I’m both amused and confused by Edgar Allen Beem’s recent column, “The rich vs. the rest of us.” First, Mr. Beem seems to hold Mitt Romney to a “rich standard” that somehow seems to overlook Bill Clinton, net worth $80 million; Al Gore, net worth $100 million; John Kerry, net worth $193 million, and the list goes on and on – countless members of Congress and the husband of our congresswoman, all multi-millionaires.

If Mr. Beem’s contempt is across the board than I applaud him for being honest. If his contempt rains only on conservative rich folks, than that’s very sad. My amusement comes about by knowing the rich folks Mr. Beem seems to despise have given me and hundreds of tradesmen work for many years. I’ve been in business for a long time and I have shown up on job sites with Obama/Biden/Kerry/Edwards/Bush/Cheney/McCain/Palin lawn signs and bumper stickers, and every one of them, no matter what political stripe they were, paid well and were very gracious to work for. So I just don’t see this them against us mindset. So yes, Mr. Beem. they create jobs, and no they all didn’t inherit their wealth, and yes most of them are pretty generous.

Paul Marseglia
Dresden