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Narrowing Down John's "Group"

Submitted by Ken Watts on Wed, 04/28/2010 - 21:44

MY RESPONSE TO John J. Wall's request for a divorce from "American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al." continues below.

He began by suggesting we cut the country in half, like Solomon's baby.

To read from the beginning, go here .

Dear John,

Your letter continues...

"After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and diparate tastes.

"We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them."

Okay John, the group you represent doesn't like "redistributive taxes".

So you, and your "group", would do two things:

  1. You would raise taxes on the poor and the middle class.

    Because, John, that is the only way to get rid of "redistributive taxes".

    I can hear you saying, "No. We'll just cut government spending."

    But it isn't that simple.

    Because of "redistributive taxes" there are people in this country—and in whichever part of the country you would choose after cutting it up—who pay less than they would have to if the tax rates were identical for the super-rich and the middle class.

    Even if you cut government spending dramatically, those people, actually the vast majority of the patriotic citizens of the this great nation, would still have their taxes raised if your group decided to tax everyone at the same rate.
  2. You would eliminate all government programs that benefit all citizens.

    You would get rid of the national park system, you would eliminate Medicare, and social security, and the military, and the fire department, and the police, and, well, just about all of government.

    Because, John:
    1. even if everyone is taxed at the same rate, the rich will pay more because they have more, and
    2. that means that any government service which benefits everyone...
      1. whether it's the military which protects everyone, or
      2. Medicare which helps everyone when they're old, or
      3. the national highway system which anyone can use, or
      4. any other general program for the good of all,
    3. ...the poor and the middle class will be getting services paid for by the rich .

      Of course, you might actually be interested in some redistribution (a little socialism?), but that's not what you're saying.

      The problem is that we live in the real world, John, and in the real world there are real trade-offs.

      You really need to think this stuff through.

So, taking you at your word, I guess your "group" is all those people who would do away with Medicare and other government services, raise taxes on the poor and middle class, and, of course, destroy America by cutting it in half.

So far, I'm not sure who that is—certainly not moderate Republicans, or even any of the hard-core conservatives I know.

But let's move on to your next issue...

Next: John's issue with liberal judges
and the ACLU...