Reich: Rich Who Resent Higher Taxes Not 'Patriotic'; Cenk: I'm Not Rich

April 12th, 2011 8:22 AM

We all know that since Barack Obama was elected, dissent has gone from being the highest form of patriotism, as those liberal bumper-stickers liked to remind us, to being downright unpatriotic, as we've chronicled here and here.

Robert Reich has now added another item to the list of things that are unpatriotic: resenting higher taxes if you're rich.  Not that Cenk Uygur has to worry.  He has classified himself as "one of the rest of us," rather than a member of "the rich."  But can that be right?

The interesting dialogue went down on Uygurs's MSNBC show last evening.  View video after the jump.

Remember.  America--Love Higher Taxes Or Leave It!

 

CENK UYGUR: To the point on taxes, we can also talk about the Clinton experience there.  Now, there was a higher tax rate for everybody.  For the rich, but also for the rest of us.

 


And a bit later.


ROBERT REICH: I think it's a matter of patriotism here, as well.  If you are taking home a bigger slice of the economy, and you're paying less and less in terms of your tax rates, and you're imposing the costs on everybody else, are you really being patriotic, are you really fulfilling your responsibility to this country?  I would say possibly no.
 

As to Cenk's description of himself as one of "the rest of us," rather than "the rich": reader Crim at FreeRepublic posted a link to this site, which lists Uygur's net worth at $3.5 million.  We can't independently verify that, but let's engage in some informed speculation.   According to the latest numbers, Uygur's ratings are about 20% lower than Chris Matthews'.   Matthews reportedly makes about $5 million per year.  If Cenk is pulling down 1/10th of that, he'd be making $500,000.  At 1/20th of Matthews salary, Uygur would still be earning $250,000.   What does it take to be rich in Cenk's book?