PrintOctober 6, 2010
Obama believes your paycheck is not your own
President Obama said something the other day that stunned me. This is a real accomplishment, given my already dim view of the man.
In reference to Martin Feldstein's proposal that all tax rates be maintained at their current lower levels, the President said,
If we were going to spend $700 billion, it seems it would be wiser having that $700 billion going to folks who would spend that money right away.
I thought I understood this tax debate - whether to leave tax rates as they are or to raise them. But when I heard the President's words something was off, specifically his first use of the word "spend." The President basically said that not to increase taxes on small businesses and individuals making over $250,000 is equivalent to spending money on those businesses and individuals.
This is an extreme concept and one that is best understood by analyzing it personally. Everyone understands that when I "spend" money on a charity or at the grocery, the implication is that I am using my money to make a contribution or to buy chips and beer.
The President clearly believes differently, that my paycheck does not begin its life as mine, from which taxes are taken. Rather, he believes that my paycheck begins life as his, from which residual amounts are beneficently granted to me for living expenses. He clearly believes that the yet untaxed portion of my paycheck is still his, to be "spent" on me at his discretion.
This is revolutionary. This is Marx and Chavez, and it is a stunningly honest admission of President Obama's worldview.
