Liberal Arrogance

There is a guy I work with that sends out an occasional political e-mail to a group of us. He and I are in the minority in the fact that we are politically conservative. (For some reason, there are a lot of liberal software developers out there.) Recently he sent out a link to an article entitled House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks. Much argument ensued over the fact that it was mere contemplation. Here was my response:

The problem is not the contemplating. The real problem is the disturbing belief system and arrogant attitude that has prompted the contemplating. For example:

• “I want to stop the federal subsidy of 401(k)s,” Ghilarducci said in an interview. “401(k)s can continue to exist, but they won’t have the benefit of the subsidy of the tax break.”
  This is really disturbing. She regards money that we earn that is not taxed as a subsidy. So does she regard charitable contributions that are deducted as the government subsidizing my church? Does she regard the mortgage interest deduction as the government subsidizing my debt? This comes from a scary and arrogant attitude that I did not earn the money I worked for but that it belongs to the Nanny State...and maybe they'll let me keep some of it.
• “I want to spend our nation’s dollar for retirement security better."
  This is the problem. Why does congress get to decide this (and on what Constitutional grounds)? Shouldn't the person that worked hard for the money in the first place decide how to save his or her money for retirement?
• "Everybody would now be covered” if the plan were adopted, Ghilarducci said.
  I hope she doesn't mean that. Should those who don't work get retirement at the expense of those who do? I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she doesn't really mean "everyone" since it says "workers" earlier.
  

Behind all the contemplating is the arrogant attitude that congress and bureaucrats know better how to take care of your needs than you do. The scary part is that many of them either actually believe it or they are being deliberately dishonest to give themselves more power.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Act

John Campbell, a Republican congressman from California, recently introduced a bill called the "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Act". This bill was designed to allow those rich liberals who complain about themselves and others not paying enough taxes to easily donate money to the federal government on their tax forms. He said, "It's a great injustice that citizens wishing to fulfill their dream of paying more taxes cannot simply check a box on their 1040 form to make a donation."

This bill would give liberals the opportunity to assuage their guilt while not putting a further burden on the rest of us who already feel overtaxed. I love it.