Mitch Albom is dead to me now: Today's column in the Detroit Free Press

Millionaire Mitch weeps openly for the very richest among us who must pay estate taxes after this year: http://www.freep.com/article/20100718/COL01/7180465/1082/Col01/The-clock-is-ticking-Die-now-or-pay-later

"Of course, we should never be in this ridiculous scenario. Under President George W. Bush, a law was passed gradually shrinking the estate tax year after year until it reached nothing, a move hailed by everyone except tax-lovers and certain charities.

But in classic government form, the only way the law got through was if it had an expiration date. And guess when? 2010. Die now, or the family gets less.

Crazy. Look, I have said this before. The estate tax is blatantly unfair and, in my mind, indefensible. I have heard all the arguments for it. They go like this:"

You can read the rest of the disgusting rant on your own. Millionaire Mitch is Rich. Would that he write a column about the struggles of the unemployed in Detroit, but NO: His sympathy is reserved for those with estates exceeding five million dollars.

G'bye, Mitch. I only wish I someday have the opportunity to tell you so to your face.

..... as are his schmaltzy books.

He ought to leave the Freep and head over to the News

but I wish Steinbrenner had lived at least another year or so...

He didn't exactly fit the complete profile of a rich greedy bastard

And what does the government do with that money, dumbass? Why, it funds programs for the poor. Not to mention roads, and schools, and airports, and scientific research, and all that other stuff that actually benefits people. "The government" is not some monolithic entity that takes people's money and just sits on it; it actually does stuff with the money. What guys like that hate about what the government does is that the money is used to help other people, not people like them. Maybe poor people. Maybe even poor, non-white people.

BTW, Mitch, anybody whose estate actually ends up paying inheritance taxes had a shitty accountant.

I'm suprised he doesn't get that...or doesnt want to.

The guy is not loved by, eh, a few of his colleagues.

PS: Thanks, FaygoKid. You and yours could easily see things from Mitch's POV. That's why I don't drink Vernor's.

And inviting only the richest of the rich. But of course, the waiters, bartenders, and clean-up crew will get paid what he deems they're worth. In some cases it's a good thing we have minimum wage jobs or they'd pay far less.

Where does all this money come from anyway?
A billionaire's estate tax will still leave more money than most people will ever see.
How do we make up the 0% estate tax gift? Deficit and increased taxes on everyone else (the living).
This whole estate tax argument is just so ridiculous to the point of absurd.

He's got his. Screw the rest of us.

Greedy bastard.

There's a name for folks like that.

What a douche.

the freep in the link refers to the local newspaper here, the detroit free press.

He may be a freeper at heart, the article certainly makes him look like one, but I wanted to clear that up.

reasons. Not confused at all, but thanks. Looks like the freepers are coming out the woodwork to support him.

What a shocker.

Not.

All that false "empathy" writing by him over the years is finally revealed for what it has been. Crap.

I'm going to write Michael Moore to urge him to call out his fellow Michigander.

The union workers for the News and Free Press went on strike 15 years ago?

Yes, he sure did!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Albom

A member on the Michigan Liberal website forum posted this comment (edited for punctuation, caps, and spelling):

"When Albom mentions class warfare, he should be recognized as an expert in it. If my memory is correct, he did join the strike for a short while in the beginning. But after he returned to work it was under the protection of the Detroit and Sterling Heights police as his employer conducted some of the most ruthless class warfare in my memory in this area. The strike was probably close to a year long and even generated a strike newspaper. The pitched battles on the street (16 mile & Mound Rd) of Sterling Heights over ingress and egress to the then joint Free Press and News plant were reminiscent of the 1930's. but alas, Albom's class won."

But the Detroit News and Free Press lost thousands of subscribers due to the strike for good, and including the rise of broadband internet, those newspapers never recovered. I always considered the evening Detroit News to be the more rightwing of the two, because of their articles and editorial pages. But when the "Freep" returned and published political cartoons and editorials that were critical of Bush and conservatives, it was difficult not to remember the strike, and their hypocrisy in appearing to be leaning left.

All the good and experienced reporters left; bunch of rookies took their places, and really knew nothing about the subjects they covered. I don't think the News or Free Press ever recovered.

Now we know who Mitch Albom really is. How much longer until he is a regular contributor on Fox News?

Not many did. But Mitch was the star. He got almost all of the media attention. The corporatists used Albom's defection as an admission of the weaknesses of the union cause.

trying to get sympathy from the other 98% of us because their kids will only inherit 500 million dollars after taxes when they die.

they hire estate planners who prevent their having to pay this tax.