Rich Republican Congressman Whines He Can't Live on $400K

COMMENTARY | President Obama is finally taking a stronger stance against Republicans who are only out for themselves and the wealthiest Americans in our country. He rejects the idea of "class warfare" they try to embrace, calling it just common sense.

Unfortunately, the GOP does not have a lot of common sense. Rep. John Fleming, R.- La., appeared on MSNBC Monday to whine about how Obama's tax hike for the rich will have detrimental effects on his family.

Fleming staunchly opposes Obama's deficit reduction plan because it includes a proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy. The Huffington Post reports he uses the same tired line of many of the other Republicans, stating that it will be a "job killer," but his real reason comes down to Fleming's own family.

In addition to his congressman salary of approximately $200,000 a year including a cushy benefit package, Fleming has several business ventures, including Subway restaurants and UPS, and earns $6.3 million from those.

But Congressman Fleming says that after expenses and feeding his family (meaning after paying for their luxury home, vacations, fancy clothing, expensive restaurants, etc.), he only has $400,000 a year left to live on.

Yes, he really said this. But it should not surprise us. Many Republicans want to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, and make cutbacks on education, but they refuse to make good on the problem that started our country's economy mess in the first place.

President Obama also includes cutbacks to health and entitlement programs in addition to letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire, but he believes millionaires should not pay a smaller share of taxes than middle-class families.

I am tired of hearing those in the GOP slamming our president for something that started years before he was in office. They like to twist his words so Americans who are not really paying attention think Obama is raising taxes on us all, when he is only trying to help the middle class and the upper middle class, who are disappearing from our country in alarming rates.

The rich have continued to grow richer while the rest of us move closer to the ranks of the poor and are scared to death to become ill because many of us can't even afford to go to the doctor. Rep. Fleming and those like him should be ashamed of himself.

Most of us could live quite well on $400,000 a year; if Fleming cannot, perhaps he needs to go back to school and learn some basic budgeting fundamentals. It isn't about killing jobs -- it's all about the average American taxpayers, who are currently paying for Fleming's extravagant lifestyle.