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It just never stops. Never. Ever. Ever.
No matter how blatant the empirical data are, now matter how much taxpayer cash is shoveled to Wall Street millionaires, no matter how many polls show the public doesn't buy it, the national media will never, ever stop telling us that millionaires are persecuted. Why? My guess is visceral class solidarity. It's the only force powerful enough to explain the meme's persistence, and it makes sense: New York and D.C. journalists, most of whom are part of the ruling class, cannot bear to tell any other story than the sob story for the supposedly persecuted millionaire.
Here's the latest example, from the Wall Street Journal. It's seemingly so subtle - but its subtlety as a near-throwaway line shows just how ingrained it is in business and political reporting:
The Democrats' emerging go-it-alone strategy on health care increases the odds of passage for a House proposal to impose a surtax on higher-income earners, several congressional aides tell Washington Wire...
For House Democrats in particular, the surtax has powerful political appeal. It pleases big unions because it spares rank-and-file workers. It also polls well with the public at a time when resentment over the financial meltdown remains high...
So in the end, both taxes might hit only the very well-to-do - who already bear a large share of the overall tax burden.
As I wrote two weeks ago in my newspaper column (citing CTJ data), the wealthiest 5 percent of America do pay a relatively large share of the taxes in this country - 38.5 percent to be exact. But stating that, without stating the reason why, is dishonest to the point of propagandistic.
And why do the wealthy pay a large share - 38.5 percent - of taxes, you ask? Precisely because they make almost exactly the same share - 36.5 percent - of the total national income. In other words, the Journal (whose White House reporter earlier insisted on criticizing the Obama administration for waging war on the rich) would have us believe the wealthy are effectively persecuted by the tax system, even though the wealthy pay almost exactly the same share of taxes as they make in income. In fact, many of the richest of the rich pay disproportionately low tax rates.
I guess we'll just add this to the list of only the most recent examples of the "Cry for the Persecuted Millionaire" meme coming from the Villagers. If you are counting here they are:
- New York Times publishes claims that a $500,000-a-year salary isn't very big.
- New York Times style section publishes an entire story asserting that it's all but impossible to live in the city on a half million dollars a year
- Syndicated columnist Mitch Albom insists that says millionaires are oppressed and can't afford to pay $9,000 a year more in taxes for universal health care
- The Washington Post reports that it's tough to "squeak by" on $300,000 a year.
This storyline is the Michael Jordan of political memes - you can't stop it, you can't even hope to contain it. It just dominates the game through sheer force of will.
Feel free to add your own links to examples of this meme in the comments.
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