Friday, October 31, 2008

Regarding all this "spread the wealth" nonsense

I just need to say something. Everyone's talking about Obama's tax policy as "spreading the wealth." The way they talk about it you'd think that as soon as you make more than a quarter million dollars the IRS will show up at your house and give your car to a person on welfare who hasn't had a job in 40 years.

That's not what's happening.

They're not going to take your money and give it to someone else. What happens when you pay taxes is that the government takes the money you just earned. If the lower/middle classes get to keep more of their money, they're not taking anything from the rich people.

It's not like Obama wants to give everyone making less than $100K/year a free Xbox. He wants them to be able to keep a little more of their money, which will go towards them being able to pay their bills on time.

I'm a pretty well educated guy, but I don't make a lot of money. I'm paying my dues as a Hollywood assistant, meaning I make barely above minimum wage despite my Ivy league education. If I were given a bit of a break on my taxes, I wouldn't spend it on luxuries. I'd pay off my credit cards, student loans, and that kind of thing. If I had a particularly good month I might go out to eat a little more (as in CPK, not Spago), and contribute to the economy in other small ways.

Life is expensive, and I'm getting by paycheck to paycheck. I'm working hard, and I'm tired. I'm not taking anyone's money, I'm keeping a bit more of my own. If and when I'm making more someday (hopefully someday soon as a screenwriter) then I understand that I won't be able to keep as much of my money. That's fine. I'll be able to afford it then.

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