Tuesday, September 20, 2011

LA rep. 'only' has $400K to live on after feeding family



Whoa. Louisiana Rep. John Fleming, a multimillionaire owner of Subway shops and UPS stores, says he can't afford a tax hike because he "only" has $400,000 left after he feeds his family.

Gee, maybe Rep. Sean Duffy has reason to complain about his meager $174,000 a year salary.

Fleming was attacking President Obama's plan to tax the rich as "class warfare" on MSNBC.

Here's ThinkProgress on poor widdle Rep. Fleming:
...Taking up the typical GOP talking point, Fleming said raising taxes on wealthy “job creators” is a terrible idea that kills jobs because many of these people are small business owners who pay taxes through personal income rates.
Fleming is himself a businesses owner, so Jansing asked, “If you have to pay more in taxes, you would get rid of some of those employees?” Fleming responded by saying that while his businesses made $6.3 million last year, after you “pay 500 employees, you pay rent, you pay equipment, and food,” his profits “a mere fraction of that” — “by the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over...”