vociferous: witty and sexy, as in “the vociferously liberal Mark Justice Hinton” makes Chuck
uneasy.
reflexively: indisputably thoroughly reasoned, used with utmost respect, as in “It’s your job to reflexively attack” all that is wrong with the world; thank you.
Column:Taxes punish rich Americans by Alex Hughes, Daily Lobo columnist
I hate taxes more than just about anything
else on this planet. … I, for one, feel this amount of taxation is absolutely ridiculous. … That is correct. I am calling
progressive taxation a form of communism. … If a person is rich, it is probably for a good reason.
I wonder how
long it is going to take conservative readers to realize that “Alex Hughes” is actually a satirist whose purpose is to make conservatives
seem shallow and dim. Alex confesses, “I hate taxes more than just about anything else on this planet.” I assume “just about” carries the
burden of covering rape, murder, war, and lying to the public for personal profit and political gain.
Outraged, he asks, “Does the
government honestly think it can spend my money more effectively than I can?” Gee, Alex, how many nuclear warheads can you and your pals
afford? Daddy may have given you an SUV, but who gave you the road? Where do voting machines and public schools come from?
Let’s
consider one simple fact: there are things that only a government can or should do (libertarians and anarchists notwithstanding). Even
conservatives have things they want the government to do, like spy on you, restrict your freedom and make war. These things cost money.
Now, it is true, we could have the Coca-Cola Department of the Fatherland (next term), but for the short term, the government needs money
and it gets it two ways: borrow and tax. Taxes are what you and I pay for benefits and services we’re never going to get from
corporations (until we have the Nike Department of War). Borrowed money has to be repaid with interest to large corporations and rich
investors. So, not only are the rich not paying taxes, they are also getting richer from the interest paid out of the taxes you and I
will pay forever.
For many years, conservatives have won converts with a simple mantra: taxation is theft; the government is stealing
your money. To them, there is no commonwealth nor common good; every man for himself. If you want a nation, it is going to cost you
something.
On just one more matter, the Estate Tax, or the Death Tax as marketing-savvy conservatives call it, had one major public
benefit: it delayed the rise of an American Aristocracy. If you allow families to accumulate wealth endlessly, some of them will end up
so stinking rich they can buy anything, even an election.
Alex declares, “If a person is rich, it is probably for a good reason.”
(This is the ‘compassionate’ version of ‘if you’re poor it’s your own damn fault.”) Maybe you’re rich because you worked really
hard; maybe you’re rich because Great-Granddaddy was — it’s not quite the same thing, is it Alex?
Let me suggest you google
“revolutions of 1848.” That was a time when the poor of the world said to the rich: enough! Talk about ‘punishing the rich’; which is
worse, a progressive tax scale or your head on a pike? America was spared this bloodshed because our own greedy rich hadn’t yet taken
over. What a difference 156 years make! mjh
Published 9/7/04 in the Daily Lobo: Letter:Government costs money, needs taxes to do its
job
As I write this, there are about 65 days left until the election. Between now
and then, find some way to make your opinion known. Wear a button, plaster your car with bumper stickers, put signs in your window and on
your roof. You don’t have to be rude, but you don’t have to be sweet, either. Let everyone know there is a groundswell against Duhbya.
NO MORE YEARS! mjh
legal-
size PDF available at www.RooftopRevolt.com
electees.com
T-shirts to elect Democrats
Make yourself a billboard of one Winning this election will take all of us — each convincing one undecided voter at a time (even if we can’t understand how anyone could still be undecided).
Benefits need to be cut, Greenspan says By MARTIN CRUTSINGER , AP Economics Writer
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday the country will face ”abrupt and painful” choices unless Congress acts quickly to trim Social Security and Medicare benefits for the baby boom generation. He said the government has promised more than it can deliver.
Returning to a politically explosive issue just before the Republican National Convention, Greenspan said the country must face up to ”some tough policy choices.”
Government resources even under the most optimistic economic assumptions on growth and productivity will be inadequate to provide baby boomers with the level of benefits their parents got, he said.
Starve the beast — that’s the fundamental philosophy of the Radical Right. They say we need to cut benefits people have been paying for for years because the resources aren’t there. Would that be the resources that were poured into the pockets of the Rich or dumped in the sewer of Iraq? These people think you are incredibly stupid. mjh
The Bush presidency Economist.com
[T]he vitriol and adoration that Mr Bush inspires both stem in part from the policies he has chosen. It is not just a matter of waging the most controversial war since Vietnam and dramatically increasing the size of government. Name your subject, from education and health care to missile defence, AIDS policy, gay marriage, stem cells and civil rights, and this presidency has sought radical change.
Radicalism can be good—but Mr Bush’s brand has turned a compassionate conservative into a contradictory one. What is conservative about allowing government to grow faster than under Mr Clinton? What is humble about announcing that you are trying to introduce democracy to the Middle East? Where is the compassion in his support for a federal ban on gay marriage, the limitations on stem-cell research or his other moves to accommodate the zealots of the Christian right? …
The American conservative movement has always been a marriage between “western” anti-governmentalism and “southern” moralism. Four years ago, Mr Bush made no secret of his own religious beliefs, but he gave the impression he would hold the often intolerant religious right in check. Instead, he has given it a big role in his administration on a host of issues. No doubt Mr Bush’s convictions are sincere; but they were not to the fore in 2000 and they are not shared by many of those who supported him then….
