The skewed view from the Left
By Tom Quiner
This morning’s Des Moines Register’s letters to the editors showcased the skewed vision of America from those on the Left of the political spectrum.
One writer called Herman Cain “un-American.”
“Herman Cain said recently that the protesters from the 99 percent movement outside Wall Street and now outside the capital in Iowa’ are “un-American.” It is sad that someone running for president would conclude that peaceably assembling and speaking on issues of public importance is contrary to what America is all about. It is frightening that someone running for president is unaware of the constitutional rights involved.”
I don’t think Mr. Cain was talking about people’s right to peaceably assemble, which the writer acknowledges with round two of his diatribe:
“Perhaps he is not ignorant. Perhaps it is just that he is not part of the 99 percent but of the 1 percent. He is a rich man having made much money from his former job as CEO of Godfather Pizza.
He is among the 1 percent who benefited most from the George W. Bush tax cuts. He ran a corporation — one of many corporations that, thanks to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case, now has equal speech rights to any actual living, breathing human.
He has benefited from the economic privileges bestowed by past administrations. Perhaps that is why he is against the 99 percent movement. He is part of the 1 percent and wants to keep his status no matter what the cost to the 99 percent.”
In a nutshell, the writer is mad that Herman Cain “made it” and he didn’t.
The writer is envious of Mr. Cain and would like the government to seize (tax) a chunk of Mr. Cain’s wealth and redistribute it to him.
I guess I’m a little stumped by this guy’s viewpoint.
I thought Herman Cain represented everything good about America. The man started from a lowly position in life with a Mom who was a maid and a Dad who was a chauffeur driver.
He got himself educated.
Through good old-fashioned hard work and drive, he overcame racial barriers and rose to the top of his field in four different careers.
Mr. Cain is a self-made man, an America success story. Only an American liberal could look at his story and castigate the man.
Let us turn to another writer who calls the flat tax “nonsense”:
“The notion that a flat tax is a fair tax is nonsense.
Let’s say you make $25,000 a year, and your next-door neighbor makes $100,000 a year. You both drive the same distance to work, using about the same amount of gas. The amount of tax paid by both is the same.
Who is going to feel it more, from a financial standpoint? You think your taxes are high now, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet if such a scam comes to pass.”
Am I missing something here?
Let us say that the flat tax rate is 20% for the sake of easy math. The person earning $25,000 would pay $5000 in taxes. The person earning $100,000 would pay $20,000 in taxes.
It is true they’re paying the same rate, but the more productive worker is paying $15,000 more in taxes.
“The amount of tax paid by both is the same” is an inaccurate statement. Higher earners pay more in taxes, but at the same rate, with a Flat Tax.
The advantage of the Flat Tax is that it is fair and simpler. Most importantly, it doesn’t penalize (tax) and create disincentives to be more productive.
What could be fairer?
Envy skews our thinking.
