Suzie was a conservative who moved away to college when she was 18. By the end of her freshman year, she had decided that trickle-down economics wasn’t for her.
“This system isn't fair," she told her father that summer. "Why not spread the wealth around?”
Her father asked, “What grade did you receive in your history class this semester, Suzie?”
“An 'A',” she replied. “I have always been good at history.”
“What about those students in your class who aren’t so good at history?” asked Suzie’s father. “I think, to make the distribution of grades more fair, your professor should have taken from your 'A' and given to those students who received lower grades than you. Does that system still sound appealing to you?”
People occasionally peg me as a heartless conservative who votes with her wallet instead of her heart. The truth is, I just believe in limited government. I believe, to my core, that if people are compelled to relinquish greater and greater percentages of their earned income to state and federal governments, things are not going to get any better. Government is not the great equalizer. Government is, and has proven itself to be, the great mismanager. “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” Americans are better equipped to handle their own money than the president and his government bureaucracy are. How many American businesses and households are still floating despite over fourteen trillion dollars of debt?
Progressives argue that tax cuts should go only to the middle class, as the 'rich' don’t need or deserve them. But who are the 'rich', really? I think it is often the guy in the middle who gets hurt by the progressives in Congress and the White House pushing for higher income and corporate taxes for America’s high earners. The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 focused on helping entrepreneurs afford start-up costs by making it easier for them to get loans. On the other end of the business spectrum, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 was meant to address the risky behavior of America’s biggest bank executives. The current administration sees no middle ground between the 'ma and pa' shops in need of government assistance and Lehman Brothers. What about the the hard-working business owner who has risked everything to create and grow a venture that is making a few million dollars annually? He/she gets taxed at over 30%, preventing him/her from putting more money into inventory, exploring new markets, and, most importantly, payroll.
Is the current system fair? Should those individuals who are, yes, making money while simultaneously providing hundreds of thousands of Americans with jobs be taxed until they can no longer employ? 'Redistribute the wealth' progressives see American GDP as a pie. It is permanently an eight-piece apple pastry that is inappropriately and unfairly distributed amongst Americans. My political philosophy can be summed up in two counterpoints to this metaphor. Firstly, if this is the case, government attempts to spread the wealth (or pass out the pie) in such a way that the gap between 'rich' and 'poor' gets smaller have been completely ineffective. Secondly, high state and federal income and corporate taxes stifle economic growth. If the state took its foot off the neck of American entrepreneurs, we could just make more pies.
I am so glad you're blogging because you're very smart and I'm generally interested in your opinions. I have to say, though, the "conservative suzie" story is incredibly trite for you to intro yourself (and your blog).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nicki. I thought about that, too, but honestly, it was just meant to be funny.
ReplyDelete-Elise