Man says that he cant make ends meet earning $350,000 a year.

[BossMark]

Aye that's what sad git wants a dam good thrashing

[tater]

Again, as I said above, the guy sounds like a tool, and I imagine him like the customers on "Selling New York"---that is, someone I'd not like to spend any time with. Still, I find it funny that people get so worked up about him. He pays a lot in taxes, and his "excess" expenses like hiring a dog walker actually employ people. 7k a year for a dog walker? If the dog walker has 10 annoying investment banker customers, he makes 70 grand a year (how much dog walker income do you think is reported and taxed?). That's amazing when you think of it. So if Schiff cuts the dog walker, that's a significant hit on that guy's income, more so if the walker has multiple similar customers.

So, if the story was an interview with a dog walker who made around 70 grand walking dogs last year (and many previous ones), but had his bankers dump him to the tune of 30k, say, and he complained he was having trouble paying for his studio apartment (assume he tried for the American Dream and bought said little apartment (in Brooklyn, dunno if he could afford one in the city on 70k), so he has a mortgage, not just a landlord) would people have the same reaction? The reason would be exactly the same, lower bonuses for Wall St. guys. Would he be pilloried for having been such a tool as to have bankers for customers? He got what he deserved, right? Or should the 4 bankers have kept him on, and cut some other expense, and he's a hapless victim?

[CaptainHaplo]

Agreed Tater....

This point is that someone lived outside his means. Many people do.

The problem is many here can't sympathize - becasue "their" means and "his" means - and thus the standard of living - is so much different.

Lynch the guy or otherwise punish him because he made a lot more than most others? Really?

Grow up, people.

[Schöneboom]

Does anyone else get the feeling the article was published just to make people angry? That was the overwhelming public response, entirely predictable. This isn't an isolated case, either: recently Yahoo ran a story about a banker who left an insulting 1% tip for a waitress (with "Get a real job!" written on the credit slip) which later proved to be a hoax. "Why now?" I wonder.

At least some of us know that all classes are sailing on the same ship. Alas, when the SHTF, the folks in steerage will be underwater first. Then there's the little problem with the lifeboats. Ah, well...

[tater]

The other point is that this guy's means are basically chump change in NYC.

My wife knows docs that work in NYC. The hospital has subsidized housing for them. No kidding. They make ~300k, too.

[krashkart]

Between tater, Hap and Schoneboom I'm having a change of heart. I was quick to jump the gun. Happens sometimes. Makes a better man of me when I come to a better conclusion.

[STEED]

Originally Posted by BossMark

Aye that's what sad git wants a dam good thrashing

No point, he probably enjoys S&M.

Best thing is to burn his money right in front of him.

[tater]

Originally Posted by STEED

No point, he probably enjoys S&M.

Best thing is to burn his money right in front of him.

I assume the stagehands working in NYC making 350k a year similarly need their cash burned? It's way cheaper here in NM, and there are cops and firefighters that make a couple hundred grand a year. Burn their money, too?

Just curious at what point you should have your money burned. 350k and you have it burned, 349k and you're OK?

Or is it just commenting publicly that it's hard to deal with losing a significant % of income? So if, say, union employees like teachers complain on TV that they only got a 4% raise instead of the 10% they were asking for, when the community they work in is facing large numbers of people actually losing their jobs or having pay CUTS, should they have their money burned in front of them for being asshats?

Just curious.

[STEED]

tater

I got no time for dipsticks like this greedy git in the article who have everything and still they want more.

I have no issue with fire fighters or police.

[tater]

Originally Posted by STEED

tater

I got no time for dipsticks like this greedy git in the article who have everything and still they want more.

I have no issue with fire fighters or police.

His income is not insanely high. As I said, corrected for cost of living, it's not outside the bounds for cops with loads of overtime here in ABQ. If a cop was interviewed saying it was hard to make do with reduced overtime due to lower tax revenues in ABQ, why would you not hate him just the same as this guy?

What about teachers. You could find many dozens of stories about teachers in cities all over the US complaining that they are only getting a X% pay RAISE while the people around them in this economy are losing their entire livelihood. Do you hate them, too? If not, why not?

Again, I'm just not understanding why some people are so worked up about him. His lifestyle in NY is actually pretty middle class. The fancy car is a clear luxury in NYC, but who knows if he bought it new for 90 grand, or used for half that (in the latter case it's not excessive at all)?

Why the animus?

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by tater

His lifestyle in NY is actually pretty middle class.

No, it absolutely is not. That statement is a joke. I have good friends in NYC and none of them have two Audis and a Porsche.

He's living a luxury lifestyle he can't afford, and he's whining about having to cut back on luxury items...his perspective is completely FUBAR'd and he's coming off like a spoiled brat. That's the bottom line.

[tater]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

No, it absolutely is not. That statement is a joke. I have good friends in NYC and none of them have two Audis and a Porsche.

He's living a luxury lifestyle he can't afford, and he's whining about having to cut back on luxury items...his perspective is completely FUBAR'd and he's coming off like a spoiled brat. That's the bottom line.

I have loads of friends in NYC. Agreed, none have 3 cars. So what? 350k is middle class in NYC (upper middle class), and it is pretty common for people that have humble apartments to also have a vacation house, or at least rent one. My friends in Chelsea are 2 income (both guys), one a IT guy for a large hospital, the other a lawyer. They live in a studio they own (~800 ft^2, about the size of the hotel suite we get in NYC when we visit them). Their building fees alone are like $1500/mo. The two have a combined income of 200-something. High 200s I bet. They own a small house on long island (fire island?). They have what I would call a middle class life, but if they had 3 kids? They'd be lower middle class at best (they'd not have the cottage, either). Note, my middle class includes THREE KIDS. 2 gay guys on 350k is totally different from 5 people on the same income.

Again, I said I didn't like the guy at the start. Still don't. I don't think he's the biggest jerk on earth though, and I don't understand the abject hatred. I don't think he deserves a whipping, etc. He pays more than his fair share of taxes. Looks like he pays more than twice his share (per capita budget times family members). The cars? Again, he doesn't need 3, but kids in the ghetto don't need expensive sneakers, either. People in 2012 "live large" compared to our parents, regardless of income level. A roof, heat, water, and food are it for necessities, right? His contributions to democrats are also luxuries, right?

Again, why is he a spoiled jerk, and teachers complaining bitterly about a lower RAISE in an environment with huge unemployment NOT jerks?

Given the subject guy is in fact a democrat, maybe he's "taking one for the team" to keep the 1% meme alive? Dunno. I'm not defending him, per se, but the idea that anyone making 350k who has an unexpected loss of income somehow has no problems. I said I don't think they live within their means in my first post. They need to dump 1 car, anyway, possibly 2. Vacation home rental? Furnished probably around 4 grand a month would be my guess. Expensive, but cheaper for a month than a single week on a "real" vacation, and dad can still work and commute (train down to Norwalk, then transfer to GCS). The alternative in NYC is likely summer programs to occupy the kids. The cost for 3 kids per month for that would completely be offset by a rental (it's over a grand per month for good summer kid programs here in ABQ, gotta be more in NYC).

I frankly don't see how he can afford the stated luxuries even with his 60k bonus he usually got. If the cars are new that's 3-4 grand a month right there. There's not 50k slop in his stated budget. The 32k for private school for one kid... again, dunno his public schools. He should move to CT and solve all his problems (he could get a house at least twice the size of their apartment for 5-600k in a town with good schools).

[CaptainHaplo]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

He's living a luxury lifestyle he can't afford, and he's whining about having to cut back on luxury items...his perspective is completely FUBAR'd and he's coming off like a spoiled brat. That's the bottom line.

Ok - so spoiled brat = take him out and beat him, take his money away from him and burn it, or just "hang him"? I have 2 kids, sometimes they act like spoiled brats, should I drown them because of it? Should I take everything they have and make them suffer? Really? I think not!

Yes - he has lived beyond his reasonable means and now has to pay the price. OK - we all agree there. But what right does him complaining about what, in essence, is his own stupidity, gives others the right to claim he should have more taken away from him?

As Tater pointed out - where do you draw the line? Teacher, cops and firefighters don't get the raise they want, and that is national news - while the factory down the road from the school, police station and firehouse gets shut down and not one word about it. Does that not make the complainers "spoiled brats?"

Government workers on average make significantly more than workers doing the same type of job in the private sector. They get asked to contribute to their own retirement, or made to pay a deductable or premium for their health plan (which private sector workers have to do already), and you have mobs in the various state capital buildings... Dont even mention tying their wages to the private sector! But somehow they are not "spoiled brats"? Or are they - and if they are - shouldn't we take their money and burn it in the streets, or beat them, or just hang them too?

Can't have it both ways.....