As reported by Buzzfeed, Kentucky Senator and Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul had some interesting words regarding slavery when he spoke in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, last week, saying:
"Now you can have some government, we all need government. Thomas Paine said that government is a necessary evil. What did he mean by that? ...you have to give up some of your liberty to have government. [I'm] for some government. I'm for paying some taxes. but if we tax you at 100% then you've got zero percent liberty. If we tax you at 50% you are half slave, half free. I frankly would like to see you a little freer and a little more money remaining in your communities so you can create jobs. It's a debate we need to have."
When describing what he'd do on the matter if he were elected president, Paul said:
"[I plan to] leave more money in Iowa, send less to Washington. This past week i put forward a plan to have a simple flat tax, where everybody pays their fair share. Everybody pays, and you can fill it out on one page. Fourteen-and-a-half percent for personal income tax, fourteen-and-a-half percent for business tax. The way you get jobs creation is you need to leave more money in the productive sector. You are the productive sector. When you look at Washington, that's the non-productive sector."
There are three topics politicians would be wise to stray away from: Rape, Hitler, and slavery. When any politician has tried to explain rape, he's gotten himself into trouble. There's no point in trying to classify rape as "legitimate" or not; rape is rape. When politicians decide to compare a situation to Adolf Hitler or slavery, approximately 95% of the audience starts to focus their attention elsewhere, because at that point, almost everyone realizes the argument is going to be a stupid one. Such is the case here. The Kentucky senator should find a time machine and ask actual slaves, "Would you rather be a slave like you are now or have a decent-paying job and pay the government some of your salary in taxes?" Sound like a stupid question? It should, because it is...
According to Paul, if a person pays 50% in taxes, he or she is 50% slave. That's interesting considering Mitt Romney and other conservatives have basically called the 47% whom don't pay federal income taxes worthless moochers, yet according to Mr. Paul, the wealthiest among us are also the biggest slaves to the federal government because of the higher federal income taxes they tend to pay annually. So the people whom can afford to buy multiple houses, cars and yachts, and travel across the world time and time again are the "slaves" of modern-day society? Riiight... If Paul were to ask those living in poverty, "Would you really want to be one of these rich people and have to pay all this money to the government in taxes, essentially being a slave to the system?," he'd likely receive a lot of heated stares and middle fingers in return.
No matter how much we may hate paying taxes, taxes are an essential component to the social contract we all have with one another and this country in order to maintain a functioning society and move it forward. Paul and his ilk seem to forget (or take for granted) how much our tax dollars contribute to the everyday essentials of a functioning society. Yes, there will be some things we don't agree with our government about when it comes to how our tax dollars are being spent, yet it's still a necessary ingredient to a functioning society, and while there is definite room for debate on how much we should pay in taxes, there is no room for comparing one of the darkest chapters in our country's history - slavery - to the wealthiest among us paying 39.6% in federal income taxes. Just like rape is rape, slavery is slavery. Period.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/rand-paul-philosophizes-on-tax-rates-if-we-tax-you-at-50-you#.dmV9N9mqV
"Now you can have some government, we all need government. Thomas Paine said that government is a necessary evil. What did he mean by that? ...you have to give up some of your liberty to have government. [I'm] for some government. I'm for paying some taxes. but if we tax you at 100% then you've got zero percent liberty. If we tax you at 50% you are half slave, half free. I frankly would like to see you a little freer and a little more money remaining in your communities so you can create jobs. It's a debate we need to have."
When describing what he'd do on the matter if he were elected president, Paul said:
"[I plan to] leave more money in Iowa, send less to Washington. This past week i put forward a plan to have a simple flat tax, where everybody pays their fair share. Everybody pays, and you can fill it out on one page. Fourteen-and-a-half percent for personal income tax, fourteen-and-a-half percent for business tax. The way you get jobs creation is you need to leave more money in the productive sector. You are the productive sector. When you look at Washington, that's the non-productive sector."
There are three topics politicians would be wise to stray away from: Rape, Hitler, and slavery. When any politician has tried to explain rape, he's gotten himself into trouble. There's no point in trying to classify rape as "legitimate" or not; rape is rape. When politicians decide to compare a situation to Adolf Hitler or slavery, approximately 95% of the audience starts to focus their attention elsewhere, because at that point, almost everyone realizes the argument is going to be a stupid one. Such is the case here. The Kentucky senator should find a time machine and ask actual slaves, "Would you rather be a slave like you are now or have a decent-paying job and pay the government some of your salary in taxes?" Sound like a stupid question? It should, because it is...
According to Paul, if a person pays 50% in taxes, he or she is 50% slave. That's interesting considering Mitt Romney and other conservatives have basically called the 47% whom don't pay federal income taxes worthless moochers, yet according to Mr. Paul, the wealthiest among us are also the biggest slaves to the federal government because of the higher federal income taxes they tend to pay annually. So the people whom can afford to buy multiple houses, cars and yachts, and travel across the world time and time again are the "slaves" of modern-day society? Riiight... If Paul were to ask those living in poverty, "Would you really want to be one of these rich people and have to pay all this money to the government in taxes, essentially being a slave to the system?," he'd likely receive a lot of heated stares and middle fingers in return.
No matter how much we may hate paying taxes, taxes are an essential component to the social contract we all have with one another and this country in order to maintain a functioning society and move it forward. Paul and his ilk seem to forget (or take for granted) how much our tax dollars contribute to the everyday essentials of a functioning society. Yes, there will be some things we don't agree with our government about when it comes to how our tax dollars are being spent, yet it's still a necessary ingredient to a functioning society, and while there is definite room for debate on how much we should pay in taxes, there is no room for comparing one of the darkest chapters in our country's history - slavery - to the wealthiest among us paying 39.6% in federal income taxes. Just like rape is rape, slavery is slavery. Period.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/rand-paul-philosophizes-on-tax-rates-if-we-tax-you-at-50-you#.dmV9N9mqV
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