U do have a good point there Andy. Maybe I do agree with u. It's not how the american capatalist system works. Then again, I still think the single mother with 3 children, bending over backwards at this time deserves a break.
The assumption/joke from Calidem though, that most of those americans getting polled are on welfare sickened me a bit, hence my reply.
I don't think that Calidem necessarily thought everyone polled was on welfare, even if that's how it sounded. But he did think that everyone being polled assumed they were the ones that would benefit from "wealth redistribution". Wether they thought that would be in the form of tax credits, food stamps, welfare checks, child credits, college credits, health care credits, hybrid car credits, energy credits, or even government hand outs of some other kind, is not relevant.
The problem is, no one thinks they are 'the rich'. Everyone thinks everyone else is 'the rich'. For example, the CEO of my company only makes $70K a year. A husband and wife truck team, would claim the CEO is 'the rich', yet they rake in far more than the CEO does. A person making $10K a year, thinks people making $25K are 'the rich'. The $25K people, think the $50K people are 'the rich'. The $50K people, think the $100K people are 'the rich'. The $100K people think the $150K people are 'the rich'. Pretty much, the only people who know they are rich, are the people on lists in Forbes Magazine.
But here's the problem. The upper 10% of wager earners, already pay the most in taxes by a land slide. They won't pay more, and will without a doubt shelter their wages from taxes.
So where is the wealth going to come from, for this redistribution? The same place it comes from in all other socialized countries. The common workers. Namely us.
Think about this. There is one socialist program that has been in the use for 50 years plus already. Social Security. Social Security is basically wealth redistribution. You take money from people working, and give it to people who are not. Who is effected? Everyone. Not just the wealthy, nor just the poor, but everyone. You might get a small income tax return, but the government kept 15% of your years earnings, even if your are making minimum wage at Burger King. So wealth redistribution will be the same.
I also disagree with the 'deserve it' claim. No one deserves anything. Not me, nor you, nor anyone else, is owed jack diddily squat. You get three basic God given rights in America. Life, the right to exist without being killed for no reason. Liberty, the right to not be owned or controlled by another human being for any reason, origin, color, or family legacy. The pursuit of happiness, the right to strive or work for something that makes you happy.
No place do you have a right to any 'thing', or a right to a service, or a car, or food, or health care. No one has a 'right' to whatever they deem they want. They have the right to pursue health care. They have the right to pursue food and housing. They have the right to pursue clothing cars and toys. But none is a right, nor deserved.
You deserve only the wage you rightfully earn, when you agree to work for that wage.
And see, this is why conservatives are so against. The moment you allow government to determine who deserves what, and who does not, you open the door for tyranny. The story over at
Obama Redistrobution plan in action was the case and point of this idea. Do you want someone else determining if someone else deserves your rightfully earned wage more than you? Of course not, no one does. If it was properly explained that this is exactly what would happen if government had control of our wages for redistribution, no one would be for it. But instead, everyone is in a fairy land where only everyone else's wages will be taken, not theirs.
