Sad news! While sales of peasant dwellings have begun to creep upward due to the first-time home buyer tax credit, low mortgage rates, expanded FHA loans, and of course FIRE SALE PRICING on foreclosed homes, homes costing more than $750,000 have been difficult to move in this market. Wealthy home owners (or “the middle class,” as they’re known in pricey markets like New York, DC, and the Bay Area) are finding it difficult to sell their million-dollar shacks. However, at least some of them are able to rent out their sad dwellings for, oh, $7500 a month, so don’t feel too bad about this problem yet. MORE »

MONEYLAND: “The new top three [richest U.S. counties] are now Loudon County, Virginia; Fairfax County, Virginia; and Howard County, Maryland. All three are suburbs or exurbs of Washington, D.C. In 2000, 14 of the 100 richest counties were in the Washington, D.C., area. In 2007, it was nine of the richest 20.” [Reason]

This thing about John McCain’s houses is too good. John McCain cannot remember how many houses he owns, because he doesn’t really own any, because his wife inherited most of them. You know, his wife, Cindy — the same Cindy whose father bought WALNUTS! a seat in Congress as a wedding gift. John McCain’s life has been so kooky! And that’s why his campaign released a comical statement today in response to Obama’s “Seven Houses” ad. It is, how shall we say, loaded? MORE »

In 2004 all the Republicans hated the Democratic ex-Navy plutocrat married to an insanely wealthy (and just insane) woman. But now that it is 2008, all the Democrats hate the Republican ex-Navy plutocrat married to an insanely wealthy, insane woman. How awful is Fat Cat John McCain? So awful that he literally has no idea how many homes “he” owns. MORE »

Kathleen Portalksi is no Cooter Obama, but she’ll do! This lady is 11 years older than her more famous half-sister, Cindy McCain. And when their father (Jim Hensley) died, he left just $10,000 to Kathleen and bequeathed his entire massive beer fortune to Cindy. That is pretty fucking harsh. MORE »

The poor super-rich. While America’s richest 1% still rule the country, controlling more wealth than the entire bottom 90%, it’s become much harder for them to prove how wealthy they are through ostentatious consumption. Because everyone in America owns two homes and a yacht now, haven’t you heard? George Will has, and his column — filed directly from the Bizarro Planet — urges you, the little guy, to take pity on the plutocracy. MORE »

So the SEIU has this thing where they ask all the candidates to “walk a mile in my shoes,” where the “my” is your typical SEIU member, i.e. not a rich person. Chris Dodd did it and the pictures are hilarious. Tomorrow, Barack Obama will pretend to a healthcare worker for a day. Because playing dress-up and entering the land of make-believe is the surest way of proving that you care about and understand the problems of the American working class. But hell, why limit it to the working class? Why can’t other groups get in on this action? Why can’t the candidates walk this mile in more comfortable shoes, belonging to people with more exciting jobs? We think it might go, a little something, like this… MORE »

To be president, as we learned in high school civics classes, you must be tall and rich. But to run for president, you must only be wealthy — which explains, say, the candidacies of Tom Tancredo and Dennis Kucinich. MORE »

In the US, our elected officials are public servants. They legislate and, uh, judge, and… execute out of a sense of patriotic duty, and respect for the democratic process. Certainly not for the money — why the average Senator barely makes twice as much as the majority of his constituents! MORE »

wonkette: k, tell me something: WHAT THE FUCK IS MICHAEL KINSLEY GOING ON ABOUT HERE
operative: ???
wonkette: it’s like he’s writing from an entirely different world
wonkette: a wondrous world of his imagination
wonkette: “It’s probably true that most billionaires have acquired their wealth in ways that make life better for the rest of us.”
wonkette: WHY IS THAT A GIVEN?
wonkette: WHY IS THAT PRESENTED AS SOMETHING HE ASSUMES HIS AUDIENCE WILL ALREADY TAKE FOR GRANTED?
operative: I enjoy the half-hearted debunking of Social Darwinism
wonkette: i can’t even figure out what he’s arguing because the premises all involve parallel universe logic
operative: way to be a moderate from the late eighteenth century, Mike
wonkette: “Surprisingly, not *all* rich people are morally superior to you.”
operative: “Meanwhile, science undermines the notion that people deserve moral credit for their smarts, daring, vision, dedication and similar virtues, even when these are applied in socially beneficial ways.”
operative: what does that mean?
operative: what the hell is moral credit?
operative: can you use it to buy a plenary indulgence?
operative: was he just building up to the idea that maybe we should have a special billionaire’s tax?
wonkette: HE SAYS HE DOESN’T AGREE WITH THAT IDEA
operative: but, but…
operative: I DON’T UNDERSTAND MORE »