Ostroy Lunacy on Wealth Redistribution

It is very infrequent that the Left ever says anything that makes me drop my jaw. I might raise one or both eyebrows from time to time, but rarely drop my jaw. Eight years ago the Left was simply wrong, sometimes a bit arrogant and mostly hid how they really felt. They now are radical, in your face, obnoxious and make no bones about how they want to change this country (with the exception of those running for office and MSM elements that support them).

I did drop my jaw when I read this blog post by Andy Ostroy of the Ostroy Report. The title of the post is: Wasn't it "Spreading the Wealth" Eight Years Ago with the Bush Tax Cuts for America's Wealthiest 1%? The title was enough to nearly throw me into shock. The body of the post creates neither more or less shock. Ostroy:

- Calls the charge of socialism against Obama's "spread the wealth" statement hypocritical
- Claims the Bush tax cuts were wealth redistribution


Ostroy completely misses several points:

- He thinks that we claim that merely raising taxes is the socialist part.
No, it is the plan to raise taxes on one tax bracket and give lower taxes on other tax brackets (even those that do not pay income taxes)
- He forgets that the Bush tax cuts were for all tax brackets (except those that do not pay income tax)
- Most importantly, he forgets that the money belongs to the person that earned the money
To claim that keeping more of MY OWN MONEY is wealth redistribution transcends socialist thinking and leaps to the communist notion that every thing belongs to the state. If my money is 100% mine before taxation, then it is impossible to have any of my money redistributed to me. My money is mine before it is taken away. The money after taxes is not some gift of the state, it is what is left after the state has robbed me.

I am supportive of paying taxes. We have an imperfect, but great exceptional country. I don't mind contributing to keep things running, to defend us from our enemies, to protect our streets from criminals, to educate our children (not indoctrinate), and even to have a thin safety net for those most in need that have done all to help themselves and cannot. There is so much waste and corruption in government. There is plenty of room for spending cuts instead of raising taxes, but Obama is more interested in real wealth redistribution than budgetary concerns. It has been said that liberalism is a mental disorder, but only in the most crazed mind under the fullest moon would somebody claim that somebody being allowed to keep more of their own money would be considered wealth redistribution.

Joe the Plumber He's Our Man If He Can't Do It No One Can

It was a stroke of genius for McCain to both tap into Barack Obama's self-exposure of his wealth redistribution plan and to put a face on the difference in policy by referencing Joe the Plumber in the debate last night. McCain was distinctly uncomfortable reaching across the aisle to slap Obama's face instead of shake his hand, but he did it. Yes, I wish he were a more gifted speaker and was able to nail Obama, but he did sow the seeds that now can be used to shoehorn them into the discourse of the MSM. While there were other items McCain brought attention to, the exposure of how Obama views the wealth of hard working Americans is the best chance at a game changer out there.

Joe the Plumber exudes the notion of hard work when you look at his hard, stocky build. He made clear that he hopes to work hard enough to get to the point he may be in the higher tax bracket that Obama wants to raise taxes on. While there is a small percent out there that have acquired wealth by being lucky or unscrupulous, most who achieve do so by having clear goals in their life and work (physically and/or intellectually) to gain their wealth. While taxation is necessary, the view that it is unfair to be able to keep the wealth after working so hard to achieve so it can be given to those who have not achieved is nothing less than socialism.

I have heard all the arguments of how the wealthy use a government funded infrastructure to build their wealth so it is only fair to take more from them. First, every able bodied person has the same opportunity as the next person to achieve. We have free education through high school. From there anybody can put themselves through college if they are committed enough. I put myself through college twice. I paid as much as I could and borrowed the rest. I paid off my loans. Name the obstacle and in most cases you can find many who have overcome the obstacle to achieve. How many millionaires are out there who:

- Have less than a 6th grade education
- Came to this country with nothing
- Grew up in the worst neighborhoods in the USA
- Faced the worst and ugliest prejudice
- Have physical handicaps such as blindness, deafness, lack one or more limbs, etc.
- Were abused physically, mentally or sexually by one or more relatives or family associates
- Made a mess of their teenage years with drugs, alchohol and unplanned pregnancy

All of these obstacles and more have been overcome by many. To then view the resulting wealth as something to take and give to others in the irresponsible ways that tend to keep the recipients enslaved to poverty is ridiculous.

Keep in mind, though, that there is already a built in mechanism to take more money from the wealthy than from those who have less. It is called "percentage". I pesonally think that anybody paying a double digit percentage of tax is nothing short of theft. Taking the lowest of double digit percentage of 10% watch how simple math causes every body to pay their fair share - especially the wealthy:

Income ------------Tax
$10 -------------------$1
$1000 ----------------$100
$25,000 --------------$2500
$75,000 --------------$7500
$250,000 -------------$25,000
$3,500,000 -----------$350,000
$1,000,000,000 ------$100,000,000

To say that because somebody makes $250,000 they should pay twice as much of a percentage ($50,000) is theft. Sadly, the percentages are much higher for achievers. While I am nowhere close to Obama's increase level, I am sickened every month to look at the amount of tax I am paying. I am sickened as I look at the year to date Federal, State and FICA taxes that I have paid this year. I am sickened as this year is coming to a close at the thought of having to work until late April for the government until we finally reach Tax Freedom Day and the money I make will be mine. While my wife and I do not make the cutoff yet, we hope to one day. In addition to my job, we are working hard to build a business she started a couple of years ago. The door to success has just now after all that effort begun to crack. It may take 2-3 more years before we are close, but the thought of reaching the point where we are told we are making too much money is disgusting.

Joe the Plumber interviewed with Family Security Matters. You can read his interview in full at this link. He is very articulate; unlike the sterotypical plumber one might think. We read about his working as a plumber 10-12 hours a day for the last 15 years and is only now in a position to think about expanding. He sums it up pretty well by describing higher taxes on achievers as "punishment":

Most people, you ask them “do you believe in the American Dream?” Nine times out of ten they’ll sit there and go, “Yeah, of course!” That’s where he messed up, because as soon as I asked him that, his answer shows that he doesn’t believe in the American Dream. You know, like the question you asked before – he pretty much contradicted himself. “I don’t want to punish you but – “ Well, you’re going to anyways.

Spread the wealth / Share the wealth is nothing but the wealth redistribution ideas right out of Karl Marx. Socialism is nothing but taking money from achievers at the point of a gun and giving it to non-achievers. There are those that have needs that they simply cannot handle on their own. I think a very thin safety net may be in order where the charitable giving of the many in this country with big hearts is not enough. To take money out of the hands of the wealthy, then put the money in the one hand of an underachiever and a vote in the other hand is a recipe for the unthankful, never ending sense of entitlement we see in this country. It leads people to sit on their door step in the face of a hurricane waiting for the government to come and pick them up and carry them to safety instead of using the two feet God gave them.


Update: It is official. We now know more about Joe the Plumber than we know about Obama's:

- Years at Columbia University
- Selection criteria to be asked to serve as Chairman of the CAC Board with only experience as a community organizer under his belt
- Years on the CAC Board with Bill Ayers
- 1981 trip to Pakistan

The media seems hot and heavy as a dog in heat to point out Joe the Plumber's tax liens, but seems unable to rouse themselves from sleep to discuss that the treasurer of Obama's campaign has tax liens and his companies also have them.

It is official that the media has totally abandoned any shame in being completely in the tank for Barack Obama. It will be months to years after this election that their shameful performance will catch up with them, but it will.

We Cannot Say Hillary Did Not Warn Us

One thing about Hillary is that she constantly reveals her true self. The problem is that our spoon-fed society does not see the media highlight these revelations. The only ones that draw attention to them is conservative talk radio and bloggers. Those who most need to see these self-exposures in an easy to digest sound-byte do not frequent these sources.

In my last post I highlighted some quotes summarized by Neal Boortz that leave no doubt about the hardcore leftist ideology of Hillary Clinton. Today we read that she again gave us an honest moment by stating:

"I have a million ideas. The country can't afford them all."

This simple statement tells us multiple things. First, none of her ideas involve reducing the size and cost of government. We can certainly afford spending cuts and a reduction in bureaucracy. I guess she has no ideas in this area. This is a major problem with liberals. The average person would admit to some areas of government that could be reduced or eliminated. Not the hardcore liberals (unless it is to reduce our ability to defend ourselves or to reduce border security). What a dangerous thing to elect somebody who can only envision government expansion.

We also see that Hillary again underscores her hard left socialist agenda. Every idea is about wealth transfers and dependence upon government. Conservatives often appear hard-hearted when it comes to government aid. This is simply not true for many of us. I for one realize that some people can get in a financial predicament where temporary help is required. My first preference is for people to avail themselves of help from family and friends. I had to avail myself of that one time in a crisis in my life. I am thankful for the help I received from a number of people. Of course, not all have that option. The next preference is through private charities. Then as a last resort I do not oppose some temporary help programs from the government. Socialists like Hillary Clinton are not interested in temporary and last resort programs. They want long term first-line cradle to grave government expansion.

Hillary does so much speaking that we will continue to get these nuggets of exposure. We know from her words and actions exactly what she is, but only if we are paying attention. The media is not going to spoon feed the truth about Hillary to the mind numb masses. Everybody is responsible to pay attention and be responsible citizens when it comes to voting. Far too few take this responsibility seriously. So if Hillary gets in office, we can look back on all the things she clearly told us and realize that we were warned by her own words.

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