Joe Biden has been roundly criticized for his remark that paying higher taxes is a “patriotic duty,” at least for the (conveniently undefined) “wealthy.” (He later added that he–speaking as a Catholic--believed paying taxes was also a “religious duty.”)
There is a sense–a limited sense, I hasten to add–that I believe Biden is correct, or, rather, partly correct. To the except that obeying the law can be construed as patriotic, then paying one’s taxes is a patriotic act. But it is no more patriotic when Bill Gates does it than when you or I do it. (Mr. Biden has so amply demonstrated his confusion about religion, above all the Catholic religion, that charity dictates that I leave his statement about taxes and one’s “religious duty” out of account.)
The problem is that Joe Biden wasn’t taking about obeying the law. He was talking about Obama’s egalitarian plan to further the progess of socialism in this country by (among other things) promulgating polices that will redistribute wealth. Latching on the business profits (be they “windfall” profits or any other sort) is thread in this project. Raising income taxes on more prosperous Americans, thereby making them less prosperous, is another.
The power to tax, Chief Justice John Marshall observed at the end of the 18th century, is the power to destroy. Joe Biden–like Barack Obama, like Democrats en bloc–understand, applaud, and wish to arrogate that power to themselves. Obama is the most radical candidate for presidency in my lifetime. He makes McGovern look like Ronald Reagan. His tax policy is one expression of that radicalism. It would impoverish working Americans not just by taking their money from them but also by rendering them more and more dependent upon the state. The goal, as Tocqueville say back in the 1830s, is the goal of democratic despotism: to turn everyone into a ward of the state. That’s the truly objectionable aspect of what Joe Biden said: not that paying taxes, i.e., obeying the law, is a good thing but that your property isn’t really your property: it belongs to the state, to dispose of as it sees fit. We’ve heard that song before, comrade, but it’s not a tune that American ears find pleasing. That’s one reason, incidentally, that I am sticking by by prediction that John McCain will not only win, but will win big, in November. American voters still prefer candidates who understand the difference between what belongs to citizens and what belongs to the state.
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8 Comments
1. mtraven:That’s pretty rich. After a week in which the government has arranged a massive transfer of wealth from the taxpayers to Wall Street rentier class, Roger is incensed that Obama’s mildly progressive tax proposal is “redistribution of wealth”. Apparently while redistribution from the haves to the have-nots is creeping socialism, theivery, and despotism, while redistribution in the other direction doesn’t even merit notice.
Sep 20, 2008 - 12:08 pm 2. Stan Morgan:Roger, there may be some truth in what you say, but it comes across as diversionary. Those of us on the right, of all people, must be the first to take on the amorality of the attitudes, beliefs and actions that characterize those who have abused the system (see the headlines) that you-and I-think is better than socialism. In short, you have no standing to speak of this until the other evils are faced and fixed.
Sep 20, 2008 - 12:35 pm 3. SAF:Perfectly acceptable statement. This is the democratic position on taxes and its nice to see they mean it and are consistent.
Sep 20, 2008 - 6:02 pm 4. TxSaintFan:“Wall Street” has some blame in this, but the origin of the latest debacle is the misguided lending policies largely supported by the Democratic Party in order to buy votes.
Serious reform of the oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has died in the Senate Banking Committee three of the last four years without a Democratic co-sponsor.
The latest iteration of this Bill has been in this committee since April 2007.
For Barney Frank and Chris Dodd to claim to be innocent bystanders is a pathetic attempt to shift blame to the Republicans and President Bush. At the very least, these two should lose their chairmanships. The more appropriate response would be for them to be held criminally liable for the lack of oversight.
Sep 20, 2008 - 7:21 pm 5. srlucado:I don’t get it. Nothing stops Democrats/limousine liberals from paying however much they want in taxes; why don’t they pay more themselves?
If the “rich” deserved to be taxed more, why aren’t rich Democrats setting an example by pouring their excess into the federal coffers?
If paying taxes is “patriotic”, let’s see their tax returns so we can see for ourselves how patriotic they are.
Scott
Sep 20, 2008 - 9:07 pm 6. KD:Roger rules!
The world is turning upside down. All we hold dear is under attack from Godless Communists who continue to abuse their Freedom. Now is the time to make a stand.
The Bible says: “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
George W. Bush stands firm. Sarah Palin stands firm. They will not blink! Their Resolve and Goodness raises them above all petty questions of knowledge (remember, the Serpent of Satan coiled in the Tree of Knowledge!), experience, or mere so-called education.
Now more than ever before, thieving socialist elites like Barack Obama and Joe Biden are plotting to destroy Capitalism, the only system that lets us become what we are, brings Wealth to the Deserving, and leaves enough left over to help those who are truly in need. The past eight years of Leadership under George W. Bush stand as proof of this!
God is a risk taker. He set Adam and Eve in the Garden and gave them the right to choose. He has made a significant investment in us, and He expects a return. He gives us freedom and He rewards the risk taker. That is the essence of true Capitalism!
Let us not blink in these perilous times!
Vote Palin/McCain!
Sep 20, 2008 - 9:26 pm 7. Wadsy:Speaking of Joe Biden, how come he has the benefit of a fast train that takes him straight to Wilmington and back to DC everyday. I know the railroad has been there for a while, but why did Wilmington, Delaware end with a fast Amtrack like the one that goes to New York from DC.
Sep 21, 2008 - 10:53 pm 8. Tom G.:mtraven, of course you’re right. If the exec. branch determines the bailout is in the best interests of the economy then they should award an equal sum to the have-nots; after all the have-nots are “honestly-poor” and the rentiers can minimize their losses (and we suspect rentiers of inordinate greed anyway). The next time I send in my quarterly taxes, I’m going to donate an equal amount to to the charity of your choice; after all, fair is fair, right?
Sep 22, 2008 - 5:03 pm