Saturday, October 25, 2008

Wealth Redistribution

Here are a couple takes on the wealth redistribution tax plan I found amusing:


Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference -- just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment, I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money that he had earned even though the actual recipient deserved money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application. – A friend of mine forwarded this to me.

I am not one of the people who would be adversely affected by it, as I cannot ever see myself making over $250,000 annually as a minister. With that in mind, I still do not think it is fair at all to tax the wealthy more because they happen to have more monetary success. Not only is it not fair, the concept makes no sense in government or any other walk of life. The though of penalizing those who work hard at their skill trade and are most successful is ridiculous!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen to this brother Cole. I haven't seen anywhere in the bible where it says that I need to tithe to lazy people.

Unknown said...

What about Acts 2:44-45? That's redistribution, no doubt. Having said all that, I personally went back to school, twice, to get more education, which would help me make a little more money (which I'll need to pay off the student loans!!!). Now that I have a good paying job, BO is going to take more of the money I make and give it to someone who dropped out of school?! I'm guessing BO is going to pay off my student loans for me, since I won't have the money to pay them back myself. None of that seems right or fair. I don't make $250K, but I don't think it will matter what you make. Once it is acceptable to take from the "rich" and send checks to the "poor," the only question becomes what qualifies as rich? When Clinton was in office, rich was anyone making over $500K. BO's number has gone down ($250 to $200 to $150 to $120 to $97). It will go lower, I'm sure. The genius of America is not that we're all "rich," it's that we can look at our lot in life and work hard to make it better. We're not stuck in a class system, where you'll end up where you were born; where the rich stay rich and the poor stay broke. Our system gives us opportunity. Redistribution is garbage, it seeks to use those with their hand out to keep it that way, and keep those in power where they are. It's not redistribution of wealth; it's misdirection of incentive. Not trickle-down economics, it's trickle-up poverty. This is how freedom is lost.