Guess who it is who wants your wealth redistributed?

Gallup ^ | June 2, 2011 | Lydia Saad

[applpie]

"Americans break into two roughly evenly matched camps on the question of whether the government should enact heavy taxes on the rich to redistribute wealth in the U.S. Forty-seven percent believe the government should redistribute wealth in this way, while 49% disagree, similar to views Gallup found four years ago."

[applpie]

Interesting numbers if you look at the charts--those making the big noise on this issue are non-white, democrats who make less than $30K a year. Why does no one raise the issue of greed among the poor? Greed for other people's money and possessions about which God says, "Thou shall not covet." (yep it made the big ten for a reason)

[Salamander]

Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always count on Paul’s vote.

[jla]

"those making the big noise on this issue are non-white, democrats who make less than $30K a year"

Who would have ever thought this?!

[mkmensinger]

Is that the same 47% who pay no income taxes?

[Nickname]

Which is why the tenet of social justice has been hijacked and bastardized by the left.

Rather than individuals doing what we’re instructed to do for the poor, they demand that the state do it instead under the guise of compassion and calling those who object the covetous, greedy ones.

[nathanbedford]

Earlier this morning I posted this reply in the context of claiming political parties for our frustrations over the way we are governed:

There is a school of thought which says that in a democracy-or a representative republic-the people get more or less what they want which is another way of saying they get more or less what they deserve. One could argue that politicians can quite understandably come to regard their constituents as mortal enemies, untrustworthy, unreliable, and two-faced. These politicians would say that they are not cynical, only realistic, knowing that the best way to lose reelection is to actually live up to campaign promises. They would say, "we are in the business of giving people what they want not what they say they want."

How long would a politician's shelf life be if he said that we must cut all Social Security payments because they are contrary to the Constitution? That is not such a leap. The fact is that when the left gets its courts to ratify departures from the Constitution a lot of people are very pleased when they go to the bank and cash the results of that decision.

If a politician says he is going to downsize government we all nod our heads in solemn agreement and then cut off the head of any politician in the next election who actually does it.

We are encouraged to displace blame for our mess by blaming the political parties. Make no mistake, there is a world of difference in my view between the Democrats and Republicans. I believe the Democrats are in thrall to an ideology and a complex financial network manipulated by a few led by George Soros which drives them to gross excesses much worse than Republican administrations would visit upon us. But my point is that we really ought to take a look in the mirror before we, as so many of us do, declare, "a pox on both your houses."

It is the nature of man to rationalize his own self interest as a universal good. One need not consider more beyond the tea party protesters of last summer demanding smaller government but motivated by a reduction in their Medicare.

Politics is a pit of vipers and we must be as wise as serpents but we cannot be wise if we delude ourselves.

As we as constituents are conditioned to blame political parties, the political parties themselves exploit this conditioning process and deflect the blame to the other party. So long as they can get 50% plus one vote they win that game. But we in our self-righteousness and ignorance play that game and then fulminate that we have been betrayed.

[nikos1121]

i AM ANGRY, and I get angrier each day. Probably best for me to take a hiatus and not read or listen to anything for the next ninety days.

Every day, just about every fricking day there is something that comes out about this administration, or some politician on either side that makes me think, “Is there anyone out there, anyone who can reverse the course we’re in?”

Yesterday it was this fact that the US send aid to Russia and China and a whole host of countries that carry our debt. Why are we sending billions of dollars over seas?

What the H*ll is going on in this country? Romney says humans are responsible for global warming....

Is there anyone, anyone out there who speaks for us?

[PORD]

90% of the millionaires got there by working 70-80 hours per week and managing their money for circa 20 years according to a NBC report a few years back. This person was modest in their lifestyle not having a flashy car nor having an expansive home.

Does anyone think this obviously intelligent and hardworking person is going to work the hours it takes to be successful if some parasite politician wants to steal his hard-earned money??? NOT!

The entrepreneurship will dry up, in fact, it already is among some I know who are not going to incur the risk just to have any risk-reward stolen.

[Quiller]

One interesting thing to note is that the anti-"fat cat" numbers (should take more, too many rich in the nation) peak just before the '08 elections, then slowly slide back.

One explanation could be the economic difficulties lead to perceptions that everyone is being hurt, which softens the coveting.

Another explanation is that 0 and his programs are helping relieve the wealth divide, which would likely increase his support among the sub-$30k population.

Or a third, and maybe even more plausible, is that with Bush 43 out of office, the steady drumbeat of the media claiming Bush did everything he did to benefit corporate wealth has ended, and to see 0's catering to elite wealth, you have to push past stories golf outings, ice cream slurp-fests, high-proflie celbrity White House galas, and tense heroic decisions.

[muir_redwoods]

Redistribute? I spend my whole life trying to earn wealth, who knew someone was distributing it? I must assume there was an initial distribution of wealth if now they want to re-distribute it

[trebb]

It is the nature of man to rationalize his own self interest as a universal good. One need not consider more beyond the tea party protesters of last summer demanding smaller government but motivated by a reduction in their Medicare.

Might not be the best analogy. They paid into Social Security and Medicare for their whole working lives via involuntary seizure of their wages. They deserve to reap the benefits of what they already paid for. But Uncle Sugar says "So sorry" and tells them to bend over. They are also doing another double bend over because they pay for both Social Security and Medicare, then a Medicare payment is deducted from SS benefits.

It's like those of us who joined the military and were told that if we gave our country 20 years, our country would take care of all our medical care at no cost to us for the rest of our lives. many of kept our part of the deal and are now paying for health insurance.

I think the Tea Party was not so motivated by cuts in Medicare as it was by the robbing Peter to pay Paul, then telling Peter and Paul that they are both so greedy that they need to make some sacrifices. It has gotten so out of control that "Freedom" is a fading concept instead of a mode of existence. If those of us in the Tea Party must sacrifice, so be it, but we want the tyrants out of the picture so We The People can rebuild this once great Nation.

[Incorrigible]

Bump

[GlockThe Vote]

Medicare and ss are ponzi schemes. Older pwople demanding that these scams continue as they are at the expense of younger people are greedy and selfish as they get as even indexed for inflation typically take out far more than they ever put in.

[dearolddad]

Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always count on Paul’s vote.

When you rob Peter to pay Paul, it makes Peter sore.Almost everyone knows you can't work with a sore Peter.

[monocle]

And women.

[BubbaJunebug]

I fear we have reach the tipping point and there may not be a way back

[Waco]

Mike Moore, Hillery, Redford, B. Stresiand, Jane Fonda want theirs cut first Barney.

[snoringbear]

“Is that the same 47% who pay no income taxes?”

Yes, plus a few more. The number is now 51%. We’ve gone over the tipping point. Bad news for sure...

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Does anyone think this obviously intelligent and hardworking person is going to work the hours it takes to be successful if some parasite politician wants to steal his hard-earned money??? NOT!

The entrepreneurship will dry up, in fact, it already is among some I know who are not going to incur the risk just to have any risk-reward stolen.

While I admire your sentiment I think you're full of BS. If a productive person has a chance to make some money rather than be poor and live like a bum they will go for the money. The ones living like parasites were parasites to begin with and the ones you know who won't incur the risk have already made enough to stay comfortable.

[Salamander]

I fear you’re right.

It really grates me to see my “retired” hubby breaking his back working in the machine shop every day for 16 hours just to keep us going when the welfare queens leave WalMart with trains of carts full of gourmet groceries we sure can’t afford.

Then they pile it all into the back of their Lexus SUVs and drive a half mile to the Section 8 [former] McMansions _right behind WalMart_ when they could just as easily *walk* home.

*We* put what we have in a 12 year old Yukon that’s gotta last us until it falls apart.

So much for the ‘work ethic’.

What was the point of hubby working for 50 years and paying into the system?

They’re getting more out of his hard work than he is.