Posted on 10/20/2008 7:30:01 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
It is hard to imagine we’ve heard the last of Barack Obama’s interactions with William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright. But lately John McCain seems much more interested in talking about another Obama encounter. It’s the now infamous conversation Obama had with “Joe the Plumber”--and one particular phrase that Obama uttered in the course of it.
For those who may have been in hibernation the last few days, Joe the Plumber--whose real name is Joe Wurzelbacher--met Obama during an Ohio campaign event last weekend. Wurzelbacher was concerned about Obama’s tax plan, which would raise taxes on wealthy Americans. In the course of a lengthy response, Obama said it was a good idea to “spread the wealth.”
Conservative commentators pounced and, before long, McCain had, too. He brought it up in Wednesday’s debate, in subsequent appearances, and--most recently--in his Saturday national radio address.
You see, he believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that help us all make more of it. Joe, in his plainspoken way, said this sounded a lot like socialism. And a lot of Americans are thinking along those same lines. In the best case, "spreading the wealth around" is a familiar idea from the American left. And that kind of class warfare sure doesn't sound like a "new kind of politics."
The rest of McCain’s presentation was pretty disingenuous. As proof of Obama’s alleged socialist leanings, he noted that Obama would have the government write checks to millions of people too poor to pay income taxes. McCain called these “refundable credits” a form of welfare, apparently oblivious to the fact that McCain’s own health care plan uses refundable credits. (One reason they make sense, in both cases: Even people too poor to pay income taxes still owe payroll taxes.)
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.tnr.com ...
Because words don’t mean anything to liars. Because words mean different things, they are without quantity and quality. That’s how everyday people get conned. Any questions?
You’re right. We need to remember that there’s an element in this country that WANTS socialism.
Hey Jonny. YOU spread YOUR wealth. I’d like to hold on to mine. (what little I have). I F’N WORKED FOR IT!!!! Tell your pals to get off their asses and do the same thing.
“Just words, Just speeches”
Let’s spread Barack Obama’s wealth around first
Well it must be AWFUL because none of the "rich" liberals do it voluntarily.
And it's the lazy element that doesn't want to work for their own stuff.
socialism???
TNR Asks “Whats So Wrong With Spreading The Wealth?”
************************EXCERPT*****************************
Another rationale for progressive taxation is the fact that random chance has profound effects on everybody’s financial well-being. (A guy named John Rawls once wrote a thing or two about this.) Mandating economic equality–i.e., carrying out a truly socialist agenda–would obviously be wrong. But there are compelling moral and economic arguments for asking the fortunate to pay a little more in taxes, in order to blunt the influence of chance on people’s lives.
Uh, hello? Are you kidding me? Asking the fortunate to pay a little more in taxes when the top 5% of wage earners, those making more then $153,000, pay 60% of ALL federal income taxes. The top 1% of wage earners, those making over $388,000, pay 40% of ALL federal income taxes. Those top 1%er’s make up 17% of the fed’s revenue from ALL sources including excise taxes, retirement receipts, and corporate taxes.
The top 1 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2 percent of the nation’s income (as defined by AGI), yet paid 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes. That means the top 1 percent of tax returns paid about the same amount of federal individual income taxes as the bottom 95 percent of tax returns.
They already pay their share. Actually more then their share. But according to the yahoo’s at The New Republic (and Obama of course) lets take more of their money.
"The immediate cause of the crisis was Kenya's delicate ethnic balance. The incumbent president, Kibaki, is a member of Kenya's largest and probably most powerful ethnic group, the Kikuyu, who total about 22 percent of the population; his rival, Odinga, is a member of the Luo, who comprise some 13 percent of the populace and live predominantly in western Kenya. In their bitter contest, in which Odinga promised to end ethnic favoritism and spread the country's wealth more equitably, ethnicity was the deciding factor, and a marred victory on either side had always been likely to spark violence. "
There’s nothing wrong with spreading the welth as long as it’s your wealth you’re spreading. If it’s not it’s stealing and if you want to do it you’re a commie.
It’s my wealth! Share yours first.
We should make that element work or leave!
Aw, I thought Joe the Plumber WAS his real name. Poop. They're probably going to tell me Thomas the Tank is not real, too. I'm so disappointed, I'm going to go to bed and cry.
What is so awful is that, lets say our taxes go up to 50%.
One person makes $200,000 a year and the other makes $50,000.
The first person has to put $100,000 into the pot while the other only $25,000.
That is just crazy and it takes away mans will to work.
Wealth comes from my labor. Only I am entitled to my labor. What's so awful about understanding that simple notion!
Nothings wrong when the people who produced the wealth spend it or give it away at their own discretion. When someone else takes it and spreads it around to buy votes, it goes against an old rule that the "religious Right" (aka the conservative majority) believes in: "Thou shalt not steal".
It is called theft! Stealing from me at gun point to give to thee sitting on the couch.
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