Selfishness

So now I'm selfish because I want to keep more of the money I make and give less of it to the federal government. So says Barack Obama.

The relevant excerpt here:

"The reason that we want to do this, change our tax code, is not because I have anything against the rich," Obama said in Sarasota, Fla., yesterday. "I love rich people! I want all of you to be rich. Go for it. That’s the American dream, that’s the American way, that’s terrific.

"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."

Sure Barack Obama loves rich people. Who else would he have to tax if not rich people? He couldn't tax the poor people because that wouldn't make a good campaign slogan. So instead he claims that if you don't want your taxes raised, you must be selfish because who doesn't want to help poor people or make sure that everybody has a shot, right?

Except the tax code was never thought of as a way of redistributing wealth. It was not thought up as an instrument of social change. It was designed to fund the expense of running the government. It first appeared during the Civil War years to fund, you guessed it, the Civil War. It was repealed shortly thereafter. It came back in 1894 to offset the reduction in the tariff rates but then it really came back around World War I. The rates were relatively low then, but they rose with a vengeance during World War II and stayed high with few exceptions until President Ronald Reagan's time in office when the top tax rate plunged from 70% to 38.5%.

Everybody knows that they must pay some tax in order for government to function. But paying taxes is not a form of charity. If I choose to give or share my money to someone who didn't work for it, e.g. to the homeless guy down the street, to my sibling or buddy who is a little short on his rent this month, or to a charity, that is my choice and I can decide how much to give. I do give to various charities throughout the year. Lately my charities have been almost exclusively military veterans groups who make the lives of our troops or their families a little bit easier. And that's my choice.

When the federal government takes my money and then gives it to someone who didn't work for it, then I have no choice. And it seems as if Barack Obama doesn't understand that concept.