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Down the drain?  Beware of Obama's plan to 'spread the wealth around'

By Betsy Newmark
High School History and Government Teacher/Blogger

If the McCain campaign can’t use this Obama quote to raise doubts about his attitude towards wealth and success, then they deserve the shellacking they seem headed for.

“Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?” the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed “more and more for fulfilling the American dream.”

“It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success too,” Obama responded. “My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody … I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Plumbers of the country, unite! Forget about the work and effort you put into building up a business or the scummy work that you do that many of us don’t know or don’t want to do. If you have succeeded, you should be willing to give up more of what you earn to help those who haven’t had the great good luck that you have had to be a successful plumber. Remember how Obama is going to give 95% of all of us a tax cut even though over 30% of the population doesn’t pay taxes?

He might call it a tax credit, but what he’s really doing is his vision of “spreading the wealth around.” It sounds a lot like Huey Long’s 1935 plan to “Share the Wealth.” And when he finds that he can’t tax the top 5% of the population to gain enough wealth to spread to the 95% of the rest of us, do you really think that he’ll stop with that 5%?

Remember…This is the guy who said in the ABC debate during the primary season that his approach to raising tax on capital gains is not based on whether it would provide more revenue but on his idea of what is fair:

GIBSON: All right. You have, however, said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, “I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton,” which was 28 percent. It’s now 15 percent. That’s almost a doubling, if you went to 28 percent.

But actually, Bill Clinton, in 1997, signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.

OBAMA: Right.

GIBSON: And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent.

OBAMA: Right.

GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down.

So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?

OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.

Just what we need in these fragile economic times — a guy who wants to raise taxes because he thinks it’s a matter of “fairness” and time to “spread the wealth around.”

That will be some incentive for other plumbers who want to work hard and build up a successful business.

But don’t worry - according to Joe Biden, it’s the patriotic thing to do.

I see they also accused you of being me (and/or others) in your more current posts using the ?? moniker.  In reading your posts there, it was obvious you were sincerely looking for debate, and all you did was ask intelligent questions that should have led to an intelligent debate.  Instead it lead to more personal attacks and name calling, without EVER once addressing the ISSUE you were attempting to address.  I'm sorry you were treated so badly there.  You did nothing to deserve their wrath, other than act like a normal respectful human being with valid questions, and they have little tolerance for people like that. 

If you search further down on this board, you'll see where I attempted to debate one of them here well over a month ago.  The person, who I was fooled into believing was sincere about being here to debate, clearly didn't have any responses, though she promised to respond later and never did.  She had the golden opportunity to add something of value and continue the debate process I had begun, but she chose to ignore that and I suppose found more pleasure in insulting others, adding nothing of substance or value to this board, as they constantly do to their own board. 

They constantly accuse liberals on this board of being heinous people, their most favorite accusation seeming to be how hateful we all are, yet I think they honestly don't realize how hateful they come across constantly.  Or maybe they do.  Who knows?

Sorry.  Didn't see that. 

I see that now.  (Not sure what I was thinking when I posted that.)

Like you, when I can afford to give to a charity, I have always chosen to give to the Salvation Army.

sorry 'bout that.........