Thursday, October 16, 2008

Spread the Wealth Around

Overall I felt that (surprise) Obama won the debate. I am tired and so I doubt much will be coherently said here.

What I do want to mention real quick is that the reply to McCain about spreading the wealth around should have pointed out that for too long we have tried the 'trickle down' economic approach which Republicans always push as a way of free markets taking care of themselves. The problem is not somebody like Joe the Plumber, and it is unfortunate that he would have to pay more in taxes (however I still say 250k is a high number, even for a small business). The problem is that so many large corporations simply do not spread the wealth around on their own. One doesn't have to look very far in the current economic crisis to see that this approach has not worked very well. As the income gap in this country and the world increases, we should not be so quick to dismiss the idea of taxing those more fortunate to aid those who are often struggling due to the large corporations and high income earners.


Finally, I am not suggesting that we have a massive redistribution of wealth, which is why I do feel that it can be the government's role to use that money on programs where it sees fit as opposed to pulling a full Robin Hood. It would be great if we were a country which looked out for one another on the financial stage. The reality though, is that we don't. And where citizen's fail in this regard, that is precisely the time for government to come in and do so itself.

PS David Gergen Rocks.

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