A Lesson in Liberal Finance

By D.L. Hammack

Last week I had the opportunity to speak with a small businessman who devised a simple lesson in the liberal thought process as it relates to redistribution of wealth.

This entrepreneur has a very small company and hires seasonal help as his work load increases. During the summer, he hired an energetic 21-year old. This lad was a good worker and always showed up on time. One morning the worker had to meet his employer at the job site, so he drove his own car. There, on the back bumper was an Obama/Biden bumper sticker from the 2008 election.

Later that afternoon, the conversation turned to politics and the boss asked his temporary employee why he supported Obama.

"I just think that there are too many people with too much money" he said. He went on to detail how the Obama mantra of redistribution was good for poor people. The boss then asked him "Who gets to decide when you've made enough money and where that money should go?" The employee responded with a shrug and said "the government." After two hours of back and forth, the boss gave up trying to educate the employee and opted for another form of teaching.

The Friday of that same week, the boss handed his employee a paycheck. Anxious to see and spend his first paycheck, the employee opened the envelope. His smile quickly turned to a saddened frown. He quietly walked over to the boss. "Sir, I thought that you said I would be making $10 an hour, right?"

"Yup" came the reply. "You're getting $10 per hour."

"But I worked 30 hours this week and my paycheck isn't anywhere near $300"

"Yup, you did work 30 hours. Your gross would've been $300, but I figured that you live at home with your parents, so you don't need rent money. Your mom has a garden, so you don't need food money. When you're working, we drive in the work van, so you don't need any gas money. You got me to thinking this week about the Obama plan to redistribute wealth. I thought I would put it to work here in my little business. I took your advice and took some of those earnings that you don't need. I'm going to find a family whose dad has decided that he doesn't want to work and he needs money for cigarettes. Basically, I'll find someone who needs it more than you do."

The employee stood there shell-shocked for a full minute. The boss gently grabbed the paycheck from the employee and tore it up. "Here's your real check" he said as he extended his hand with another envelope. "You might want to rethink this whole idea of taking money from working people and giving it to others. Whether it's taken out in taxes or taken directly from you, the bottom line is that it is taken from you. Whether it's taken by the government or taken by force at the end of a gun barrel...should they not both be considered theft?"

Why is it that they don't teach this in school?