No News Is Good News

Tom, unfortunately, like most Obama voters, it sounds as though you have the concept of "public good" confused with the Democratic ticket's idea of what taxation should be.

Obviously, there are many, many things that we as citizens must and should fund through our payment of taxes. Roads, national defense, schools, and other basic necessities of civilized life are some of the most obvious examples of these requirements. In doing so, there is patriotic duty as a citizen required.

However, it has been my experience as a patriotic American that when Democrats/Liberals start talking about taxes, and the programs those taxes would fund, they are not talking about the funding of these basic structural needs of our country, but rather of a fundamental redistribution of wealth. THIS, in fact, is the reason we have a graduated income tax. If it were otherwise, the graduated income tax system would have to presume that I use the roads more, use the schools more, and require more expenditure on guns and bombs to protect my property than those with less income require. This, of course, would be incorrect. The only purpose, therefore, of that graduated tax system is for the redistribution of my higher income to give or support those with lower incomes, as evidenced by your comments regarding health care.

Your parenthetical acknowledgement regarding your income is irrelevant (or should be). The fact that you are in the highest portion of income earners makes you no more credible in the debate over whether any citizen should pay more in tax, not for those items of infrastructure required to support the normal functioning of our society, but to be given, in the form of redistribution, to others. The basic principle here is whether any other citizen or group of citizens in our society has any claim on the income you earn. I refuse to believe that they do.

It also amazes me anytime I hear someone in real estate or any other commerce-related profession believes that higher taxes, even if limited to higher-income strata (which Obama professes but I don't believe), makes sense, especially in the market in which we currently find ourselves. There has never, ever been, nor will there ever be, an economic slowdown, recession, or depression, that was alleviated through higher tax rates. Surely you can join me in remembering that the worst economic recession of our lifetimes that occurred in the late 70's and early 80's was overcome by LOWER taxes on all Americans, including (and especially) on the highest income earners.

Finally, my life will be good or bad in four years based on my life, most of which is determined by ME. Unlike some others, I refuse to delegate my "hope" for the future to a corrupt, south-side of Chicago politico thug who has never held a real job himself. And unlike some others, I believe that depending on others in society more than depending on myself is the very enemy of hope's audacity.