John Edwards Was Right

We do live in two Americas.

He talked about the America of the haves and the have nots and the rich vs poor meme that the progressive left loves to use in its class warfare diatribes though he seemed oblivious to the fact that he was on the have side in a house that was nearly large enough to shelter half the homeless in New York City. He discussed this idea of two Americas and it seems he was right.

At least according to Phyllis Schlafly who has her own interpretation of the two Americas theme.

According to Ms. Schlafly we are divided into a two class society. Our two Americas in her two class society consist of those who pay for the services provided by the government and those who freeload. About 47% of people now pay no federal income tax and the bottom 40% of those get more back then they paid in through tax credits and other redistribution schemes in the tax code. In other words, the people who pay nothing get money from those who pay for government. Schlafly also notes:

Although all wage-earners help fund their own Social Security and Medicare benefits, only federal income taxpayers pay the costs of running the federal government, and are responsible for paying off our $12.8 trillion national debt and for bailing out Social Security, Medicare, and Fannie and Freddie when they collapse.

So true, so true. Those of us who pay the costs of running the government are also footing the bill for those who do not. To top it off we are sending them some of our money to help them get along. This is a massive redistribution of wealth scheme where the only difference between the recipients sticking a gun in our faces and taking the money and the current system is that the government handles the part of robbing us under threat of punishment by its mob enforcers in the IRS.

It is a nice and neat racket that rivals anything Tony Soprano could come up with. It is also quite convenient because the government gets to use the money it confiscates from taxpayers to bribe those who pay nothing for their votes.

I found this video at Ron Smith’s page at WBAL

Wouldn’t it be grand if we had a system where we stopped the forced redistribution of wealth? In the absence of that, wouldn’t it be nice if those who receive our money had to live by rules we established? Perhaps those getting this money from us could come wash our cars, mow our lawns and clean our houses. At least then we would feel like we got some value for the money we spent.

I would love to see us give up the income tax altogether and tax our consumption. A national sales tax (and not the VAT) would allow everyone to pay in or have skin in the game and it would tax all of us fairly because we would be taxed on what we consume (minus things that should not be taxed like food and shelter). If a person can afford the item then that person can afford the sales tax on the item.

In the absence of abolishing the income tax, we need to at least abolish the income tax system we have, give up on the idea of a VAT and go for a flat tax of 11-15%. Everyone would pay that amount on income so that all people would be paying for the running of OUR government. Maybe then it could really be of, by and for the people.

With any of these taxes we need to have a rule that they cannot be raised without a super majority in each chamber of Congress and that no rule or parliamentary trick can be used to circumvent the super majority requirement.

It is time we got everyone in the game. Joe Biden said that paying taxes was the patriotic thing to do. The 47% need to step up and be patriots like the rest of us.

Schlafly has it right and that is unfortunate because we can be so much better than that. But only when people start fending for themselves and stop living off the government which really means living off the rest of us.

UPDATE: Video added

Never surrender, never submit.
Big Dog

Gunline

[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]