Wednesday, October 26, 2011

What's the Matter with Danny?

Philadelphia's Daniel Berger is a rich man who has made millions being a class-action attorney. He thinks rich guys like him should pay more taxes. But he won't give the government any more of his own money voluntarily, unless all his fellow millionaires are forced to give involuntarily.

Also, he thinks that many people who attended the Tea Party protests did so because they are "white supremacists." Specifically, they reminded him of the "Ku Klux Klan."

Nice!

According to the story, Berger thinks taxes on the wealthy should be increased 13 percent. I doubt he means that the federal tax code should make the top marginal rate 49 percent for rich guys like him, but it isn't clear what his plan is from the article.

Mr. Berger sees no problem with the amount of money the federal government spends, either by taking it from citizens or by borrowing it from future generations. It is Berger's considered opinion that the federal government needs more money and he, being a "Patriotic Millionaire" is willing to provide it, as long as others are coerced into joining him.

A skeptical journalist might wonder if Berger is playing him for a sucker. After all, Berger knows there is no reasonable chance for such a tax increase to pass in the near future and so he is quite safe in proposing it.

Berger has already failed the test of putting his own money where his mouth is when it comes to voluntarily giving more of it to the government.

Furthermore, he has already made his millions. Any future tax increase would be on future income, not past windfalls of his class-action settlements, which notoriously benefit lawyers more than their clients or anyone else. (If you've ever been sent a voucher or a check for $1.13 thanks to a class-action lawsuit, you'll know what I mean.)

And Berger promoting himself as a generous and "patriotic" citizen as he slanders working, middle class Americans because of their concern about government overspending is far from admirable. Actually, it's kind of tacky.

One more thing, the headline: 21st-century Robin Hood advocates higher riches for poor to help middle class What does that even mean? And how do higher "riches" for the poor "help" the middle class? It sure doesn't say in the article.

What a mess.

2 Comments:

Blogger Dannytheman said...

OK, this headline got me here pretty fast. (Narcissistic? I hope not!)

But guys like this one always get my goat. "I think the rich, like them, should pay more taxes." While, like you said, he lives on investments that have a much lower tax rate. He probably has a legal residence in a state that has no income tax, too!

People who made big money (RICH, well to do)in New York got hit by increased State tax. You know what they did? They moved! Simple as that. They already had a couple houses to choose from, so they stay in NY exactly the amount of days they can and NOT be a resident.
This Danny is a major loser.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-09-27/local/30234164_1_tax-filers-brain-drain-incomes

October 26, 2011 at 12:31 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've spent my life working hard to upgrade from the middle-lower-class to the upper-lower-class [income wise] and then, once that was achieved to move on to the upper-lower-class income level to aspiring to reach the lower-middle-class income level... I finally realized that objective. And here I am, ready to retire, the interest rates on my IRA are almost zero, and I have to look forward to spending the principal of my retirement funds instead of being able to at least partially subsist from the income on the fund... Danny doesn't have a clue of what is happening out here in the real world. He's made his millions [no doubt mega-millions] off the backs of investors by virtue of his fancy class action lawsuits. He is comfortable for life as a result. But those whom he represented are still struggling with the reality of today's markets. Danny made more money than did any of the people he reprsented. But now he gets a stroke of conscience and wants to pay more taxes, and then to have his clients do so as well... This guy should be forced someday to climb down to the middle-class or lower-middle class and see what life is really like...

October 26, 2011 at 8:58 PM 

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