Talkin' 'Bout Shaft

By Bill Maher

Here's the big lie of this campaign, the thing the Tea people can't seem to understand: the wealth is being redistributed in this country, but not from hardworking, taxpaying "real Americans" to lazy, good-for-nuthin' welfare leeches. Oh sure, that happens -- but it’s nothing compared to the redistribution from the middle up. Wealth is being taken, and has for decades been taken, from the middle class and redistributed to the rich-prick, top one-percent whose money makes money tax-free.

And the whole time this grand fleecing was going on, healthcare and college prices were skyrocketing. The top one percent realized that these are two commodities that middle class families simply cannot do without. So why not charge an ever-increasing arm and a leg for these necessities, you know, like a gas station does, gouging for 10 bucks a gallon after a hurricane? The cost of a college education has gone up 1,120% since 1978 while the cost of medical expenses has gone up 600% in that same time period.

So, now the have-it-alls are looking around at the American landscape with a dry piece of bread wondering, "Where are the last remaining drops of wealth I can sop up off the plate? The poor are still poor and we're cutting their entitlements, the middle class have been mugged and kicked to the curb with their pockets turned inside-out... I know: the elderly!" Old people still have money. In 1984, old people (65 and up) were ten times richer than young people (under 35). Now they're 47 times richer! That's where all the dough is! And, coincidentally, isn't it time we talked about privatizing Medicare?