Some time ago, comedian Will Ferrell made a satirical “Funny or Die” video in support of ObamaCare, in which he pretended to appear in a public-service announcement defending “evil” insurance companies, and implying all critics of ObamaCare were their paid flunkies. You know another company Will Ferrell suddenly doesn’t like? JP Morgan Chase. Reuters reports he just lost an $18 million dollar arbitration case against them, and was ordered to pay over $600,000 in court costs, including a $22,500 “discovery abuse” fee.
Ferrell accused JP Morgan Chase of making “unauthorized and unsuitable purchases of preferred securities” for his account, and wanted them to rescind the purchase. In other words, they made some investments that didn’t pan out, and he wanted a refund. An eighteen million dollar refund. It’s always sad when such a selfless Man of the People has to suffer, much like the people who paid for tickets to Land of the Lost suffered. In case you were wondering, JP Morgan Chase doesn’t have a waiver from ObamaCare yet. Just wait until they get one. Ferrell will really burst a blood vessel then!
Every time conservatives write about the hypocrisy of high-rolling class warriors, we are required to make a ritual confession of support for their wealth. We’re not criticizing them for being rich, we’re criticizing them for preventing everyone else from getting rich. Well, I’m going to break with tradition a little. Will Ferrell landed at the top of last year’s “Most Overpaid Actors” list from Forbes. His immense salary causes even moderately successful films to lose money. Land of the Lost tanked to the tune of $65 million in domestic grosses versus a $100 million budget. According to Forbes, Ferrell generates only $3.29 in earnings for every $1 he’s paid, and that’s an average which includes some pretty big early hits. By contrast, Shia LeBeouf earns $160 per dollar he’s paid.
When Ferrell’s hero, Barack Obama, said that “at a certain point, you’ve earned enough money,” he should have been waving a picture of the overpriced comedian. Hollywood is what liberals fantasize the rest of the free market must be: a gigantic engine designed to suck the value of hard work from writers, cameramen, technicians, and bit players into the wallets of top stars and directors. Many of them rake in profits completely out of proportion to any value they might generate, dodging taxes and regulations they insist the rest of us should meekly comply with.
They’re already rich beyond dreams of avarice. As Thomas Sowell points out, they don’t mind vast taxes on income when they’ve already accumulated vast personal wealth, much of it safely tucked away overseas. They’ll never live in the world they condemn the rest of us to. The idea of Will Ferrell, or Barack Obama, putting up with the rationing and long wait times of socialized medicine is absurd. “Green” crusader James Cameron has the carbon footprint of a Third World nation. Millionaire leftist politicians enjoy fabulous taxpayer-funded perks while instructing the rest of us to hate the guts of small businessmen who make over $200,000 a year. The implicit purpose of socialism is to insulate the wise elite from the consequences of their policies, so they can think more clearly when designing the future for everyone else.
You know who else banked with JP Morgan Chase? Bernie Madoff. Reuters reports today that federal prosecutors are trying to seize $625 million from accounts belonging to his associates. Madoff is serving 150 years in prison for “a decades-long multibillion-dollar fraud that swindled thousands of investors worldwide.” Sounds like the health-insurance fraud Will Ferrell lent his overpriced talents to supporting. He’s not the only crusader for the little guy who occasionally suspends his crusade to complain about the way investment banks are handling his millions. He obviously doesn’t think all gigantic multinational corporations are beneath contempt, although he just changed his mind about one bank in particular.
