Friday, May 22, 2015

Thomas Sowell ― 'Just Asking'

Despite pious rhetoric on the left about "asking" the more fortunate for more money, the government does not "ask" anything. 



[h/t JewishWorldReview.com].

In a recent panel discussion on poverty at Georgetown University, President Barack Obama gave another demonstration of his mastery of rhetoric — and disregard of reality. One of the ways of fighting poverty, he proposed, was to "ask from society's lottery winners" that they make a "modest investment" in government programs to help the poor. Since free speech is guaranteed to everyone by the First Amendment to the Constitution, there is nothing to prevent anybody from asking anything from anybody else. But the federal government does not just "ask" for money. It takes the money it wants in taxes, usually before the people who have earned it see their paychecks. 

Despite pious rhetoric on the left about "asking" the more fortunate for more money, the government does not "ask" anything. It seizes what it wants by force. If you don't pay up, it can take not only your paycheck, it can seize your bank account, put a lien on your home and/or put you in federal prison. 

So please don't insult our intelligence by talking piously about "asking." 

Read more: http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell051915.php3#ZS0HT8OS6xdakK2w.99