Brooks and Karl Rove both have a thing about country clubs, don’t they?

    But the Democrats will probably be too stupid to make full use of this, even though it would be so damned easy: “David Brooks in the New York Times admits that corporate managers, you know, the people who have downsized, outsourced, and laid off millions of jobs, vote Republican and desperately want to keep all the advantages they have.”

    RSA Says:

    Amazingly, Democrats have cultivated this donor base while trending populist on trade by forsaking much of the Clinton Third Way approach and by vowing to raise taxes on capital gains and the wealthy. If Obama’s tax plans go through, those affluent donors could wind up giving over 50 percent of their income to the federal government.

    “Could”? Does anyone know how this might work? I flat-out don’t believe it.

    Don’t believe it. Class warfare is over. The rich won. I noted in prior threads that the Bush Administration rewards capital (investment and speculation) over labor (wages) and provides a strong incentive for killing the middle class.

    Bottom line example: a prosperous family of 4 getting all their income of $250,000 from capital gains pays about $36,000 less in taxes than a prosperous family of 4 getting their $250,000 from wages.

    The top tax rate on capital gains is 15%. The top rate on ordinary income is about 35%. Nobody is talking about changing the top rate on ordinary income, and because the tax system is progressive, there ain’t no such thing as taxing all income at 35% (or 50%). In the 60s, the top marginal rate was 70% and people were still able to make a boatload of money.

    Oh, by the way, for 2008, some capital gains can be taxed at 0%. And this is the kind of stuff that Bush wants to make permanent. How do you like them class warfare apples?

    Paul Krugman has actually been useful in the past showing how the tax code has been twisted into shifting tons of tax benefits from wage earners to the wealthy. The Democrats have been sorely lacking in leaders who can simply and clearly explain why Bush lies whenever he talks about cutting taxes.

    Zifnab Says:

    I like how he pulled the number 50% out of his ass. Currently, the Capital Gains rate maxes out at 15%, with the ATM scrapping off a bit more by preventing you from taking deductions and the like.

    You mean AMT (alternative minimum tax), which actually is another screw on the middle class, and which neither Democrats nor Republicans have the guts to fix.

    Of course, some view the capital gains advantage as the ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) of the plutocrat.

  57. 57.

    Xenos

    July 1, 2008 at 12:36 pm

    As for Arar, that looks to be the correct result. If he does not pass customs it is just the same as if the US did something illegal to him in a third country. Thus, this is a matter for Canada to take up, or to refer to an international court, if there is one with jurisdiction over travelers in international airports. If the jerks currently running the Canadian Federal government won’t do it, he may not have any recourse.

    As a separate issue, this sort of thing is tremendously damaging to our international reputation, costing us in security, tourism, business in tremendous, long term ways, far in excess of whatever BushCo thinks they are getting out of brutalizing the poor sod.

  58. 58.

    Seanly

    July 1, 2008 at 12:48 pm

    people from Goldman Sachs have assumed control over large parts of the federal government

    Schweet! I have a good buddy from college who’s a VP over there. I’d love to get in on the looting of our nation’s teasury!

  59. 59.

    gypsy howell

    July 1, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    I’d love to get in on the looting of our nation’s teasury!

    I’d say you are a little late to the party.

    Our treasury secretary (Gosh! He’s from Goldman Sachs! Go figure!) has already engineered the further bankrupting of the taxpayer to bail out his IB buddies.

  60. 60.

    Calouste

    July 1, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    A little OT, but for the lawyers:

    Does this make sense? Is a U.S. airport really not on U.S. property?

    Adjusting the tin-foil hat, does this really give all legal cover for agents to jack foreigners at leisure, as long as they’re in an airport? The implications are astounding.

    Yes, yes and yes.

    Even if a foreigner has a visa to enter the United States legally, they can still be turned away on a whim by the immigration officer. And because the area where international flights land is considered international territory, the constitution doesn’t apply and there’s nothing a lawyer officially can do for them. (This was told me in almost exactly the same words by my Fortune 500 company immigration lawyer.)

    Abuses of this are numerous. Still wondering why travel to the US and foreign tourism revenues still haven’t recovered to pre- 9/11 levels 7 years later?

  61. 61.

    Brachiator

    July 1, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    gypsy howell Says:

    I’d love to get in on the looting of our nation’s teasury!

    I’d say you are a little late to the party.

    Our treasury secretary (Gosh! He’s from Goldman Sachs! Go figure!) has already engineered the further bankrupting of the taxpayer to bail out his IB buddies.

    Brooks’ fixation with people from Goldman Sachs “assuming control” of the government is odd on any number of levels.

    For example, did Bush not notice that Joshua Bolten was a former Executive Director for Legal and Government Affairs at Goldman Sachs when he appointed him to be White House Chief of Staff?

  62. 62.

    Jill

    July 1, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    Brooks seems to believe that the “It’s OK to knock your own team” rule allows him to say “Elitist Jews are infiltrating our government.” Next up: Brooks’ column about the wisdom of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

    I read the last few sentences of his column and had to pick up my teeth off the floor.

  63. 63.

    Delia

    July 1, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Brooks seems to believe that the “It’s OK to knock your own team” rule allows him to say “Elitist Jews are infiltrating our government.” Next up: Brooks’ column about the wisdom of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

    When I rule the world, David Brooks’ punishment will be this: he (and I think I’ll toss in Bill Kristol as well) will be confined to a small room and forced to listen to Tim LaHaye read his masterwork Left Behind series from the very first word to the very last. Erik Prince, the Christianist zombie leader of Blackwater will also be there to maintain order and dish out food from the Applebee salad bar.

    This experience will put David and Bill in touch with the true nature of Red Christianist America, and maybe Tim and Erik will lead them in prayer, whether they like it or not.

  64. 64.

    David Hunt

    July 1, 2008 at 2:06 pm

    As a separate issue, this sort of thing is tremendously damaging to our international reputation, costing us in security, tourism, business in tremendous, long term ways, far in excess of whatever BushCo thinks they are getting out of brutalizing the poor sod.

    What we’re getting out of it is Bush, Cheney, et al. not having to admit any form of mistake while in office and attempting to bury this under the rug of history. That gain is worth loads more than the reputation, safety, or wealth of the U.S. as a whole to those bastards

  65. 65.

    DougJ

    July 1, 2008 at 3:17 pm

    Brooks’ fixation with people from Goldman Sachs “assuming control” of the government is odd on any number of levels.

    If a non-Jew had said this, Brooks would accuse him of anti-Semitism.

  66. 66.

    binzinerator

    July 1, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    Over the past few years, people from Goldman Sachs have assumed control over large parts of the federal government. Over the next few they might just take over the whole darn thing.

    Goldman Sachs = International Banker Joos!

    Brooks contentedly licks the shit off wingnut dick with his reference to the ‘international Jewish banker conspiracy’ the wingnut base fervently believes in. The rightwing fucktards and their allies have been trolling for it for for a long long time.

  67. 67.

    binzinerator

    July 1, 2008 at 4:03 pm

    If a non-Jew had said this, Brooks would accuse him of anti-Semitism.

    People forget there were plenty of jews who collaborated with Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto. Brooks’ motivation is likely to be similar.

  68. 68.

    Innocent Bystander

    July 1, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    Brooks – The street sweeper in Fractured Fairytales that follows the elephants in the parade. His job is to clean up the mess. Over the years, he’s done his job well. Problem today is, the elephants are pooping faster than he can clean it up.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Balloon Juice says:
    July 1, 2008 at 9:40 am

    […] A commenter here points out the code. […]

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Deputinize America - Moorea 2024 2
Image by Deputinize America (7/14/25)
Donate

Recent Comments

  • Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 9:17am)
  • suzanne on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 9:14am)
  • lowtechcyclist on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 9:14am)
  • Kathleen on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 9:12am)
  • Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 9:12am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!