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Originally published on Forbes.com.
I thought I might have been doing a service in a recent piece I did indicating that Bernie Sanders is not proposing a 90% income tax rate. In some ways the Sanders campaign is a little at fault for this rumor, since the indication is that he will propose a higher top marginal rate and he is remaining coy about it. He will then joke that his is not as much a socialist as Dwight Eisenhower alluding to the fact that the top marginal rate was that high then.
Bill O’Reilly Threatening To Leave!
A video clip from Raw Story has me thinking that the rumor might have a salutary effect.
Yes. Bill O’Reilly has promised to flee to Ireland in the event of a Sanders election, because he does not want to give 90% of his income to that guy. I have not made a study of taxes in Ireland, but a superficial look indicates that they are not such a bargain with an income tax with rates similar to ours and a pretty stiff VAT. Maybe one of my commenters will fill us in further.
A Reason To Vote For Bernie?
The prospect of Mr. O’Reilly leaving the country is heartening, because members of my family are terrified that he might actual be related to us. He spent his earliest years in Fort Lee, NJ which abutts Cliffside Park where my Nanna Reilly ruled supreme in her house on Park Avenue. Her husband was named William as was their oldest son, my Uncle Bill.
He Might Qualify
His plan has some credibility, as I have myself, toyed with the idea of claiming Irish citizenship. The two reasons are that it can make it easier to do business in the EU and that when the terrorists come on the plane to kill all the Americans you can show them your Irish passport. The rules for claiming Irish citizenship by descent are explained here. Nanna Reilly is my ticket, since she was an immigrant. When she came to the United States, as a young woman, soldiers were going off to war – against Spain. If I had been pro-active in the eighties, my kids would be eligible, but I let them down.
Maybe Bernie Would Like It In Ireland
Interestingly, in the clip, Mr. O’Reilly indicated that he probably shouldn’t have gone public with his plan since it might win Bernie some votes. I’m wondering how congenial Bill will find Ireland given that they have close to free higher education, another part of Bernie’s platform. The other amusing thing to contemplate is that it is possible that Bernie Sanders also might have the option to flee to Ireland in the event of a bad election outcome. His wife, Jane O’Meara, is of Irish descent, although I have not be able to track down enough detail to determine if she is close enough generationally to qualify. Dammit Jim, I’m a tax blogger, not a genealogist.
Horror Might Be A Generational Thing
I reached out to the family for specific thoughts on the notion that we might be related to Bill O’Reilly. Apparently, it is not that troubling to the younger generations. Kevin, who wished no further identification, wrote:
Wouldn’t change my feelings about him (he will always be a ________, in my opinion), wouldn’t affect me much at all (can’t pick your family). Might be an interesting fact to share in conversation.
My son William, a creative writing major at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn wrote.
I’d think it was funny and I’d brag about it to my nonexistent conservative friends.
Ellen Hemrick’s mother, my first cousin, was one of the founder’s of SDS in Jersey City in the sixties. Ellen was active in Occupy. She wrote.
I’m sure he would immediately disown this part of his family if it were true! I’d LOVE to use it in my anti-racism organizing!!
Other counties still to be heard from but the Gen X and Millenial consensus seems to not not be that fearful of the prospect of Cousin Bill.