The money quote........
"I mean, if we can't win that argument we might as well just fold up," he said. "These people are saying we are going to insist on tax cuts for the richest people in the country and we don't care if they are paid for, and we don't think it is a problem if it contributes to the deficit, but we are not going to vote to extend unemployment benefits to working people if they aren't paid for because they contribute to the deficit. I mean, what is wrong with that? How can it be more clear?"
Well Ted, there's no better example of the intellectual elitism than your quote above. Your language starts from the presumption that all money is the government's first and that the people need to show the government how they'll pay for stuff in order to have their own money back.
Years ago, I was at a tax conference where the head of the Ohio Department of Taxation got up and talked about how the state would be able to "afford" a lapse in what was supposed to be a temporary sales tax hike.
I challenged her first by getting her to acknowledge that her job with ODOT was to simply collect the tax not to deal with how those funds would be spent and second to get her to acknowledge the government will spend what the citizens decide to give it.
Somehow, I don't remember these people showing up to my office expressing concern about how I'll continue my business when my best client leaves or I have to reduce my prices because of competitive forces.
But hell maybe I'm not as smart as the Governor. The next time a client of mine wants to sell his business, I'll tell him "you can sell your business but how are you going to replace my loss in revenue?"
More.....
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