Socialism and Taxes
There’s been a lot of talk about Barack Obama being a socialist during this hideously long campaign, especially ever since Senator Obama had that little exchange with Joe the Plumber the Relative of Charles Keating.
Near as I can figure, it’s because Senator Obama said something about “spreading the wealth” when talking about rolling back the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest individuals and corporations.
Oddly, I never heard anyone screaming “socialism” when big corporations were getting tax breaks, i.e., the wealth was being redistributed upward. Where do you think the money came from to give them those breaks? It came from all the rest of us who are paying our fair share, or more than our fair share, of taxes. Why don’t I recall anyone screaming “redistribution of wealth” and “socialism” when Bush’s tax cuts for the rich went into effect? Maybe because you only heard about the “tax cuts” and nothing about how those tax cuts were going to be financed?
Taxes, no matter who pays them or how much, are a redistribution of wealth. We pay taxes to fund things like roads, schools, health care, and let us not forget WARS. Right now, we’ve got a huge motherscratching federal debt and it’s not going to get paid off by continuing to give tax cuts to the wealthiest in our society.
Honestly, if it’s not welfare and socialism when wealthy individuals and corporations are reaping the benefits of the taxes paid by others, then why is it welfare and socialism when those who aren’t as financially well off are getting some of those benefits?
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November 2nd, 2008 at 12:08 pm
[...] * Emphasis added…Isn’t this what I said just last week? [...]