Obama's New Attack on Those Who Don't Want Higher Taxes: ‘Selfishness’

Selfishness is:
--saving up for a down payment on the home with room enough for your family
--plowing your life savings into the business you've always dreamed of starting
--putting in overtime and taking second jobs to send your kid to college (or that private elementary school when the public school is too dangerous or unchallenging)
--sending money to the charities that you believe in
--putting away money on a regular basis so that you can live as independently as possible when you retire
--having money so that you can take care of your loved ones when they fall ill

Selfishness makes me a good provider for my family and my community. Selfishness makes me a responsible citizen who tries to go as far as I can before I have to ask my fellow taxpayers for help.
Selfishness makes me a proud and dignified human being, confident in my abilities and my character.

So, yeah, I'm proud to be a Selfish American.

I find it humorous that the advocates of redistibution and envy, in my mind, don't have the guts and determination to go out and make yourselves, the vast sums you wish to give to their beloved comrades. It is still possible to bust your ass and make a pile of dough. Why don't you leftists walk the walk and be consistent with your ideals. It is simply your feelings of inferiority and jealousy that cause you to continually attack the doers/achievers, etc. How is it that if I pay 10 and 20 times the taxes that most of you do, that I am the unfair one?

I take care of myself, my family and my employees. You are not my children, and since I did not bring you into the world, I am not responsible for you.

I risk my net worth on a daily basis and therefore, I deserve the reward or the failure. Get some guts and get into the game. Until the recent economic downturn we have had the most vibrant economy in the history of the world. How many of you redistributionists have taken a second job to save for a rainy day or started a side business? Not many, I would wager.

There should be a cover charge to live in America; one flat fee per individual. Figure it out. I owe no more than any other individual. And don't give my that crap that I have had any more benefit than anyone else from living in America. My grandparents were all uneducated legal immigrants and I put myself thru college. Opportunity is made by those who want it.

There is no free lunch. Obama is lying. Wealth distribution cannot help the economy by making people want to "buy things", it can only hurt it by removing the incentive to earn. The rich can consume as well as the poor, and they have a better idea of what to consume (that's how they got rich!). Any redistribution necessarily shrinks the pie.

Observations of the young
By an older American well only 50 so not that old

I am not even close to middle class
And I am not even close to being rich
I work real hard - way to hard.
I support many and create jobs and knowledge.

In the young I see for the most part a bunch of lazy around me
Who want more than the could afford or are willing to work for.

But then again maybe maybe I am wrong in what I see
and they are disenfranshised instead.

After all they were handed most of what
they have up until now by their parents
and could see how to work and afford
to have what their parents have.

I wanted smaller government - always have.

They now want bigger government - they are entitled.

Now you must learn from a new leader and not their parents
and HE DID Say It Was Going to Be Hard - like your parents.

SO I AM NOW SO

Glad to see the young trust in goverment
- I mean Obama

Obama said now it is government
for the people; by the people,
as our founding fathers said.

He also said it was going to be real hard work
and of course much higher taxes for the rich.
But don't worry you all can also
be rich in a America and someday you can
and help pay for and support the middle class to.

So please work hard young American's you deserve
all you can get in America.

After seeing some of the young aroung me at work I am finally real glad to see that
they are going to get out of bed and work long hours for more money so that some day they course
can pay more taxes so that they can have all that they strive to have with our new Obama government.

Yes, you want heath insurance so you must pay for it - Hard Work.
Yes, you want your children to go to college then you must pay for it - Hard Work.
Yes, you wantt all that you parents have - Hard Work.

Nothing in America was ever had for FREE - Hard Work.

So again I am real glad to
see that maybe the young will buy a older used car instead of the new or newer used car that they could not afford
but still wanted anyway even after you parents warned you.
I am glad to see they are going to rent intead of thinking of buying the BIG house
they could not afford right away.
I am glad to see that they do not need the newest an best gadget that comes onto the market
and can do with the older or used one instead.
I am glad so to see that the young will not be buying a new Big Screen TV
which would keep them from having all of the above
and decide to keep the old TV for a few more years. Heck it still works

Obama did say it was going to be hard.

Heck the rich will buy enough TV's anyway and drive the price
down for you so you can afford and pay less when you are ready
and can afford it.

I am also real glad to know that with all of you new pay raises and jobs you will be getting
because you are middle class and entitled - that finally you will be GETTING of your lazy a_____
bed and will be doing so much more.

Obama said it was going to be Hard

Thank You Young Americans

trust in your government - I mean Obama

Maybe I can retire now. Will you support me?

In fact Obama's reference to "selfishness" does not refer to you. On the contrary, when he was talking about you - a working & middle class - he was talking about *lowering* your taxes. While you may have a problem to trust "that one", it is healthy to acknowledge that this is what he is arguing for.

On the other hand, when he mentioned making virtue out of "selfishness" he was clearly talking about John McCain's and Palin's unfair charge that lowering the taxes to middle class is "socialism". When financial elite, people like John and Cindy McCain, Bush, Cheney, and their pals who own this country make charges of "socialism" when somebody wants to cut the taxes for the working & middle class, it is reasonable to assume that motivation behind their hysteric name calling is a conflict of interest, no?

Here is what else Obama said:

"...it’s that when we actually make sure that everybody’s got a shot – when young people can all go to college, when everybody’s got decent health care, when everybody’s got a little more money at the end of the month – then guess what? Everybody starts spending that money, they decide maybe I can afford a new car, maybe I can afford a computer for my child. They can buy the products and services that businesses are selling and everybody is better off. All boats rise..."

Now, I would say that these words are true, both as an expression of the shared values of a huge majority of good people in this country, and economically.

You may disagree and call Obama names for saying such a radical things, and I don't think anybody should call you selfish or something along these lines, but, please,...think what your mommy would say?

Note that Warren Buffet, who is no "socialist", supports Obama and has high prize for his economic plan. I don't think people on this net should double guess Warren B. on what is good for the economy an capitalism of this country.

While people work day in and day out to acquire values; fundamentally they hold the achievement of personal gain to be evil. Reject this hold of guilt and be proud. Then your are free. It is only your own condemnation that binds you.

I can't belive that Obama would try to destroy coal plants which provide 50% of our electricity. Our electricity will go up tremendously and unemployment the economy and the entire nation will be hurt by this poor excuse of a man. there are so many concerns for obama, where is his birth certificate? Is his aunt here illegally,
why is he so friendly with our enemies, wwhy is his reputation as senator only
hurt the people he represented. please people think about your future and your children and grandchildrens' future.
how dare obama to call us selfish because we don't want to pay more taxes, was obamalying when he said he would cut taxes for the middleman...oh he forgot to tell you he was going to raise your electric and put people out of work and put us in a depression...people think vote against someone who will take away our freedom and destroy everything we have worked for .

The best defense against being brainwashed by “brilliant” politicians is to learn from history. If a candidate’s views contradict these historical facts they should be rejected.

History proves that too many candidates promise tax cuts but raise them instead. This politician is actually promising tax credits on some and higher taxes on others. If someone is promising to raise taxes on some that is even more of a reason to expect higher taxes for all. History would have to be ignored to believe higher taxes on those that create jobs would actually benefit those that have jobs and wish to someday create jobs.

Labels can be put on others, but the label is not important. It is what they do, have done and plan on doing in relation to historical data that determines if they are a bad choice to be the leader of the free world. You may argue about what to call their actions and plans all day if you want.

Those of you that study history realize that failed policies that are in use around the world by countries with weaker economies, poorer citizens, oppressive governments, less freedoms, less charitable giving by citizens are slowly creeping into our government. As these policies are implemented things get worse, we are slowly inheriting these attributes. Do the proponents of these policies seek to make our great country more like these other countries? Do they realize that they are weakening our country? Do they seek to make us less powerful? The leaders of some of these countries are beginning to realize why we are the great country we are and they are trying to change. Ironic that they choose our best attributes, while we may be choosing their worst.

Our founding fathers may be the first to ever learn from history and devise the constitution, our form of government and economic structure. Our constitution and capitalism take human nature; greed, corruption and the human spirit and put it to work for the good of everyone. It and a free people are two of the reasons the United States has become one of the most successful and powerful countries today, the center of the financial world, the dollar being the standard of currency, the most charitable country, etc. History proves time and again and is still proving this everywhere you look.

We must be ever vigilant against the attacks of those that would destroy our nation from within, sometimes by seemingly harmless and incremental steps; by those that would use the fear and uncertainty brought on by financial crisis against us, to call for change, a change that will ultimately allow the few wealthy ruling elite to oppress us all. The great depression and its aftermath, which continues to this day, seem to be a history lesson few of us are willing to learn.

PDSimic

You know not what you say.

Can you name one socialist economy the is not a natural resources ( gifted ) economy that could even buy the stuff we throw away each day? The answer is no. Because there are none. You live in one of the richest countries in the world and you want to emulate the most impoverished! Spend some time in Mexico, or any of those other countries that have tried these social experiments. You will not like what you find.

Bigger government equals bigger corruption especially when you have a general public like ours that knows who won last season on survivor but cannot even name the speaker of the house? NUTS I say NUTS I personally think McCain is about half socialist but Obama is a Marxist.

You have been duped. Obama is only after power and the way to get it is to stir up the people that think, they somehow have something more coming to them. Why do they think that? Because he told them so! Try reading " Rules for Radicals" ( how to gain power ) this is his blueprint. Seriously.

American people are good, generous people. It is just that they have been massively brainwashed for so long that even the otherwise reasonable and functioning people become complete zombies the moment the key, "sharing", or "socialist", is pressed. It would be funny if not sad, and, as the last eight years testify, very dangerous for everybody (including the zombies themselves).

Yet, they never learn, and so a brilliant guy who is determined to give them a tax break is called names and branded a "socialist", while the rich old guy who is proponent of the failed "trickle down" philosophy which ends every 10 years in a massive redistribution of wealth from the tax payers to the rich old guy on Wall St (who, by the way, get to keep their past multimillion dollar spoils), gets their vote...and so we can have more of the same upward redistribution of wealth again and again and again...Not this time.

The only way to lower a deficit and balance the budget is to cut spending and lower taxes to increase economic growth and create jobs. If this is done the government actually gets more tax revenue than if they raise taxes. Doesn’t it make you wonder why so many politicians’ first reaction is to raise taxes? That will only slow the economy and actual tax revenue will decrease. History proves this over and over.

The tech bubble caused the good economy during the Clinton administration. The tech bubble and the lower capital gains tax which actually brought in more tax revenue allowed the deficit to be lowered. When the tech bubble burst towards the end of his administration the economy could not withstand the high tax burden and went into a recession. If the other tax rates where lower the economy would actually have been even better and possibly would not have gone into a recession. Historical data shows this.

There is regulation in government, a whole lot of it. It is a myth that Bush and republicans want to do away with all regulation. They just want to take away or reform the regulation that is actually causing problems. Some of it is a major contributor to the housing/financial crisis. It is ironic that many democrats in congress are on record covering up the corruption and ignoring the oversight recommendations. The problem is not that there is no regulation or that there is not enough. The problem is that it is corrupt. Adding even more corrupt regulation to already corrupt regulation will make everything worse. The idea is to have regulation and oversight that works and doesn’t cause more problems than it solves.

Everyone knows there is incredible wasteful spending in Washington. They could run the government and all its programs with a little over half the amount of money they use now. If you cut out wasteful spending, end programs that are not needed, streamline other programs and cut out fraud and corruption you could save even more. There is no need to ever raise taxes on anyone. They should actually be lower.

The only reason our economy is able to withstand our massive and corrupt government is because of capitalism and freedom. The more redistributive our tax system gets, the higher our taxes get, the more nationalized type programs creep into government and the closer we get to a socialist type centrally planned system our economy will be less and less able to withstand the increased size and corruption of government. We will eventually be crushed by the top-heavy, corrupt and massive government.

How can you expect the corrupt to clean up corruption? Since no one seems to want to fix these things. The only thing left to do is make government smaller and lower taxes, to elect those that say they want to reform government, cut spending and taxes. We need to reject those that want to increase spending and taxes of any kind.

It is rather remarkable that the US economy came out of the recession that began toward the end of the Clinton administration and has been growing for the past 8 years, despite high gas prices, the weak dollar, the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq war, the worst congress ever, too high state and local taxes, the housing market bubble bursting bringing to light the housing and financial scandals and the media and politicians only reporting negative information about the economy. Only reporting negative economic information affects consumer confidence, which is an important factor that affects our economic growth. A recession is negative growth for two full quarters. The growing economy can be attributed to President Bush’s tax cuts over the last eight years. Historical data shows the GDP has had unexpected growth for the past 8 years and the unemployment rate has been close to the lowest levels.

Areas with high state and local taxes have had economies that are slower and even recessed like Michigan. States with lower taxes generally have better economies.

The housing market/financial bubble burst this September causing a national recession. Data will most likely confirm this economic recession when it is available.

http://kristokoff.blogspot.com/

Obama’s economic tax plan and his promised massive spending increases combined with the additional bailout and other massive spending plans of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and many other democrats in congress will actually do what H Hoover and FD Roosevelt did to cause and prolong the great depression. It is unbelievable that these politicians are willing to ignore history and possibly destroy the lives of millions of Americans.

Obama and the way he runs his campaign are in direct contradiction to anyone who wants to have a transparent government. He is one of the most secretive and non-transparent politicians around. Think about it. How much do you really know about him? Not much.

Caroline

I can agree with you that some government is needed. My thoughts are less is more, and of course I believe I am right. But I don't say that on a whim; all world evidence backs that up. Today our choices are more (McCain ) or way way way more ( Obama )

I am glad you brought up Teddy Roosevelt, he was well know as a trust buster intended to foster free market capitalism. That is a worthy use of government

You say He believes in creating transparency ( Obama ) . Did you know McCain was one of the sponsors of that bill, you didn't mention that. Convenient. They may have taken that idea from Palin, as she put the entire Alaska budget online, did you know that?

More importatntly, if Obama believed in transparency he would come clean and discuss his relationships like how he came right out of law school and bought a million dollar house soon thereafter with the help of a convicted felon to whom he has extensive ties. I could go on and on and on with ACORN and other issues. He cannot come clean on all of this because he is guilty as hell. That is why he would not debate McCain in an open format. Had to restrict the questions. My gosh he has stolen his tactics directly out of "Rules for Radicals" by Alinsky. Obama is probably the most corrupt political figure to hit the presidential scene. I could go on and on.

Regarding Pelosi I don't if she is corrupt or just retarded but the two of them together could push this country to a point where it would never recover and I mean that seriously.

Example: They ( Obama and Pelosi ) support and promise to pass a bill the will remove non union members in a vote, the right to a secret ballet. What this amounts to is the union members being able to legally intimidate potential members into voting in a union. This is a perfect example of the Gestapo tactics these Nazis are going to try to apply. This flies directly in the face of everything we stand for in this country and the rights that many many thousands of solders have died to protect on your behalf. http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/28/parties-lock-horns-over-union-efforts-to-end-secre/print/

This would be equal to the republicans posting goons at the voting booth on Tuesday to intimidate and insure you vote republican. Does that seem fair? How many examples of this kind of thing do you need? This is just a taste of their agenda. I guess if all people are created equal you Democrats are just a little more equal!

What is even more scary is that he has so many hoodwinked it is mind-blowing! Not since 1933 have so many people been so foolish.

If that crook gets elected, god help us all.

Comrade

Hi comrade,

I agree with you that in government corruption is rampant, and that as you say about socialistinc countries, "everybody eventually finds a way to steal money". It's rampant in our democracy as well...one strategy being the occurance of "kickbacks". Corruption is a really problem. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I disagree, though, that "everyone" does this. And I think it's important not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Pure unregulated capitalism holds the seeds of it's own corruption. That's why some oversight and regulation is necessary. It's more of the need for "balance of powers" that our founding fathers sought in establishing our Constitution. Capitalism must exist in balance with some oversight that exists to prevent exploitation of the common good. Read about Teddy Roosevelt who was a Republican who recognized the value of the free market but also the need to regulate it. We can't just get rid of governement because there is a tendency for it to become corrupt. We just need to maintain a balance of power and vigilance over all the branches and actively work for the government we want at all times.

This is why Obama is so needed. He is a visionary. He believes in creating transparency using the internet to hold Washington more accountable. This will not fix everything, but it's a step and an example of innovative and forward thinking. He is a clip from an article about the bill he co-sponsored with Republican Senator Coburn and which was passed.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) today hailed the Senate's passage of the "Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act," a bill that will create a Google-like search engine and database to track approximately $1 trillion in federal grants, contracts, earmarks and loans.

"By helping to lift the veil of secrecy in Washington, this database will help make us better legislators, reporters better journalists, and voters more active citizens," Obama said. "It's both unusual and encouraging to see interest groups and bloggers on the left and the right come together to achieve results. This powerful grassroots alliance shows that at the end of the day, Americans want to see Congress work together to get something done and not continue to engage in the partisan gridlock that so often brings Capitol Hill to a grinding halt."

"Every American has the right to know how their government spends their money, and then to hold elected officials accountable for those decisions. I applaud my colleagues for unanimously supporting a bill that will aid the American people in that effort," Dr. Coburn said. "This bill is a small but significant step toward changing the culture in Washington. Only by fostering a culture of openness, transparency and accountability will Congress come together to address the mounting fiscal challenges that threaten our future prosperity."

"The group that deserves credit for passing this bill, however, is not Congress, but the army of bloggers and concerned citizens who told Congress that transparency is a just demand for all citizens, not a special privilege for political insiders. Their remarkable effort demonstrates that our system of government does work when the people take the reins of government and demand change," Dr. Coburn said.

This is an example of the kind of progressive thinking we need.

Tom wrote:
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill
for all Ten comes to $100....

Talking about McDisney land here, eh Tom?

Ok, suppose now that all these zombies need for their and their family's physical survival in McDisney country is one beer per day for papa-zombie. If papa zombie does not have his beer, his kids will turn mean, will drop from school and will start robbing the beer joints because in McDisney country, the beer is essential for physical survival of zombies. Everyone knows this is a bottom line.

Ok, to make it bit more realistic, suppose 10th zombie, the richest zombie of all - call him a Master zombie - owns most of the bear stores, where beer sells at 10$ a bottle, while it cost him to make it over sea $0.5 a bottle. To make it realistic, he can do this because his friend, "John The Maverick", a Master class zombie himself, whose wife is "Cindy The Beer Barnes", got him a sweet deal through his old pal, "Cheney the VP" (who really is "Cheney the Real PP").

Anyway, he is happy to bring the party over for a beer every day and pay 59$ because by doing this he nets $41 in revenue and after subtracting 10 x $0.5 = $5 cost of a beer, he nets $36 in pure cash profits every day after day, after day... (remember, due to his sweet deal with "Cheney The PP", his business was able to fire all the class 1-6 zombies and go over-sea to make beer for $0.5)...

Now, he is happy with his life, zombie the Master, because God have blessed him with sweet golden goose arrangement, which sucks the money (and life) out of everybody else, and pumps it into his Cayman Island accounts. Still, he is bit of a paranoia about keeping his big arbitrage machine secret, so he goes into an attack the moment somebody proposes even a slight change in rules. He does not really care about paying 45% or 35%, it is just that he knows that once the rules are seen as changeable (and not God given), the lesser, good-for-nothing zombies may get a wrong ideas...

And what is happening with rest of his beer pals, 5th of which maybe "Joe The Plumber"? Here it is, in short:

"Zombie The 9th" and "8th" pay more then the price of beer. The are loosing money, they mostly know it, and they increasingly don't like it...

"Zombie The 5th-8th", pay 2, 6, 14, and, 24 times more for their beer than it really cost - they too are being ripped off by the Master zombie. Worse, the cost they pay for a beer is pretty much all they got from their hard work (most of them work as hard if not harder then Master zombie).

They are told that all this sacrifice will pay off one day if they just keep dreaming of achieving the McDisney Land Dream. So they work hard, and are happy to have a beer with Master zombie. They figure, if Master is having beer with them, he is one of them, so they prey for him, vote for him, look up at him, and hope that one day they will,...,ok, if not they, their kids may,..., ok, if not their kids, their grand-children ought to become Master zombies too...

Ok, the story line could continue, and in fact it becomes even more interesting, and realistic...but you got the point, and I have no more time now, got to go to Arizona, it is a long flight from here, don't ask me why...It is a secret. I'll just tell you this : something wonderful is going to happen in Arizona this Thu...

Good Luck to everybody :))

Most Americans choose their candidates on historical facts and reality and which candidate is closest in line with that and their values. If you choose your candidate based on feelings and which one is calm, cool, a good speaker, etc. you’re destined to choose a candidate that will lead you into poverty.

To clarify: On the other hand, in the highest bracket his (McCain's) tax cuts will give people earning over 2.87 million a year an average of 269,304.00 dollars in additional tax cuts!!! And they have so many hard-working Americans convinced that this is a better plan. Pretty clever bunch.

PD Simic,

Thank you for posted an intelligent entry! I was beginning to lose faith in the ability of our country's constituency to think! I liked your reference to the "button pushing". This administration and its new "talking piece" prey on peoples' ignorance by slinging "idealogical" (not proven) rhetoric around that pushes emotional buttons and causes people to actually want to vote for what is not good for them.

The McCain camp slings around the "tax and spend" "anti-big-government" anti-liberal rhetoric and people buy it despite the fact that the facts point to a governmental administration that has spent like no other. The Bush administration has given us a 10 Trillion dollar debt! We spend a fortune in Iraq every day of tax dollars. The Republicans want to cry out that Democrats will take away our freedom because they want to increase taxes on people earning over 600,000.00 a year, and yet this is the same administration that, in the name of the Patriot Act has taken away liberties previously protected by our constitution via wire-tapping etc. The wealthy corporate lobbyists have time and time again used their power to pressure our government to pass legislation (including the Bush tax cuts and multiple examples of de-regulation) to benefit their only special interests, not the working people of this country, and the irony is that at the same time, they've managed to hoodwink and bamboozle many of your true hard-working Americans into thinking they are preserving your best interest. It's a scam.

Many of you are feeling the pinch of our economy and you need someone to blame, and this administration seeks to point the blame away from themselves and towards their competition, and manages to sell their trickle down nonsense such that many of you want to vote for more of the same. Under the Bush economic philosophy, peoples usable income is down, inflation is high (if cutting taxes stimulate the economy, then why is our economy suffering so much after 8 years of Bush tax cuts?), unemployment is high, and home values are down.

AS PD Simic so intelligently points out, any tax system is redistributionistic. I will add that taxes are necessary for many services that we all need such as law enforcement, national defense, paying for infrastructure such as roads, etc. and many programs that few would dispute such as the public educational system. How we tax people, however, can make a difference.

Obama does not want to raise everyone taxes. On the contrary. Look it up. Obama wants to lower the taxes of people making under 250,000.00/year, and if you compare Obama and McCain's tax plans, you will see that the Obama cuts are designed to help those who are really stretched to make ends meet; hard-working people. McCain's tax cuts for the working person are a joke. In the lowest tax bracket, his taxes will give an average of $19.00 per year in tax cuts. Obama's plan for the same bracket gives a $567.00 tax cut. On the other hand, in the highest bracket his tax cuts will give people earning over 2.87 million a year an average of 269,304.00 dollars in additional tax cuts!!! And they have so many hard-working Americans convinced that this is a better plan. Pretty clever bunch.