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Chris Christie’s Confidence

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In a post yesterday on Commentary Contentions, Alana Goodman succinctly summarized why conservatives love Chris Christie:

So what is it about Christie that makes him so likable, even when he’s taking shots at the opposition? And what exactly does he have that the presidential candidates are lacking?

Obviously there’s his confidence, the sense that he has a real comfort with his own beliefs. He’s grounded enough in his principles to actually listen to the critique from the other side, which is how he ends up cutting through the nonsense that a lot of other politicians overlook or get bogged down in. That solid foundation is missing in both Romney and Gingrich.

Emphasis added.  And you just gotta love how he tells Warren Buffet to put up or shut up:

Maybe conservative bloggers can all agree to send in 1/10 of 1% or our income to the federal treasury and encourage Buffet to do the same.

(Oh, and, found that link on how to make voluntary contributions to the federal treasury with one google search.  Mr. Buffet, please note the time it took:

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Comments

  1. Emphasis added. And you just gotta love how he tells Warren Buffet to put up or shut up:

    Do we? Do we ‘just gotta love’ it? Because the only thing that video shows is Chris Christie being dumber than a child or deliberately facetious. The occasional rich person who says they support a tax hike on their bracket is making a specific argument about how to resolve the deficit issue that involves raising lots of revenue, like hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, and doing that by raising lots of revenue from lots of very wealthy people. If all you have to say to that is ‘Duh, then you can go ahead and volunteer to pay more taxes!’ is either too stupid to to understand an exceedingly simple point, or is so unsure of their own argument that they aren’t able to address it seriously. That doesn’t sound very confident to me.

    I mean come on Dan, certainly you can see how all Christie did there is give a non-response? I know you guys like to think that Christie is some super-stud who would be running away with the nomination if he was a candidate, but if this is the best evidence you have of Christie’s confidence, then it seems you’re horribly mistaken about the next conservative savior yet again. Do you not understand the sentiment behind Warren Buffett’s statements about how he needs to pay more taxes?

  2. Oh, but, Levi, he did give a response. Ever heard the expression, put your money where your mouth is?

    Maybe if he ponied up a few extra million, other billionaires would do the same–and he would show that he’s serious about his commitment to reducing the deficit. And maybe he’d spur others on by his example.

  3. It’s so frustrating that one of the few men in the Republican party who can so eloquently and easily express conservative ideas won’t seek higher office at a time when it’s so urgently needed. The media and the left is so relentless with its attacks and tactics that to see a man clearly, concisely and in a no-nonsense kind of way express exactly what is so great about our ideas is truly a thing of beauty and would beat out the Teleprompter Reader in Chief any time, any day.

  4. Oh my, Dan, you are just not getting it. Why would you think that someone suggesting that their income bracket should have their taxes raised needs to ‘put their money with their mouth is?’, and start signing over checks to the government? How high or low the tax rate is a question of public policy, and if it’s someone’s opinion that the tax rate needs to be higher or lower, they’re arguing that everyone needs to pay that rate.

    See, Republicans go on and on about how the tax rate needs to be lower and that it’s so good for business and it’s going to be great for the economy. Warren Buffett disagrees with that policy and uses an anecdote about himself and his secretary to highlight the absurdity of such a theory. He isn’t suggesting that people individually ought to volunteer to overpay their taxes every years, he’s arguing that everyone ought to be required to pay more.

    So to say something like ‘put your money with your mouth is’ is to do nothing other than run away from the argument in the opposite direction. That’s stuff that dim-witted kids say to other dim-witted kids on the playground. Warren Buffett is making a serious point, Chris Christie is disengaging from the argument because he has nothing to say.

    This shouldn’t be hard for you to not get confused.

  5. Oh my, Dan, you are just not getting it. Why would you think that someone suggesting that their income bracket should have their taxes raised needs to ‘put their money with their mouth is?’, and start signing over checks to the government?

    Comment by Levi — February 25, 2012 @ 11:20 am – February 25, 2012

    Because that is what they are advocating, Levi.

    However, what your blathering is showing is that Barack Obama supporters like you have no intention of actually paying these taxes — as is known from your support of Charles Rangel, Sherrod Brown, and Warren Buffett.

    You’re a tax cheat and a liar, Levi. That’s why Christie and his ilk are calling you out; they know that Obama supporters like you cheat, lie, and don’t pay your taxes. You don’t follow the law now, and you won’t when you hike rates; you’ll just continue to cheat and lie and force others who do follow the law to pay the bills.

  6. And then it gets even funnier.

    The occasional rich person who says they support a tax hike on their bracket is making a specific argument about how to resolve the deficit issue that involves raising lots of revenue, like hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, and doing that by raising lots of revenue from lots of very wealthy people.

    Which is mathematically impossible.

    The grand total of the combined net worth of every single one of America’s billionaires is roughly $1.3 trillion. It does indeed sound like a “ton of cash” until one considers that the 2011 deficit alone is $1.6 trillion. So, if the government were to simply confiscate the entire net worth of all of America’s billionaires, we’d still be $300 billion short of making up this year’s deficit.

    Oh, but it gets even better.

    The Total Taxable Income for millionaires was $626,464,479,000 in 2009. So, if the Federal government taxed millionaires at a 100% tax rate, it would pay for 53.5% of the 2009 deficit.

    So confiscating every last bit of wealth from all millionaires and billionaires in the United States would pay for barely ONE year of the TRILLION-dollar deficits that the screaming Levi and his Barack Obama want to run up — for the next DECADE.

    So Levi, you are dumber than a child. You can’t do basic math. You can’t do basic research. All you are is a stupid, selfish little talking-points repeater, a worthless lazy brat who hates and is insanely jealous of anyone who makes more money than he does.

  7. Levi, I disagree with your point here. Let’s assume that rich people (especially super rich people like Warren Buffet) believe they should be paying more in taxes. Fine, they are entitled to that opinion, and should advocate for it. In the meantime, they have the resources to be leaders in this endeavor. And they can use this leadership to pay higher taxes WHILE still advocating that rich people pay higher taxes. I’m not sure what the difficulty here is.

    If Buffet really believes he paid too few in taxes, he could have instructed his accountants to, for example, not take all the deductions that he is allowed by law. I never heard of anyone being prosecuted or penalized for paying too much in taxes.

    Despite this disagreement, this does not mean that I believe that you cheat on your taxes, and won’t until I see evidence to the contrary.

  8. Yes, Levi, I get your point about him saying everyone should pay more. But, the point about him refusing to pay more is that he has said he is not taxed enough. Well, then if he feels he could contribute more to the federal government, he is free to do so.

    And no, Christie, is not disengaging from the argument; he’s exposing Buffett for his hypocrisy. Instead of disengaging, he’s getting at the crux of the issue. Buffett says the government needs more money, so tax the rich people (like him) more. But, even without the tax hike, the government still needs money. And Buffett has said he is willing to pay more. So, why doesn’t he?