Why Is It Ok To Hate Rich People?
I was reading an article in the New York Times about Hillary’s economic plans should she become President, and this paragraph in particular struck me:
Her first priority, she said, would be changing the tax code. She has proposed tax credits for college tuition, retirement savings, health care and alternative energy use, most of which would go to lower- and middle-income families. She would also raise the top marginal rate to 39.6 percent, its level for much of her husband’s administration. Increasing high-end tax rates would bring in $52 billion a year, her campaign says, and help pay for some of her other proposals.
Democrats often accuse Republicans of passing tax legislation that favors “the rich,” with the sometimes (but not always) unspoken subtext of Republicans being motivated by hate of the “poor” in their actions. But is legislation that denies successful Americans access to tax relief on par with what their less successful fellow citizens really any better? Why is it ok to “hate” the rich, but not the poor?
Seems to me that we’re all citizens and that we should be treated equally under the law whether we’re rich or poor. Think about it…how often do liberals complain about “the poor” not being treated equally when it comes to something like the criminal code? I think we could all agree that citizens should be treated equally when it comes to the criminal code, but shouldn’t we be treated equally when it comes to the tax code as well?
For instance, Hillary would deny “the rich” tax credits for using alternative energy, saving for retirement and paying for college. But don’t we want the upper class to save for retirement? Don’t we want them to be more efficient in their energy use? Don’t we want their kids to go to college like everyone else’s?
And yes, I know that the common assumption by liberals engaged in class warfare is that “the rich” can take care of themselves. To some extent that’s true, but let’s remember that a $100,000 college tuition bill or even just saving for retirement are challenges even to members of the upper class.
Frankly, I’ve grown weary of politicians who further complicate our already abysmal tax code with laws pandering to one specific demographic or another. We can debate over how much in taxes we should all pay, but when it comes to tax relief we should all be treated equally.
