Well Lars let the cat out of the bag, Unfortunately most of his listeners (like Herb) missed it.

Larson made a statement that most taxpayers would not know if somebody else is using their Social Security Number since most people already are at the maximu each year for Social Security Withholding.

"Most People"? The median family income is just over $50k a year in the United States. The Social Security Maximum for withholding is $97,500. So how could "Most People" be paying the maximum Social Security each year if the average family doesn't even come close to an income of $97,500 a year.

So please inform me Lars fans how is he one of the "average" guys if his income far exceeds the annual median income of a family of four? Or is he just trying to get those "average" people to believe they are being over taxed so that he can get an even larger tax cut?

So Lars fans which minute were you born so we can cross off the idiot that was born in that minute.

Could it be that Lars either misspoke (he meant basic tax withholding, not social security, something like that) or you misheard him? I seriously doubt Lars believes the average American makes more than the SS maximum tax level.

Andrew

"So Lars fans which minute were you born so we can cross off the idiot that was born in that minute."

I missed the show. But if you lay off the ad-hominem name-calling, you might get a response. Otherwise, don't hold your breath.

Herbert M.

Actually, you could simply email Lars and ask him what he meant. Most likely he'll respond.

Andrew

Exactly, Email the guy and ask him. Do you really expect to get an un biased opinion here about him?

No he said it as I quoted it.

The caller had called in and stated that when you get your yearly statements from Social Security if the amount is above what you are earning then somebody must be using your number.

Lars then stated that most people wouldn't notice since most workers already pay the maximum in Social Security.

So Lars and his gang are 6 figure plus guys.

So does that mean he makes the same amount of money as his average listener? Heck no he's in the top 10% and he likes it that way, having his listeners carry his water, when since he's really not one of them.

So Herb M. what minute do I put you in for?

Not a big fan of the guy are ya?

Saveitnow writes:
Lars then stated that most people wouldn't notice since most workers already pay the maximum in Social Security.

Perhaps he meant that most workers are paying the maximum RATE? That is, anyone making less than $97.5K pays the full rate on their income. Someone making a million would pay a much lower effective rate (far from the maximum rate).

Not that I expect to be defending Lars Larson often, but it sounds like you are mischaracterizing what he said. In any case, as I said - email him and ask for a clarification.

Andrew

Sorry Andrew but your off here. The statement that you receive from Social Security shows your Social Security Wages by year.

So in 2007 the maximum number would be $97.5 k. Anything over that is not taxed and it wouldn't show. Also if you had more than one job where the combined incomes are in excess of the $97.5k the maximum amount that would be shown is still $97.5k (check your own yearly statement).

I catch Lars lying so much that when I email him, call his screener, or contact "Baby" James they just move forward and they do not acknowledge their error or false statements.

Kinda sounds like Bush & Company.

Back in the days of the fairness doctrine they would find themselves in the same problem that KISN910 had when they were taken off the air by the FCC. Oh I can only wish for those days to come back.

Yeah, it doesn't sound like Lars was lying here - it sounds like you misunderstood what he said; but since you are unwilling to email him for clarification (and I would put it that way not "Are you lying again?" in the subject line), you won't know. Sounds like you simply wish to call Lars a liar without really knowing what he meant.

Andrew

Andrew, I guess you can be fair and balanced. And probably more than me.

Herb

Update:

Lars has no public backbone.

On Larsons' Rose City Rap at 7:50 am on Monday April 2nd Lars mentioned in a sarcastic tone that Governor Ted was the first Polish Governor of Oregon. (Anybody else remember Polish Jokes? Okay they stopped after Pope John Paul II,but some people still live back in the 70's when they were juveniles and maybe even deliquent.)

In the first hour of his show during the 11:00 hour he repeats the Rose City Rap that he did at 7:50. It appears that enough people of Polish decent complained and the reference was dropped, but no apology was given.

Seems par for the creep that Lars Larson and his gang are.

Actually if you have 2 jobs and the total is over the max, they still take out the money, but you get a credit for the SS tax you paid over the max on your tax return, the govt keeps the company match.

Nwokie that may not be correct. If Lars is an independant contractor he would owe the employeer and employee portion.

Saveitnow, out of curiosity, if you dislike that "creep" Lars Larson so much, why do you listen to his show? Why do you even listen to KXL? (Sounds like you were listening for more than a short time i f you heard something at 7:50 then again at 11:00). I stopped listening to KXL years ago myself - it's not even a preset anymore.

Andrew

Probably no one dislikes Lars more than I do. And it's not his politics, as I'm a righty too... it's his smarmy smartass holier-than-thou attitude. He sounds like he needs a good can of whoop-ass. Thank god Sirius came along.

However, the guy's worth whatever he can get, and it's nodoby's business but his and Rose City's. If you don't believe his salary is fair in comparison to yours, get a job like his and ask for the same amount. And the best of luck to you.

Is this thread to complain about the level of taxes or what Lars might be making. Hey I don't like the guy but if he can make a boat load of money more power to him. Its the American way.

See, I don't dislike Lars at all - I just happen not to like his show or his style. But, I think the guy is a professional; I respect him. On the other hand, I can't respect someone like Michael Weiner (Savage), who seems like a vile human being. Lars seems like the kind of guy you could have a beer with even if you disagree with him on so many things.

Andrew

I don't know about that Andrew. I spoke with him on the phone one time and he likes to talk down to you. He comes across to me as someone who really does think he's a little better than the rest of us.

Herb spewed forth>>>>
I missed the show. But if you lay off the ad-homonym name-calling, you might get a response. Otherwise, don't hold your breath.

When YOU stop everyone else will too..... Until then... We're ALL ham-fisting it!

I like Savage.....Red Diaper Doper Babies!!!I can hear him screaming....cracks me up.

I can just see that bigot yelling on the mic and his blood pressure going through the roof. I betting that someday he'll have a stroke on air....

I listen to Lars to hear who advertises on his show. In the past three years he has lost at least five advertisers when I hear comments like "Polish" Governor and then I go to advertisers and when their contract runs out, there no longer on during the Larson Show.

Lars like his buddies never apologizes or makes corrections, they just move forward like the charging elephants that they are.

So this post is for everybody like Herb et al who think Lars and his gang "stand up for the rest of us."

Lars is really a wimp, who if he didn't have a microphone would be out in the street like the ones he critizes.

Most of the junk he says on the air and pushing the GOP talking points he would have been taken off the air if we had the FCC we had back in the 60's and 70's remember what happen to KISN back then. We just need it to come back.

As for the righties I am just pointing out how weak your role models are.

Trixter, you just know it's gonna happen.

Only a matter of time.

Maybe some additional calls to his sponsors would help save his life! We are all just here to help right?

Saveitnow, I'm gonna do that once per month for a while. --thanks for the reminder.

Remember, Lars like to tell government what to do, but when he had a chance to run for governor, he said he could not afford to do it. He put money ahead of his beliefs, it appears. If he really wanted to make a change, he would put himself in front of voters, then he would know how weak his strength really is.

Just about every candidate he endorses loses. Do you see a pattern here?

Exactly. He railed against Ted K, someone whose public support was already weak to begin with, yet Ted K won reelection by a large margin. Lars represents a minority of people . . . many of whom can't vote on issues he huffs and puffs about (they don't live in Oregon!)

Lars, however, is free to earn as much dough as he can squeeze out of suckers.

Well that sucker would be Paul Allen. As for Uncle Paul he let an East Coast union teacher pension fund underwrite the Rose Garden and then defaulted on the loan.

Did he want the Rose Garden back? Sure after the remodel was complete. In a building like the Rose Garden a million dollars in remodeling only increases the value of the building by about half. So Uncle Paul waited until the remodel was complete before offering to buy the building back.

So you can understand why Paul might be keeping Lars, as Paul's hands are bloody from beating up on a pension plan and then you have Lars on the other side saying that PERS is bleeding the state by having tax payers pay more for pension costs when investments in buildings like the Rose Garden are defulated upon by one of the 10 richest people in the world.

Maybe if people like Paul Allen just paid the contract he orginally agreed to then the pension funds holders would not have to come back to taxpayers to raise taxes to offset defaults made by people like Paul Allen.

Has Lars ever taken on the misdoings of Paul Allen??? I wonder.

No, in fact he's a lap dog for Paul Allen. When the Rose Garden was prepared to go into default he used the company line that the lenders and the City of Portland had "got all their money back."

I emailed in "did that mean they got their principal and interest?" He emailed back they got their money.

For those who followed the bankruptcy they got the principal back but little if any interest.

Upon finding this out I emailed Lars that with the Blazers logic I could stop paying my mortgage as the bank had received payments equal to the principal and like the Blazers I would just stop making the payments that were equal to the interest. I received no response to that one.

Hey, let's give Lars a bit of a break. After all, he is an entertainer, and no longer a journalist, so we should not be surprised to see that he has sold his ethics for big bucks.

There's no reason to back off on the ethics pressure . . . who knows, Lars may stumble over his ethics and pull a Matthew Dowd.

They havent announced what paul Allen paid to get the rose Garden back, interesting though, he kept his apartment there all along, wonder what his rent was?