Op/Ed by Michael Vaughn Originally posted on Minority Reporter
As has been my goal for this year, I want to bring information to you as we move towards the upcoming election.
My goal is not to promote one candidate over another, but to provide information that you can meditate on and then make an educated decision.
When we go into the voting booth, we should not just be voting for someone because they belong to a certain party that we think are giving us what we want.
We need to understand what they believe, and with data, determine if they indeed are meeting our needs.
Several days ago, President Barack Obama made a statement that caused me some alarm. He said that those that are wealthy did not get there by themselves.
While the substance of that statement is true, the motivation behind it was to cause division.
There has been a constant attack against those that are wealthy by the president and the party that he belongs to. My question is, “Why promote this unnecessary division?”
The president was implying that since no one got wealthy by themselves, they should share that wealth through paying higher taxes.
If someone has gotten wealthy through legal means and hard work, why should they be penalized?
The argument is that the wealthy do not pay their fair share of taxes. I take issue with that because I do not believe that those that make those statements are being honest. If they were not paying their fair share then arrest them. If they are not doing anything illegal, then why bother them?
When someone is abiding by the laws of the land and do not have to pay a certain level of taxes, it is not them that should be persecuted, it is the law that should be changed.
Let me pose a question to you: “Would you pay more than in taxes than what the law requires?”
If you do not answer this question in the affirmative, then why would someone who is wealthy answer differently or be expected to answer differently?
The president’s statement really bothered me because as the president he should represent America and what she stands for.
There was a time in America that people would be praised for working hard and pursuing the American Dream.
Once they obtained that dream, they would be lifted up as an example of what is possible in America.
The message that the president is giving is that if you have an idea, make great sacrifices and work hard and as a result of your hard work, become wealthy, the government is going to come in and take more than you should have to pay in taxes and disperse it those that did not make the sacrifice, did not pursue the idea, and were nowhere around when you were struggling to obtain your dream!
This is not the American Dream. This would be a nightmare and cause frustration, resentment and an unnecessary division.
His claim is that the roads used were built by the government, the school that one attended was funded by the government, and the teacher that launched the creative thinking was a government employee.
Therefore, the wealthy person did not become successful on their own. Again, that is true, but he overlooks a major point in his argument. The roads, the schools, and the teachers were all funded by the taxes that have already been taken from the people.
The people that are in those positions accepted them and received compensation for their work. Why should they be compensated again, when someone becomes successful?
The president and his party are being disingenuous, dishonest, and are creating an unnecessary division.
My hope is that you flat out reject that argument. If there were no entrepreneurs in America, where would this country be?
People do the hard thing because they have passion and want to make a difference and want to be successful.
Everyone that does that by abiding by the rules should not be penalized for living out the American Dream.
Shame on you Mr. President for promoting an unnecessary division, and shame on you if you agree with him!
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