It seems to me though that the American dream is freedom. Thus, it should be up to each individual American to decide what to do with his or her well earned money, and not the government.
And there you have the basic difference between conservatives and liberals. Conservatives believe that people are smart and will make good decisions with their money. Liberals think people are stupid, and therefore will not make good decisions with their money.
Which is all the more reason I was appalled when I read the following quote by Obama, who basically said that anyone who doesn't approve of sharing their money with people who are poor selfish.
"The point is, though, that -- and it’s not just charity, it’s not just that I want to help the middle class and working people who are trying to get in the middle class -- it’s that when we actually make sure that everybody’s got a shot – when young people can all go to college, when everybody’s got decent health care, when everybody’s got a little more money at the end of the month – then guess what? Everybody starts spending that money, they decide maybe I can afford a new car, maybe I can afford a computer for my child. They can buy the products and services that businesses are selling and everybody is better off. All boats rise. That’s what happened in the 1990s, that’s what we need to Restore. And that’s what I’m gonna do as president of the United States of America.
"John McCain and Sarah Palin they call this socialistic," Obama continued. "You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness."
You are not selfish if you do not trust the government to dole out your money. Besides, you worked hard for it, there is no reason that YOU shouldn't be the one to decide what to do with it.
Allow me to provide an example. Say I want to donate $5,000 to a charitable organization. I will give it to an organization that is my neighborhood, and to an organization I know and trust.
That way that organization gets the entire $5,000, and all of that $5,000 can be doled out by that organization to the people who need it most.
Now, say I HAVE to give that same $5,000 to the Fed. First of all, I will not give to any charity, because that $5,000 was all I had. After all, I don't make millions of dollars like the top 1% of earners. What I make is $150,000 year, which is not rich.
I have a small business, so I only have so much money to dole around. If the Fed takes more of my money, I am forced to NOT give to charity. Likewise, if the Fed takes even more of my money in taxes, there are two new people I wanted to hire AND WON'T. So, there are two poor people who will be without jobs.
So the fed has my $5,000. It gives it to a middle person, who takes a cut of that money. Then another middle person gets the money, and yet another, all of whom take a cut. Then a person sitting at a desk in Washington has to decide who needs that money.
Chances are, that person will have never met any of the people who will receive the money. So, chances are, some of that money will go to people who don't deserve it. This is called government waste. Some of the money is going to go to people who have been on the government dole for 20 years because they are afraid to get a job for fear they will lose their government check. Thus, because of the government, some people are trapped in poverty.
And, likewise, some of the people will be poor only because they didn't get hired by me because I couldn't afford to hire that person because my taxes went up.
So, finally a recipient gets my money, but by that time it's dwindled down to $500 or $1,000. A recipient gets this money, and there really isn't much he can do with it.
He would have been better off with the $5,000 I initially doled out. Besides, the charitable organization I would have selected would have made sure the money wasn't wasted, nor go to undeserving people.
Plus it's harder to steal money from the poor when you see the poor. It's easy to steal money from the Fed because most people never see those folks. They are mainly people sitting in an office thousands of miles away.
I can give an even better example. I grew up with five brothers. When we were 18 we all moved out of the home. With my older brother Bobby my mom gave him nothing. She decided he was on his own. Sure it was hard for Bobby, but it was for his own good.
Me, on the other hand, when I became 18, my mom developed a conscience. She thought I could use a helping hand. So she gave me some of her and dad's well earned money. In essence, she taxed herself. Not only did she give me money for gas and food, but she let me move back into her house when I failed to find a job.
My brother Bobby, while it was hard, he found a well paying job within a year. My mom no longer had to worry about him. Yet, it was hard to watch him struggle, but it was for his own good.
Me, on the other hand, I had no incentive to find a job. I sucked as much milk out of my mom as I could. I was a loser. I depended on her charity.
Conservative Republicans believe in the philosophy my mom had with my brother Bobby. Liberal Democrats (like Obama 2008) have the philosophy of my mom with me.
Now, eventually, my dad intervened and told me I had to get a job. He intervened, and told my mom to quit giving me money. He cut the cord so to speak. He removed the nipple from my mouth so I couldn't get any more milk.
Yes, it was hard for me at first. It was hard for my mom to watch me struggle. But she was proud when I found a good job. And I felt good and developed confidence as I succeeded for the first time on my own.
So, you tell me, was my mom selfish not to tax herself force her kids to become dependent on her, or was dad selfish to cut the cord.
My dad was not selfish. He was doing what was best for me. And that is something the government cannot do. Conservatism is all about helping people, but helping people in a way far more powerful than any charity the government can provide.
The best help, sometimes, is no help at all. The best help is to show people that they can make it on their own if they try. And, sometimes, the best way to show people that they can succeed on their own is to cut the cord.
By cutting the cord you are showing confidence in people. You are deciding that people are smart. That is the conservative believe, that people are smart. Conservatives believe (as McCain believes) that if you get the government out of the way people will prosper.
Liberals (like Obama) have little confidence in the people. They believe people will not succeed without the help of the government. They think people are stupid, incapable dunces, and have overconfidence in the ability of government.
And it's people of this liberal mindset who say things like, "It's my money. The government owes it to me." No, it's not your money. It's not your money because I am the one who worked my butt off to make that money. It's my money, and now you get it.
Look, taxes are needed. We need roads, we need government offices, we SHOULD try to take care of the needy and the poor who truly need assistance. But there is nothing SELFISH about wanting people to get off their butts and work. There is nothing selfish about forcing people to suffer a little and to provide for themselves.
I donate to charities as often as I can, and -- when government is out of the way, most kind hearted Americans donate their money too. But if the government is sucking money from them, they charitable donations decline.
Here's one other thing to note. During the 1980s -- when Ronald Reagan was president income taxes were at their lowest since the Fed started collecting in 1913 -- charitable donations were at an all time high.
As taxes have gone up, charitable donations have gone down. What this shows is that people are not stupid, as you increase their taxes, people stop donating money. Likewise, they stop spending money.
And what do you want most when you are in an economic slowdown -- YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SPEND MONEY. That's why taxes should be low, not high. The lower the taxes, the better off the economy.
Thus, Obama is wrong: YOU ARE NOT SELFISH WHEN YOU DECIDE YOU DON'T WANT TO GIVE YOUR WELL EARNED MONEY TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
Besides, who is this Obama anyway to decide for me that I'm selfish.
No comments:
Post a Comment