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10 Things

Whew! So this is what it feels like to be savagely attacked by people who don’t know you. I’m frankly appalled by the language, threats, and hostility in the comments to my post on how the Obama tax increases will impact my family and in the posts from the likes of Brad Delong. Given all the vitriol and misinformation, I thought I’d try to clear the air with some observations about me and what I think. First, let me point out that the point of the post was not to solicit pity. I am rich by most measures, and I feel blessed by all the fortune I’ve had. I’ve worked very had, but my rewards feel like blessings. My point was simply to suggest how people who Democrats call rich are not just people with yachts, summer houses in the Hamptons, and private jets. Many of the rich are regular people who make ends meet every month with a struggle and don’t have piles of cash or hidden stashes of gold. The super rich are not just trust fund babies.

Now for some things I think or facts about me.

1. I don’t need lectures about the poor, huddled masses who make less money than I do. My paternal grandfather was a coal miner; my maternal grandfather arrived penniless from Lebanon. My dad was the first in his family to go to college. I grew up decidedly middle class, attending public schools all the way. I joined the Army to pay to go to college because my dad wouldn’t pay for me to go to a private school. I appreciate how rich and fortunate I am.

2. I believe in a dramatically smaller government. Government has grown beyond its means, and threatens the stability of the country. Returning to those “small government” days of 2000 would be a start, as this would result in a huge cut in the size of government. This includes defense and many other sacred cows. I’d also be happy to see tax policies that benefit me, like the home mortgage interest deduction, go away. I don’t like tax policy as social policy.

3. I am not an anarchist. I see the need for the government to act when the market fails. Government provides numerous public goods, like national defense, a judicial system, and environmental regulation. It does these things fairly well, and I’m grateful for it when it does so. The question, as Aaron Director put it, is whether we view the extension of government activity as presumptively good or presumptively bad. I’m in the latter camp. This presumption can be overcome with evidence, but that is where I start.

4. I think George W. Bush was a terrible president. He was a profligate spender, and so was the Republican Congress. I don’t have much faith things will improve much with a change in power in Washington. Especially sending the likes of Christine O’Donnell or Sarah Palin there. That said, the “wars-got-us-here” is a red herring. The total cost for all of them to date is less than the budget deficit this year. I think Iraq was a mistake, but pointing political fingers is not helpful as we try to dig ourselves out of the hole we are in. In addition, the “lack-of-regulation-got-us-here” is another red herring. Banking law, which I taught last year, is far from light touch in its regulation. (And even small-government guys like me favor strict banking regulation given the moral hazard problems.) There were regulatory failures, but this was only a small part of the story.

5. I believe in the power of private associations and charity. I gave large amounts to charity last year, none of which were club goods, as I’m not a religious person. I believe in helping the less fortunate. (For instance, I taught my daughter about the homeless this morning at the Dunkin Donuts near our house, and bought coffees and a dozen donuts for the guys outside selling “Streetwise.”)

6. Our family income is not anything close to $455,000 or the like, and if our taxes go up (something I’m fairly certain will happen if the president has his way), we will have to cut back on our expenses, and this will put small businesses behind. That was my only point. I don’t feel entitled to anything. I am not as spoiled a brat as people seem to believe.

7. I think it is obvious that we need to increase government revenue, cut spending (as the president promised — “go through line by line” through the budget), and rationalize the tax code. This is what Senator Bradley and President Reagan did in the early 1980s. It is time to do it again. Sadly I don’t see anyone on Capitol Hill capable of this kind of bipartisanship. (No wonder given the hate this issue generates. Someone said I should have my head cut off; someone else called me a “f___tard.” Nice.)

8.I think there was a need for government action to prevent a deeper crisis, but I think the efforts were quite lame. This falls on both Bush the Lesser and Obama. The stimulus as executed is a joke. The bailouts of the auto companies a mistake. TARP was badly executed and led to give aways to Wall Street cronies. We could have had smart government spending and action; we didn’t get it.

9. I live where I do because I wanted my kids to grow up in a diverse community and one where ideas are taken very seriously. That said, I would never send my kids to public schools here because they are terrible. If they were safe and competent, we’d go there. They aren’t. That isn’t my fault. It isn’t wrong to want the best for your kids. Oh, and we still pay for the public schools.

10. I’d be happy to pay more to help out my neighbors and fellow citizens. If I thought I could pay, say, $12,000 more in taxes and this would help educate poorer kids in my area, I’d gladly do it. I’ve seen no evidence that it would.

I’d like to plead for civility and calm in the comments to that and to this post. Everyone needs to relax, and, to quote Dan Akroyd playing Jimmy Carter in a famous SNL skit, if you have a beer, drink it.

Filed under: truth on the market

Full post as published by Truth on the Market on September 18, 2010 (boomark / email).