One of These is Not Like the Others

Here, check out these links:
* 401(k) Plans on the Chopping Block
* Home Mortgage Interest Deduction on the Chopping Block
* Rand Paul: Why must we raise taxes to reform entitlements?

Hmm... one of those is not like the others. 

In fact, Rand Paul is one of the few voices of fiscal sanity remaining.  As friend Vic over at the AoSHQ would point out, our budgetary problems are not revenue problems.  They're spending problems.  Yet, because the assumption is that all money comes from the Government, it is a very short step from there to believing that any budget problems are because the government gives away too much "revenue" by having tax breaks.  It's an equally short step from the government being the source of money to the Government then being morally obligated to take care of everyone's needs.

And that's exactly where our national discourse is at the present time.  At least 52% of voters believe that it is the job of Government to ensure that everyone is cared for.  In short, they believe in redistribution of wealth.  This is what must be addressed.  We must get people to see that the ever expanding roll of government, that is: spending, is the problem.

These are two completely different visions.  If wealth comes from the people, then the government is morally obligated to confiscate as little as possible, but the people are morally obligated to provide for themselves; the government cannot rob Peter to pay Paul.  On the other hand, if wealth comes from the government, the government is morally obligated to take care of the people, and the people are morally obligated to work for the good of the State.

So the question we must put to people, then, is where they believe wealth comes from, and why.  If someone believes that wealth comes from the government, why do they believe that?  If they believe wealth comes from the people, then why do they believe that?  Similarly, we have to seek out people who believe the inherently contradictory ideas that wealth comes from the government, but the government is not then obligated to care for the people (I know of none of these sort), or people (a surprisingly large number) who (at least claim to) believe that wealth comes from the people, but that the government has an obligation to provide for the people's needs.  Then we must ask them why they believe those ideas.

I do not know their answers, and could not even begin to speculate.  Those notions are so foreign to me that I can't understand them at all.  Nevertheless, it is our duty, as Conservatives, to find such people and educate them on the reality.  Either money comes from government, and we have no defense against the government taking everything for which we labor, or money comes from the people, and the government has no obligation to directly provide for the needs of the people.