Townhall...
What Kind of a
Country Do You Want?
6/11/2011
By Bill O’Reilly
Throughout the ages, Robin Hood has carried a very positive image: a
dashing hero who steals from a corrupt kingdom and distributes the loot
to the poor. Errol Flynn was among the first to bring Robin to life in
the movies, and more recently, Russell Crowe advanced the legend.
President Obama, I believe, sees himself as the noble Robin. Certainly,
his tax-the-rich mantra and health care giveaways demonstrate a strong
desire to redistribute income from the affluent to the poor in America.
How is that playing in Peoria? A new Gallup poll tells us.
The question was simple: “Do you think our government should or should
not redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich?” Most Americans
said no. Forty-nine percent do not support Obama’s vision, including 69
percent of Republicans and 53 percent of independents. But 47 percent
of Americans do want to be shown the money, including a whopping 71
percent of Democrats.
The demographic breakdown is instructive: Fifty-two percent of women
but just 42 percent of men support wealth redistribution. But the real
gap is between whites and nonwhites. Here, 64 percent of nonwhite
Americans want federal money given to those who have not, while just 41
percent of whites want the same.
Gallup concludes that most Americans do support the wealthy paying more
in order to solve specific problems (like Social Security), but
Americans are not “anti-rich.” A majority believes the USA does not
have “too many” rich folks.
For Obama, the call is easy. His core constituency fervently believes
that a “just society” takes from the rich and gives to the poor. The
problem is that the Founding Fathers did not believe that. So
instituting legislation mandating the redistribution of private wealth
runs up against a variety of constitutional issues. That’s why the
Supreme Court will have to decide on Obamacare.
Madison, Jefferson, Franklin and the boys did not want a strong federal
government meddling in economic affairs or much else for that matter.
They did not impose a federal income tax (that first arrived during the
Civil War), and they did not support government intrusion on the free
marketplace. In the latter part of the 18th century, the colonists were
absolutely fed up with King George intruding upon their economic lives.
That anger drove the revolution. Those of us who actually studied
history remember the war cry: “No taxation without representation!”
But today the Founding Fathers are considered obsolete by some on the
left who want to join Western Europe in the cradle-to-grave entitlement
zone. Never mind that countries like Greece and Spain are going under
economically because of their nanny state spending. Liberal doctrine
requires “sharing the wealth,” consequences be damned.
With the country almost evenly divided over wealth redistribution, the
next presidential election really becomes a referendum on that concept.
Things were never this complicated in Sherwood Forest.
Read it at Townhall
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