In the Interests of Full Disclosure...

Whatta shocker; someone/thing else calling for a "roll back" (Please, don't insult me; it's a hike) of the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in order to pay for the military action in Iraq and Afghanistan. This time, it's the Philadelphia Inquirer (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/16294900.htm).

Here's my favorite passage:
"Hiking the marginal income tax rate for the wealthiest taxpayers - those earning $200,000 per year or more - would raise about $800 billion over 10 years. Doing so would rightly require some financial sacrifice from the taxpayers who have enjoyed most of the benefit from the Bush tax cuts."
It never ceases to amaze me that liberals think the effects of a tax cut/hike stop there. Basically, that rich people will simply have less money. Who could get mad about that? But, as my friend Peek once told me, rich people do not put their spare cash in a bag and bury it in the backyard. That is the only way it would not be put to work and cycle it's way back through the economy. They either invest it, possibly creating new ventures and, subsequently, new jobs. Or, they spend it, keeping other ventures (by now, more likely established businesses) in business and people employed.

But hey, that kinda talk won't appeal to emotions, will it? That won't sell papers or advance an envy-agenda.

I'll be the first one to agree that deficits, as a matter of principle, and regardless if they are below 2% of GDP (I do have some practical business sense) are not desirable. It is not advisable to spend beyond one's means. But, by the same token, why are spending cuts never seriously entertained?? Government spending is the real problem behind deficits. And by that I do not simply mean excessive earmarks. I mean any and almost all social spending: retirement security, health care, etc. Why don't people take care of themselves and their families?

This country is, in my mind, on (if only slightly) a downward trend as long as government intrudes into the free market and free society in such a way.