Rep. Scott Brinkman sat down for an interview with a Louisville Courier Journal reporter recently in which he praised the wealth redistribution policies of Sen. Barack Obama and the energy policies of President Jimmy Carter.
The answer, Brinkman said, is more taxation and more government spending. Oh, and more borrowing. But I'm sure he meant that to fall under "more taxation."
Amazing passage, in Brinkman's words, below. It's noteworthy, I suppose, that Brinkman is a Republican.
The whole "Lunch with Brinkman" interview is available by clicking here.
Can't imagine my opinion would have been welcomed at lunch that day. But I sure would like to help Rep. Brinkman expand his list of economic stimulants.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Brinkman's two ways to stimulate the economy
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Obama didn't say "wealth redistribution." Obama used the term "spread the wealth."
Wages are a form of spreading the wealth. So are capital gains, dividends and interest.
If wealth gets too concentrated into the hands of a few, then there's less money to circulate. For an economy to be prosperous, money has to circulate. That's spreading the wealth.
We're in a situation like 1929 -- 20% of the wealth is concentrated into the hands of a few.
Taxation is government's way of spreading the wealth. Proportional taxation on the movement of money is the fairest way for government to have the necessary revenues to meet the needs of the people, which is what our founders intended.
Government is absolutely necessary. Alexander Hamilton or James Madison or both wrote in Federalist Paper 51:
"But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."
Government most have the means to "control the governed." The "means" requires having the necessary revenues. Without adequate revenues, government ceases to function properly.
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