Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Uh, George, I dont' think you're supposed to say that
It's rare indeed that I quote a George Will column, but this one has a noteworthy quote:
This is of course true, and I am not surprised George Will think this (I would be surprised if he didn't). But geez, aren't Republican talking heads supposed to keep these sorts of ideas under their hats? I mean, the whole anti-tax platform is sold with the sickening slogan "It's your money", which presumes that there is a "natural distribution of wealth" that the government has simply violated.
To recognize that without property laws or educational systems, it would never have been your money in the first place is to up-end the entire moral justification for Republican domestic policy. And without that justification, we'd only be able to judge Republican tax policy on its effects, which few consider stellar.
But I guess this quick burst of sanity will soon be forgotten, and the drum beat for tax cuts will continue without a backwards glance.
Kerry insists he is not a 'redistribution Democrat.' But of course he is. And Bush is a redistribution Republican. There is no 'natural' distribution of social wealth. Distribution is influenced by many social arrangements, from property laws to tax laws to educational arrangements, all of them political choices. Both parties have redistributionist agendas.
This is of course true, and I am not surprised George Will think this (I would be surprised if he didn't). But geez, aren't Republican talking heads supposed to keep these sorts of ideas under their hats? I mean, the whole anti-tax platform is sold with the sickening slogan "It's your money", which presumes that there is a "natural distribution of wealth" that the government has simply violated.
To recognize that without property laws or educational systems, it would never have been your money in the first place is to up-end the entire moral justification for Republican domestic policy. And without that justification, we'd only be able to judge Republican tax policy on its effects, which few consider stellar.
But I guess this quick burst of sanity will soon be forgotten, and the drum beat for tax cuts will continue without a backwards glance.
