Cluster Column

Rich Democrats Depend on Government Too!

 

By Jeff Scott

 

In recent weeks, both billionaire Warren Buffett and Democrat Senator and Presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama have decried how “unfair” the current tax system is.  You see, the problem they see is that they, as rich people, do not pay enough in taxes.  Any normal person would be happy that they did not have to be forcibly robbed of half of their hard-earned money by the federal government.  But not Warren Buffett (not to be confused with the great musician and philosopher Jimmy Buffett) and Barack Obama; for them, the government has an obligation to steal from them to give to those who suckle off of the government teat.  They think that the government is the only force that can do good for society, so rather than giving their money to a private charity, they prefer that government steal it from them.

 

The problem is that Warren Buffett, Barack Obama, and other rich big-government liberals have developed what I like to call Government Dependency Syndrome (GDS).  You see, there are a few different reasons for GDS.  Most sufferers are poor, those human beings who have failed to be successful and take advantage of the upward mobility available only in the United States. 

 

A second group of GDS sufferers, the rich sufferers, are the ones who completely miss the point.  They have plenty of resources, plenty of ability to help those they wish to help, but absolutely no willingness to do it themselves.  They are willing to play to the class warfare games of the Democrats.  With millions or even billions of dollars at their disposal, why do they have government dependency syndrome?  The reason is their unwillingness to take the responsibility for ensuring that they achieve the goals they want.  They depend on government to do the charitable works that they want to do, thus preserving the ability to shirk responsibility if their attempts fail.

 

The thing that rich GDS sufferers forget about is that any American can very easily pay more in taxes than they are required to pay.  All they have to do is, when filing for their taxes each year, write the Internal Revenue Service a check for more than what they owe in taxes.  When they receive their refund check, they can simply destroy it.  It is very, very easy to make a donation to the government.  Surely these rich GDS sufferers are intelligent enough to understand that, since they were intelligent enough to make a lot of money to begin with.  Of course, that is not what they want.  They want to force those evil rich people who are not as generous as they are to give their “fair share.”

 

(As an aside, can I ask:  who gets to say what is somebody’s “fair share?”  That’s one of those BS lines that makes the class warfare types feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  The best way to prevent poor people from paying taxes while making rich people pay more would be to enact the FairTax…but that cannot be manipulated for the politicians’ gain.)

 

Regardless of the reason for GDS, the politicians love it.  They love the fact that they can manipulate the tax code to make people behave a certain way.  They also love to get more people hooked on big government.  The more people they can get dependent upon government, the more votes they can count on when the next election comes.  Of course, they also love being able to have power over as many people as possible.  After all, the government that is powerful enough to give you all you need is also powerful enough to take it away.  Big-government politicians love to demagogue those scary people who might take away what you are “entitled” to.

 

So anytime a politician promises some big new hand-out program, remember that it is all about power, and also keep in mind that somebody has to pay for it.  Most of them will not be doing so willingly.