Multi-Millionaire Rep. Says He Can’t Afford A Tax Hike...Only Has $400K A Year After Feeding Family

[ProSense]

Multi-Millionaire Rep. Says He Can’t Afford A Tax Hike Because He Only Has $400K A Year After Feeding Family

By Alex Seitz-Wald

Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) appeared on MSNBC with Chris Jansing this morning to attack President Obama’s new deficit reduction plan, which includes some tax increases on the wealthy. 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.” Watch it:

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Wow! After he feeds his family, he still has the equivalent of the President's salary left over. He has enough left over to still put him in the top one percent of income earners.

[hedgehog]

1. Evidently - the congressman has never heard of a small business

loan, either!

[HowHasItComeToThis]

6. I WATCHED HIM.... A JOKE

[Inuca]

2. I heard that live. he actually said

that he starts with 600,000 and after feeding his family he only has 400,000 left. In other words, he "only" spends $200,000 to feed his family. Show some empathy, people!

[tridim]

7. Feeding his family probably involves several chefs and other "help".

And obviously the highest quality foods money can buy.

It must be rough.

[Beartracks]

8. After putting food on his family...

... we must ask, is his children learning (math)?

[Inuca]

10. LOL!!

Those were the days...

[sakabatou]

28. Lemme take out my angstrom-sized violin

:nopity:

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. And it is completely unreasonable to expect him to feed his family on

less than $4,000 a week.

[Mass]

3. ONLY? LOL.

[Voice for Peace]

4. that's insane.

[Renaissance Man]

5. " ... ONLY has $400,000 a year ..."

If he spends anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 to "feed his family," then maybe his family shouldn't be eating as much. That is a ridiculous amount of money to spend just on feeding your family.

The fact that this asshole used the word "ONLY" before $400,000 shows that there is a HUGE disconnect between these jackasses and reality. Please, Rep. Fleming, give me your problems. I would love to "ONLY" have $400,000 after feeding my family.

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. I don't think that even his constituents who are barely above the poverty line,

will be sympathetic to his ONLY HAVING $400,000 AFTER FEEDING HIS FAMILY. :eyes:


He might want to keep his pie hole shut on that subject, the moron. :silly:

[LiberalFighter]

30. He should learn to live/die within his means like everyone else tries to do.

He shouldn't talk about the need to make tax cuts if he feels like he does.

[HughBeaumont]

9. pssssssst . . . uh . . . congressman? No-o-o-o-o-o-o-t helping your case.

:rofl: :rofl: What an idiot. That "many are small business owners" talking point has LONG since been debunked, guy. You have no argument.

[blogslut]

11. And when Ms. Jansen called him on his ridiculousness

He screamed "Class Warfare! Classs Warfare!! Claaaaaassss Waaarrfaarrree!!!!!1!"

They all do it and it's time to start laughing in their face. Today, our president provided the perfect response to this stupid wingnut tactic:

"It's not class warfare - it's Math."

This reply is the "It's the economy, stupid!" for our time.

[catbyte]

12. These jerks don't even care anymore that they sound like dooshes.

[Nordmadr]

13. Well, he can't be paying 500 employees and still have $400,000

left over AFTER he feeds his family. That would mean the 500 people he was paying would be surviving on $11,800 each BEFORE they feed their families, or pay taxes, or heat their homes, or pay rent/mortgage (and that would be if he had no other business expenses)

[bornskeptic]

24. Obviously he has to be paying much less than minimum wage.

I wonder how he gets away with that.Maybe Mr. Holder should check that out.

[Hoyt]

31. Exactly. The guy is as stupid as Joe the Plumber when it comes to taxes.

The fool doesn't even realize you don't pay income taxes on revenue before expenses such as salaries. And as you point out, he can't be paying much to the 500 if his numbers are close to correct.

I think the SOB made 6.3 Million AFTER employee salaries, etc. What's a few extra percentage points in taxes going to hurt him? That also makes him a liar and/or fool.

[unblock]

44. a republican would never exaggerate!

:rofl:

then again, i wouldn't be surprised if most of his employees were part-timers, so he actually could have 500 employees.

[tularetom]

14. The really mind blowing thing is a lot of voters making less than $50,000

Actually vote for this jerk. Louisiana has one of the lowest median family incomes of all the states, somewhere around $38k per year.

I guess it's OK with them to be represented by an elitist.

[krawhitham]

15. “If you have to pay more in taxes, you would get rid of some of those employees?”

NO

most companies use the fewest number of employees possible to still complete the job. Employees that are not absolutely required have already been cut a long time ago to increase profits

[Pab Sungenis]

16. There are tax incentives for growing your business

and they should be better. Do stuff that creates jobs and you won't be taxed as much. Stuff it in your pocket and you should pay a lot more.

[JNelson6563]

18. Those poor, poor souls!

How can a family even manage to stay together through such hardship?

WTF?

[krawhitham]

19. 7.25 * 40 * 52 * 500 =7.5 million

[hedgehog]

21. Full time workers get benefits, part-time workers don't.

Ergo, most of his employees are part-time!

http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Subway-Salaries-E2994.htm

[krawhitham]

22. I know

That is pretty much what the math shows






33 subways and 130 UPS stores and only 500 employes most working part time

I don't like this cock sucker

[krawhitham]

20. he owns 33 Subway sandwich shops and owns Fleming Expansions, LLC, a developer for The UPS Store

Fleming Expansions is a sub-franchisor for The UPS Store, a subsidiary of UPS. 130 UPS Stores across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

[MatthewStLouis]

23. How sad.

[WI_DEM]

25. let's see, $400,000 is $33,333 per month--must have big appetites.

[otohara]

26. He's A Victim

we need a clever new name for these out of touch millionaires who will "only" have "six-figures left" after taxes.

[kestrel91316]

27. Let's take up a collection for Rep. Fleming. I can pitch in, oh, let's see what

I have in my wallet - $1.79. He can have that. I need the other $2 to buy something for lunch, though if I had to I could get by on $1.

Sorry, I can't afford to help him out by buying a Subway sandwich.

[CakeGrrl]

32. The fool clearly has no idea how he sounds to the 98% of people

who don't make nearly what his "leftovers" are in a year.

Just keep letting 'em talk.

[Blue_In_AK]

33. My heart bleeds...

[hedgehog]

34. I'm thinking we should all send him a penny in the mail to help him out

:evilgrin:

[Hoosier Daddy]

35. These are the unspoken tragedies of our country

:sarcasm:

[Mz Pip]

36. It's just him and his wife

His kids are grown-up. I guess he and the missus eat out a lot at very expensive restaurants.

[lunatica]

37. He probably is a jobs creator. Nannies, servants, chouffeurs, gardeners

Ya know. All those low wage jobs designed to wipe his ass and kiss it too.

[Life Long Dem]

38. A talking point I hear...

Is that the 400,000 at the top earning more than a million are the ones who create jobs. Not the 150 million consumers earning less than a million.

[glowing]

39. I'm just wondering how much he's feeding his family with $200K

Honestly, are they eating Kobe steak, lobster, caviar, and champagne every night?

[krawhitham]

40. PLUS another $174,000 for being a congress member

[Douglas Carpenter]

41. the trials of Job I tell you..."why do the righteous suffer?"

[donheld]

42. Let'em eat cake

the family that is.

[vssmith]

43. Sharpen up the guillotine