Joe Scarborough Jumps All Over Mika Brzezinski for Asking T. Boone Pickens How Much Money He Earned
T. Boone Pickens is apparently very upset that President Obama has been calling for the rich to pay their fair share in taxes and on this Wednesday's Morning Joe, he wanted to do plenty of griping about it, but wasn't willing to be straight forward about exactly how much money he earns. Scarborough for his part, did try to get Pickens to say what percentage of income he thought was a fair amount to pay, but after Pickens was only willing to throw out some obscure number of what he paid in taxes over who knows how long of a period of time, Scarborough jumped all over Mika Brzezinski for daring to try to pin Pickens down on how much income he was talking about so they could know what percentage he actually paid.
PICKENS: The President is confusing me. Every time he's on TV he says that the rich should pay their fair share.
BRZEZINSKI: What's wrong with that?
PICKENS: Well, I don't know what fair share is you see. That's what's bothering me. I always want to be fair and historically I've been a very fair guy. I'm 83. I still go to work in the morning at eight o'clock. I have 150 people work for me and some place in here I feel like I'm letting the country down and so I need to know, what they want.
BRZEZINSKI: Well, we could start with taxes.
SCARBOROUGH: Warren Buffet paid about eighteen percent of what he made... seventeen percent in taxes. Is that fair?
PICKENS: Well let me take you back. After I was 70 years old, I paid I paid $665 million in taxes, is that fair?
SCARBOROUGH: Well, you made a lot of money.
BRZEZINSKI: Well, I don't know how much you made, Mr. Pickens. Why don’t you give me the full numbers?
PICKENS: Full numbers? Tell me exactly what full number means? […] How much did I make? […]
SCARBOROUGH: You don’t have to answer that question,” interjected Scarborough. Come on! No, it’s none of your business! You going to tell everybody how much you make?
BRZEZINSKI: I’m not making an argument about how much I paid in taxes. It sounded like such a big number and then not disclosing...
PICKENS: You feel like I’m not paying my fair share after $665 million and I’m over 70 years old?
Sir, with all due respect, it depends on what you make.SCARBOROUGH: I, for one, am glad you’re paying $665 million in the United States treasury.
Willie Geist later got Pickens to admit that he makes most of his money through investments and is probably just paying the rate for capital gains. Pickens then went on to say that he didn't pay any taxes this year because he didn't make any money and claimed they did not ask him what he made (which Brzezinski clearly did since that's what Scarborough was chastising her for).
So who knows over what period Pickens was talking about when he said he paid the $665 million since he didn't specify how many years he was talking about other than to say he paid that much after he was 70. What is clear is he came on with the intention of playing the poor over-taxed millionaire and was hoping he could just toss some meaningless numbers around and no one would call him out for it. Why Scarborough thought it was fair to ask him what percentage he paid in taxes, but that Brzezinski's follow up was not is beyond me, but not surprising coming from Scarborough.
If you are going to claim you go to work @8am every morning, then maybe it would be a good idea not to appear on cable TV bullshit-fests @ 8am. I hope you called in sick.
This old man is a typical 1% bullshitter.
You could tax his cranky ass 99% & he would still be a multi-millionaire.
It's amazing this guy has only has a limited number of years to live, yet he is still playing the rich white man persecuted victim.
This old creep will draw his last breath sincerely believing "liberal America" gave him a raw deal in life.
When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in excess body fat & carrying a misspelled sign.
Your point about still being a millionaire or billionaire if they paid higher taxes, as well as Elizabeth Warren's comments about the fact that no wealthy person became rich on their own or without using some type of infrastructure built / run by working class people, should be pile-driven into the mindset of every citizen in America. I don't think anyone's blaiming the rich simply for being rich, but when they screw their neighbor to get it and then duck their taxes it's wrong, it's been wrong for a long time and everybody knows it, except delusional LOV's that continue to vote Republican. Whenever the rich are asked to disclose information about their financial gains, they act like a 2 yr. old that put his shoes on the right way..."I did it all by myself...yeah!" Right...right...and I'm sure you also maintained the equipment used to build your widgets, welded/bolted them together during the graveyard shift for shitty pay and marginal benefits and then packed and drove the semi-truck across country to deliver said widgets. Then dipshit Morning Joe Scarborough flogs Mika Russian Name for asking a valid question. FUCK. THIS. SHIT.
"Banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." Thomas Jefferson
She should have asked Big Nose Picken's how much money he stole?
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
I'd like to know how much money these 1% make and how much taxes they paid.
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