November 18, 2011 09:32 PM UTC

Patriotic millionaires step up - CO Millionaires Bennet and Polis stand down

• 4 Comments
• by: Zappatero

The transformation of populist Democratic candidates Polis and Bennet to Corporatist Quasi-Republicans is now complete. Though Jared Polis had small chance of acting and being a true Liberal, Michael Bennet was compromised in office from the beginning. Their political trajectories now seem inevitable: each could be one of the worst Democrats Colorado has sent to DC. And this further proves the corrupting power of money in our system and the congenital weakness of modern-day Democrats.

The annual financial report from congress was recently released and Polis (net worth ~$143 Million) and Bennet (Slacker net worth ~$12.2 Million) were both very clearly shown to be in the 1% of Americans, heading for the .1%. This wealth doesn’t necessarily preclude Polis and Bennet from pushing for economic justice and progressive policies: the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, and many other Democrats throughout history were perfectly capable. Our millionaires’ actions make it clear that they are probably incapable.

Another group of wealthy Americans, though, Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength came out this week to send a simple message to our representatives – and a specific message to the Congressional Stupor Committee that is getting ready to sell the Middle Class down the river. That simple message?

We are writing to ask you to do the right thing for our country and REJECT ANY Super Committee deal that does not raise tax rates on incomes over $1 million to AT LEAST 39.6%, REGARDLESS of how many deductions are eliminated.

Private jets shouldn’t have been tax deductible in the first place.

Thank you,

Patriotic Millionaires and Patriotic Americans

Love it. Poll after poll after poll shows Americans agree. The politics of the day say Democrats should pound this message home hourly. But our congressional millionaires, Jared Polis and Michael Bennet have been clearly corrupted by the air in DC and are faint examples of what a Colorado Democrat can be.

Shame on both of them. They are shamed by their Peers in the One Percent: Millionaires who urgently want to preserve the Middle Class, Millionaires who can afford and want to pay more taxes so everyone in America can participate and thrive within a democracy that could be the most wealthy nation in history.

(Cross-posted at SquareState.)

Bennet has shown a craven and derelict compulsion to have the Stupor Committee free him from his sworn responsibilities. He sucked up recently to the Tyrant Michael Bloomberg to proclaim the cowardice of congress and help propel the middle class into poverty:

Last week, at the suggestion of U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, Bloomberg hosted a dinner at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s ceremonial home, for a bipartisan group of senators and New York City business leaders.

“We had a very frank discussion about the economy and how Washington is handling it,” Bloomberg said. “Generally speaking, major American companies are not short on cash. But one of the big reasons they are not investing is that they are short on confidence in the federal government’s ability to manage macroeconomic policy.”

Polis has been veering ever more right as his term has progressed. He recently snubbed an Occupy event in Boulder:

I just returned from an Occupy Boulder protest on the corner of a busy street here in Boulder, Colorado.  Our  congressman Jared Polis wasn’t there.  Perhaps he was too busy signing a letter encouraging the “super committee” to cut $4 trillion from the deficit and keep “all options for mandatory and discretionary spending” on the table.

It’s a very sad fact that one of the most liberal districts in the country is somehow stuck with a representative who could easily be mistaken for a republican when it comes to economic matters.  In a crisis of massive unemployment and income insecurity, Polis has the gall to support deficit reduction on the backs of those with modest means.  This at a time when the tax rate on high income has never been lower or military spending higher.  How dare he vote for one penny of cuts to those of middle or lower incomes when we have such gross inequality!

Here’s some more of what those other patriotic millionaires said in DC:

“We want to pay more taxes,” said California millionaire Doug Edwards, a former marketing director for Google. “If you’re fortunate, and you make more than a million dollars a year, you ought to pay more taxes.” The group even told anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist that he should take his extreme positions and “move to Somalia.”

Jared Polis and Michael Bennet are both are rich by almost anyone’s definition. They would claim to be patriotic millionaires for fiscal responsibility. Yet both seem incapable of showing the thought of a progressive leader nor the ability to advance the populist political positions they ran on. Both are caught in the sclerotic maze of our dysfunctional congress but have taken on a job they can’t – or in Bennet’s case – don’t want to perform.

When Michael Bennet is whining about a broken congress he is talking about himself. When Jared Polis worries about taxes the wealthy pay, he is worried about himself. Neither represents their constituents.

I am disgusted by both and can only conclude that Michael Bennet and Jared Polis are Unpatriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Weakness.