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I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody. –Barack Obama
Thanks to Joe the Plumber and lack of a teleprompter for Barack Obama’s slip, allowing us a view of his perception of good tax policy. Until now redistribution of wealth, though present in the U.S. tax system, was veiled in a maze of specific programs and budgetary magic. For the first time, we have a presidential candidate that has dipped his toe into the Marxist cesspool of wealth redistribution from the “haves” to the “have nots.” And we elected him.
The present stock market decline has been described as the strongest “hiss” ever given by the private sector to an incoming president-elect. The incredibly expensive “bailouts” given by the present administration have had little to no effect. We’re all wondering whether Obama’s new tax increases will send us over the edge into a prolonged recession, or if he will moderate his tax plans in favor of a healthier free market economy.
We will probably see no improvement in the market until we see what Obama’s tax plan really has to offer.
Filed under: Alaska cartoon, Federal Government, Weekly Cartoon | Tagged: election, Obama, president-elect, redistribution of wealth, tax plan, tax policy, taxes, taxpayer
Wealth is “spread around”. It’s called the economic cycle. The question, obviously, is how it is spread, and the answer is, obviously, unequally. The distribution of wealth in this country and in the world will continue to be unequal in most any imaginable state of humanity, so for me the question then really becomes how unequally it will be spread.
Take it for granted, the beloved free market does not distribute wealth based on merit. I’m absolutely sure you will agree that the skills and intelligence of George Soros are not 9 billion times the worth of an intelligent yet unfortunate man on the street with only a dollar to his name. You see, this is a fundamental flaw in fundamentalist capitalism, because the system does not give “to each according to their ability” just as communism never gave “to each according to their need.” The only difference between the abject failure of both Marxists and laissez-faire capitalists is that the Marxists are (supposedly) seeking a cooperative nirvana while the capitalists reach for their utopias with a slightly more self-centered mind.
And so, we are inevitably and justly faced with having a mixed economy, something that we have progressively built throughout the century, from Teddy’s Square Deal to his cousin’s New Deal and on… And yet, you baldly have turned to laissez-faire rhetoric in protesting what is at the very most only a more blatant affirmation of the progressive income taxes that have been a part of this nation for much of its history. That’s as ridiculous as me being a Marxist.
(Sorry I just finished my homework so I was still in essay-writing mode.)
I personally would like to see the wealth spread around. Hundreds of Bush’s “friends” set up businesses in Texas and other parts of the country and then somehow magically got no-bid contracts from the Defense Dept to do business in Iraq.
I would like that money “spread around” to other parts of the country. Maybe business leaders in Detroit who are having a tough time could get some of those no-bid contracts and revitalize their economies?
Instead we have just about bankrupted our government while making Bush’s friends and the top 1% in our country even richer – at our expense. Go figure.
About the ‘fair share’ and ‘spreading the wealth around’. Years ago, when i had finally put in enough 18 hour days, i suddenly found myself in the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) bracket. I was unpleasantly surprised at how much tax i was expected to pay and rightfully felt like i was being punished for doing well and working hard.
I had an accountant, who does not work for me any longer, tell me that i was just paying my ‘fair share’. My reply was this…
If you and i lived next door to each other and my house was on fire or being robbed, when i pick the phone up, i get the same fire department and police department you would. But, i am required to pay 5 times more for the same service than you do. I pay five times more taxes and my kids still go to the same schools yours do, i still drive on the same road you do… everything we do and receive publicly is equal, yet i pay 500% more than you do. Why?
If any guy making $30,000 a year and i went to a burger king and we ordered the same meal, we would expect to pay the same price for that item because that is what it is worth. But in the tax world, he and i would have to show the girl at the counter our incomes and he would pay $2 and i would pay $10 for the same meal.
Face it kids… that’s just screwed up.
A wise person said to me…
The BABY should be saying “He has your wallet”