MR. MITT, PENSIONS, AND WEALTH

Mr. Mitt just can't stop reminding us that he is one rich dude. In last Tuesday's debate, he was on one occasion like the proverbial dog with a bone, or a small child persistently demanding satisfaction: "Mr. President, have you looked at your pension? Have you looked at your pension? Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?"

The President noted that his pension was nowhere near the size of Mr. Mitt's. But perhaps he should have thanked Mr. Mitt for once more reminding Americans that he−Mr. Mitt−is not like most of us. He is a multi-millionaire who doesn't have much to worry about regarding his finances, for now or for his later years.

When coupled with his $10,000 bet remark in a Republican primary debate, his causal statement that many of his friends own NASCAR teams, his installation of elevators for cars in his California beach house, his other vacation homes, and his refusal to release his tax returns for any but the most recent years, Mr. Mitt's browbeating of the President over the latter's pension serves to keep front and center Mr. Mitt's membership in the nation's one percent of very monetarily fortunate people.

Rich individuals have succeeded in politics. Most have avoided calling undue attention to their wealth, and in general their fellow citizens have taken a let-sleeping-dogs-lie attitude. But Mr. Mitt has a tin-ear about his wealth and keeps inadvertently reminding us about it. To some, he comes across as a guy who, despite what he says, just doesn't comprehend lives that are dominated by day-to-day finances.

Mr. Mitt appears to believe that a few simple macro-economic steps, starting with reducing taxes, are all that are needed for everyone to have the opportunity to climb the ladder of success to financial security if not financial wealth. He most likely would not begrudge all his fellow citizens having beach houses with car elevators. But even if taxes were eliminated entirely, such an earthly paradise just ain't gonna happen. Someone who understands the real world and not just the world of venture capital, equity funds, and unbridled capitalism just might make a better President.