Wednesday, October 29, 2008
"Joes" and prophets and sich ...
There are a great many Ordinary Joes in this world who have great things to say. Some of 'em are bankers, and some of 'em are small business owners. Some of drive a truck or a forklift, and some of 'em -- believe it or not -- are plumbers.
Mr. Peter G. Coffey, an ordinary feller from Madison, Conn., writes to the Wall Street Journal and, in less than 200 words, tells us that a President Obama will discard "No Taxation Without Representation" as quickly as he discarded Jeremiah Wright when he was no longer politically useful. To wit:
Adam Lerrick's "Obama and The Tax Tipping Point" (op-ed, Oct. 22) notes that we are fast approaching the point at which those who don't pay any federal income tax will be a majority of the electorate and have the electoral muscle to affect programs paid for by taxes from the other half of the society.
A rallying cry in the founding of our nation was "no taxation without representation." But when the tax structure is so progressive that half the population can create programs that are paid for by taxing the other half, we have reached the point of "representation without taxation" and turned our founding principles on their head.
We are currently witnessing a polarizing presidential campaign that promises to confiscate the earnings of 5% of the population to buy the votes of the other 95%. Am I the only member of the 95% who is offended by the idea that it is acceptable in America to confiscate another's earnings for my own comfort?
What irony to criticize the "greed" of Wall Street bankers while voting for easy money taken from others.
Whilst reading Mr. Coffey's letter, I couldn't help but think about something British historian Alexander Tytler once said:
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through his sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back again into bondage.
If B. Hussein Obama is elected next week, he's gonna put America on the fast-track to proving that Tytler was a prophet, indeed.
Mr. Peter G. Coffey, an ordinary feller from Madison, Conn., writes to the Wall Street Journal and, in less than 200 words, tells us that a President Obama will discard "No Taxation Without Representation" as quickly as he discarded Jeremiah Wright when he was no longer politically useful. To wit:
Adam Lerrick's "Obama and The Tax Tipping Point" (op-ed, Oct. 22) notes that we are fast approaching the point at which those who don't pay any federal income tax will be a majority of the electorate and have the electoral muscle to affect programs paid for by taxes from the other half of the society.
A rallying cry in the founding of our nation was "no taxation without representation." But when the tax structure is so progressive that half the population can create programs that are paid for by taxing the other half, we have reached the point of "representation without taxation" and turned our founding principles on their head.
We are currently witnessing a polarizing presidential campaign that promises to confiscate the earnings of 5% of the population to buy the votes of the other 95%. Am I the only member of the 95% who is offended by the idea that it is acceptable in America to confiscate another's earnings for my own comfort?
What irony to criticize the "greed" of Wall Street bankers while voting for easy money taken from others.
Whilst reading Mr. Coffey's letter, I couldn't help but think about something British historian Alexander Tytler once said:
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through his sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back again into bondage.
If B. Hussein Obama is elected next week, he's gonna put America on the fast-track to proving that Tytler was a prophet, indeed.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Wednesday, October 29, 2008 
