Pelosi: Rich Oppose Tax Hikes Because They Want to be 'Immortal'

Well, I’ll give her points for creativity because I certainly didn’t see this particular argument coming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-41AJfFCnY

This is my theory. What more do they want? They have…homes, bigger the yacht, da da da da, the taller the mast, the whole thing. They have museum quality art. And I decided, if in fact they are advocating for this, which I’m not sure they are, I think the Republicans just like to…have that position. They want immortality. They want so much money that their names are all over…(incomprehensible) for prestige they could never get any other way, they could buy with endless money.

She may have a point that’s worth twisting back around on her here. For politicians like Pelosi, political power is often a means to immortality. They push bills that they put their names on or strongly identify with as a means to get themselves written into history books and, if they’re really good at it, get big buildings named after themselves. Maybe even a statue somewhere. There’s a reason you can’t throw a stick in West Virginia without hitting something named after Robert C. Byrd. They look at Abe Lincoln and Tom Jefferson’s memorials and think to themselves, “That should be me.” You hear it in the way Obama keeps bringing Lincoln up all the time. They desperately want to see their names carved in marble or up on Mt. Rushmore.

They treat legislation like Pelosi claims the rich treat their money. All during ObamaCare’s struggles we heard how the Democrats have sought to pass a big health care bill for years, since Truman. It was their white whale. Pelosi, Obama, Reid, all of them treated that bill as their legacy, capping a decades-long drive on an issue that has animated Democrats for decades. Yet when it came to the actual details, most Democrats including the president didn’t even bother to read the bill. When Joe Biden colorfully described the bill as a “big f-n deal,” he was addressing the decades in which Democrats sought and failed to pass such a bill, not the substance within the bill. The legacy stuff was more important to all of them than the actual policy.

As for Pelosi’s slam on the rich itself, well, coming from one of the political class’ wealthiest members, it’s more than a bit rich. Her wealth has grown a staggering 62% despite the great recession — how? And who is she to lecture anyone else on the disposition of their assets? I suspect that some rich folks certainly want their name to adorn buildings at their alma maters and whatnot, but I suspect even more just want to keep what they earn to do with as they see fit, because it’s their property and doesn’t belong to the “federal family.” That Pelosi has a problem with that, is a problem for all of us.