Why is success being vilified in America?

Why is success being vilified?

California Federation of Teachers takes class warfare to a new low

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," December 4, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: The California Federation of Teachers are taking class warfare now to the extreme. The group put together a cartoon, it posted it on their website demonizing wealthy Americans for their success. And they got a little help from left wing radical Hollywood actor Ed Asner as he narrates this disgusting hit piece. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CTF.ORG)

ED ASNER, HOLLYWOOD ACTOR: Over time, rich people decided they weren't witch enough so they came up with ways to get richer. The first way was through tax cuts. They didn't mind that this meant fewer services for everyone. They said, why should I care about other non-rich people? I can hire teacher, safety, waste disposal people to work for me for less money than taxes cost. And then I can keep the rest of my taxes for me. Schools, public safety, the roads, parks, libraries, public transportation, all went into decline. The rich people didn't care. They said everyone gets what they deserve. When ordinary people wondered why rich people needed so much money, the one percent said, "Don't worry. This is good for you, too, because it will trickle down from us to you. "

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Urinating on people. Classy image. Now, doesn't get much worse than that.

Joining me with reaction, Fox News contributors, from The Daily Caller Tucker Carlson and columnist for the Daily Beast, Kirsten Powers. You know, I watch this and it goes on seven minutes long, Kirsten, and I thought of past propaganda. And I thought, you know, at the end of this, somebody watches this, they get indoctrinated. They really begin to believe that rich people are evil. Did you get that feeling? It was that bad to me.

KIRSTEN POWERS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: It was pretty bad. I have to say even I found it offensive.

HANNITY: Even I, yes.

POWERS: Yes. No. Look, it goes a little too far. I think you can certainly make an argument that there are rich people who are indifferent to poor people, but I don't think that you could say that about all people. I don't think all rich people who want tax cuts are completely indifferent to people who don't have money. I think it was a little too much demonizing for my taste.

HANNITY: You know, it seems, Tucker, this is a different America. We grew up in an America where if you really work hard and you study and you play by the rules and you produce goods and services for other people. How did we get to the point where success, you're now viewed as evil if you're successful. And now demonized openly by the left, what happened?

TUCKER CARLSON, THE DAILY CALLER: There's really no overstating how dumb this is. I mean, it really is soviet realism. It looks like something produced by the North Korean Ministry of Truth. And what's so upsetting about it is that the teachers did this. I've got to believe your average California teacher does not agree with that. But the idea that there are any California teachers currently in classrooms in charge of children who agree with that is horrifying.

HANNITY: All right. Let's go to a couple --

CARLSON: Propagandizing kids is the worst part of it.

HANNITY: Well, that's the thing. It's in cartoon form, who is the target audience here. Let's look at rich people who bought various mediums to spread their message. Here's more from that seven minute propaganda film.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CTF.ORG)

ASNER: So, the rich people bought newspapers and TV and radio stations and internet companies and paid them to repeat over and over, "Someday you will be rich, too. There is no alternative." Soon you could hear people saying, "There is no other way. Someday we'll be rich." Meanwhile, the rich people's money piled higher and higher, but after a while, it was piled too high. One day the money for them was a big crash, down right on the houses, millions of ordinary people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: I almost want to go out and beat up a rich person, Kirsten.

POWERS: I know. If I was there, I'd beat you up. Look, this is bad. I mean, there's no getting around it. And the idea that sort of suddenly we've discovered that I guess what he's calling getting rich is being successful, which I think in this country, we've all been told that we could all be successful, that we all could go as far as we want to.

HANNITY: How close though is this to what President Obama did the whole campaign and is now doing to sell his economic plan, whatever that is? Isn't it similar, Obama demonizing pay your fair share, pay a little more?

CARLSON: The only reason he got elected is because people believe this. And this is the point. It's easy to laugh at the idea that tax cuts make people rich. I mean, that's ludicrous. You would have to know nothing about economics to believe something that stupid, but here's the point. A lot of people do, and they do because of material like this. And the fact that it's again produced by teachers, the very people we depend upon to educate our kids, is horrifying.

HANNITY: But Tucker, let me ask you -- what is the difference between what the president is doing now in this fiscal cliff debate, what he did during the campaign, demonizing Bain Capital, evil Mitt Romney, et cetera, and what this is doing? And I'm joking when I say I feel like going out and beating up a rich person. But I can understand yes, those people are horrible, those people are evil.

CARLSON: It's a same theme. It's a same theme. It's a zero sum game, and my gain is your loss. I got rich because you are poor. That is exactly what Obama is saying. Look, we could have a really interesting conversation about the distribution of wealth, but he is spouting a line that is a, demonstrably untrue and b, vulgar and divisive. Again, my gain is your lost. That is the point.

HANNITY: Kirsten, we'll give you the last word.

POWERS: Yes. I don't think it's even close to what President Obama was saying. Look. There's a feeling in this country that there are people who make money without any consideration for the workers, and look, that happens. I think that that's a fair criticism to make, and people just don't have the same kind of job stability that they used to have, so those are fair criticisms, but to turn this into, you know, rich people are urinating on poor people kind of thing, it definitely goes too far.

HANNITY: All right. Guys, good to see you. And obviously it worked a little bit in the campaign.

Content and Programming Copyright 2012 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2012 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.