A “wild-eyed” Warren address group of supporters
Doug Smith is an opinion columnist and associate editor at Free State Patriot
August 24, 2019
Accidental Truth
An interesting moment in politics occurred the other day when Elizabeth Warren touted her latest violation of the 2nd Amendment by noting that her massive increase of taxes on gun manufacturing and sales of guns and ammo would have the effect of diminishing the production of guns.
Pause to let that sink in. (THIS article is NOT about the desire of Leftists to disarm the folks so they cannot resist the enlightened leadership of Elizabeth Warren, by the way.)
She accidentally told a basic economic truth: That which you tax more, you get less of. That which you pay for, you get more of. She didn’t mean to, but she did.
Because when, in another pronouncement, she proposes to “modestly” tax the existing wealth of very successful individuals. Just a couple of percentage points. On accumulated wealth, on which they have already paid taxes. Sort of like the “death tax”, making sure that the government gets part of what you worked your whole life for, but without waiting till you die. This might also be a good point at which to mention that the income tax was originally a “modest tax” of only 2%, only on the top 1% of earners. Most of you will be just fine, and those greedy wealthy can afford it. (Before you read on, pop quiz. Are you in the top 1%? No? Did you pay more than 2% in taxes last year? Yes? Hmm. Pause to let that sink in.)
But let s consider this in light of her swerving into the guard rails of truth beside the road. When corporate taxes were quite high during the Obama Regime, where did corporations park their money, in the Trillions? Answer: not here. It would cost them enormously to bring that money to the US, so they didn’t. Nor did they invest it here. It was one of many anti-business factors of the anemic Obama years of low employment, low business startups, and sub 2% GPD growth for the first time since, oh, FDR and Wilson. Because what you tax more, you get less.
Now, let’s say I’m smart enough and driven enough to be Bill Gates, or Warren Buffett, or Jeff Bezos. And I realize that a President Two Feathers Warren is going to go after my money. Where am I going to put my money? The Virgin Islands? Monaco? Someplace that will not tax it, confiscate it, or interfere with it, but let me spend it. I might build a nice estate and buy a bigger boat. But not in the United States. I won’t be spending my money there, because it will be worth less. So, who will Liz rob of their life savings? Anyone who has had enough thrift to accumulate something, but is not wealthy enough to escape.
You.
She didn’t mean to tell you this. It was an accident. She does mean to DO it. And to you, if you earn or have anything. But she doesn’t mean to TELL you so.
The other side of that coin is that what you pay for, you get more of. On that note, a few observations. For all you may hear about the end of welfare as we know it, the reality, if you look around, is that we have generations dependent on other people’s money to function. We have grandparents and great grandparents doing their best to raise children with money from the public dole.
And not that progressives are known for logic, but, try this one on. We have heard repeatedly how illegals do not receive public assistance, and how they are a net positive to the economy. Yet, as the Trump administration proposes to enforce rules that deny green cards or entry to anyone who cannot demonstrate self-sufficiency, and to anyone already hear currently receiving assistance from the public dole (SNAP, HUD, Medical Cards, etc.), the Left is outraged! (I note in passing that the Left is always outraged) That is cruel and heartless. But wait. If they cannot receive public assistance, as you tell us, and Trump proposes to enforce that law which you tell us governs, how it that heartless? Can it be that the Left is accidentally telling the truth once more?
If you have ever raised or cared for a child, here is a though experiment. Suppose you decide that you will never say no to a child. If they want a toy in the grocery store, they get it. If they want pudding for dinner at 10 pm, they get it. If they want to miss school, why they skip. You never deny them anything. What will you have? If you said a spoiled brat who screams and throws tantrums, you would be close to the mark.
There are limits and what we may get, and what we may do (many things may be worthwhile, but resources are finite. If you send money to every heartfelt appeal on TV, you will starve.) If there are no limits, and anything that seems worthy must be done, regardless of cost, you find generations of spoiled adults with no concept of the real world. Remember a young lady who did a video of herself after Trump was elected, in which she screamed and cried in hysterics at the thought that her side had lost an election? Her pull quote was “I am literally going to die”.
Had she been a child, raised when I was raised, some adult would have said “You stop that right now or I’ll give you something to cry about!” She is not a child. She is a ruined adult.
Truths. If you tax it, it will diminish. If you pay for it, it will grow. If you never make value judgements, you are incapable of deciding that a $ 50,000 car is less important than rent and food. And you expect “them” to give it to you. So, you get behind “them” when they promise it to you. And never realize the difference between what you earn, and what you are given, or between a privilege and a right.
And that what the government must give you, the government can deny you. You must trust both the intentions and the abilities of a person who says “I know what is best for 400,000,000 people, every day, and every moment. Trust me. “
Let that sink it. No one is that good, or benevolent, or smart. But 400,000,000 free citizens, left to pursue happiness in their own way, and to live in liberty, are that smart. They will choose for themselves better than any small cadre of progressives can. So our founders thought.
But not Elizabeth Warren. Except occasionally, by accident.
But trust her. Shell get over it.
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