The American Spectator

Reader Mail

A Clinton Portfolio

3.19.07 @ 12:01AM

(Page 4 of 5)

INSIDE THE CLASS WAR
Re: Ben Stein's Terribly Exciting:

After reading Ben Stein's "Terribly Exciting," various reader's responses and dressing the wound on my head from repeatedly beating it on my computer screen I thought I'd address some of the "myths" that such class warfare rants always forget to mention. I'll point out from the outset that my income level is about 50% higher than the national average (or median) income, I've been doing the job I do in the same Tech field since 1973, started at a dime above minimum wage with an AAS degree from a two year college, then a 4 year BS degree after 8 years in night school, have a home mortgage and pay the "single" tax rate on my income. I paid enough in Federal income tax last year to hire a full time minimum wage worker. In round numbers, I paid 14% in Federal income tax, 15% to someone else's Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid benefits, 7% in State and local taxes. If you add up all the hidden taxes and fees on utilities I can surpass 40% of my income going to taxes right off the top. Add to this my own contributions to a 401K (8%) and another 3% in post tax retirement investments and over 50% of my income goes just to Government and saving for my retirement. Add the annual interest on my mortgage (4800.00) for which the deduction is already reflected in the above Federal and State taxes and 60% is in sight. Add my portion of my employer's medical insurance premiums and I'm right on 60% of my income gone to all that is mentioned above. I won't even touch upon what my marginal income tax rate is, but needless to say that a 4% raise is about break even all said and done. Everyone reading this has their own story and some might be embarrassed to do so, but the story repeats over and over millions of times except for those that choose to not step up to the plate and apply themselves.

While this is not meant to pick on Ben I will nevertheless use some of his info to make my points since he stoked the flames and is partly responsible for my headache. Ben's bio says he resides in Beverly Hills and Malibu. My Appalachian relatives would think Ben was living out of Chevy Malibu if they read that. I know I could not afford a doublewide on a quarter acre lot in either place. Ben's bio also says he is a lawyer. The last lawyer I had dealings with, 30 years ago charged more per hour for his service than I grossed in two days. I felt violated. John Edwards got very rich off of soaking the Medical profession who is covered by insurance that the rest of us pay for every time we make a premium payment. There are lots of John Edwards in our society and we subsidize their existence through some sort of insurance. Ben's bio says he is an economist. I have a minor in essentially applied economics and based on Ben's statements I'm not too sure what course of economics Ben has had. I studied under Paul Samuelson, who is a liberal. Virtually every rant about the economic disparity in this country has an economic cause and effect or Supply and Demand reason related to where 60% of my income goes before I get to eat. I'll even go out on a limb and state that everything that is subsidized by the government or your employer eventually has run away cost and declining economic return or level of service. Everything.

First, start with the claimed 40 million that don't have health care insurance. These are also the same people that don't have auto insurance or save any money beyond what they may pay to Social Security. Who are these people? They are my relatives (and yours in many cases). You know who I'm talking about. Both sides of my family came from meager means, which means my mother's side was born, raised and stayed in the coal fields of southern West Virginia until the mine at JenkinsJones WV went dry. They then moved to Kentucky, where strip mining is favored over the shaft mines of WV. Not one of my mother's brothers, sisters or children could even approach the median income level in this country. Their choice. The bulk of them when they reach 62 years old will receive from Social Security what they made before they retired. Ben and his wife's Social Security checks combined wouldn't put a doublewide on my quarter acre lot. Two-thirds of those that receive Social Security now are subsidized by all the rest that pay into the system. Two generations support one. Social Security is a good investment from my relatives' perspective. What the system does is enable millions of people to live off the work of others and my generation is no different than our parents were in this regard. Simple question: before subsidized retirement income, medical insurance and public education, how did people pay for these items?

Second, all my relatives have the same subsidized public education I have. Not one of them has progressed beyond that level of education because it stops being as "free" after K-12. Each K-12 education cost about $100,000 average per pupil. In most of the large urban Public school systems that $100,000 investment produces an illiterate, unmotivated and eventually very angry man or women who all too often turns to crime as a way to support themselves. Why? Because the subsidized Public education system produces nothing of value in our society any longer. It did when I graduated from High School in 1970 but it was already in decline when I "escaped". In the real world outside of academia, Public education has no worth because it has no meaningful standards. What Public education has become is the largest provider of Day Care, Welfare services (Free and Reduced meals for children of Welfare parent(s)) and largest religious denomination in the country. Make no mistake, Public education is a government run religion. You will find more "faithful" there everyday than in all the Churches combined. Subsidized Public education produces a high percentage of dysfunctional and unemployable people who spend a large portion or all of their adult life just getting by till Social Security saves them. Each one cost $100,000 to produce just for starters, idiot or genius.

Third, subsidized medical insurance does everything the Public education system does, but since it covers a person's entire life it has a constantly increasing demand for services and rising premiums to match. Given enough time, our medical system will collapse under its own weight and the quality of service and care will follow the Public Education route. If you subsidize it, "they will come."

All the things that cause an expanding rift between those on the lower end of the economic ladder and the upper end are associated with government interactions to subsidize people's life style choices and relieve them of the responsibility to take care of themselves first before they hold out their hand for someone else's income. This Nation got to where it is mostly without the government robbing the rich and giving to the poor and every rant about social justice and what the "poor" don't have reflects upon the sunshine of truth not being brought into the debate. We reward sloth and we don't seem to understand why we get more of it. Our "poor" would be viewed as the "rich" in about 95% of the world.

I heard once some religious guy from way back said there will always be the poor. My relatives certainly believe that. They remind me every time I visit them. I think what the guy meant was there will always be people in need, but I don't remember him saying you should subsidize their existence to remain poor and then pat yourself on the back for the effort. That's what we do. We never ask the poor to step up to the plate in return for our assistance. The more we subsidize, the more poor we will get.

Ben, I don't begrudge your wealth or success in life but if it really bothers you that my relatives don't have any savings or medical insurance, have to work at Wal-Mart now that the mines have been shut down to save Mother Earth or would just like to contribute to my youngest niece's three babies (with two different husbands) I'd be more than willing to forward most of your check to her. I give them everything I can every payday. It is never enough.
-- Thom Bateman
Newport News, Virginia

SEAN FOR LIFE
Re: Lisa Fabrizio's Resent or Repent?, the letters under "Our Sunday Visitors" in Reader Mail's Tuning Out, and Richard L.A. Schaefer's letter (under "Matters of Faith") in Reader Mail's Governmental Incompetence:

Lisa Fabrizio says: "As difficult as Christian living is, it's harder still to be a Catholic." Wrong: Jesus said, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." She defends the attack on Sean Hannity by Rev. Euteneuer of HLI. Mr. Hannity stated that birth control is preferable to abortion, and also that their Church endorses Natural Family Planning, which he describes as a form of birth control.

The Rev. & Lisa fail to acknowledge that Sean Hannity is one of the most pro-life people in the media. He was almost alone in defending Terri Schiavo, when her own bishop said not a word in her defense. He has consistently opposed abortion.

I suspect Rev. Euteneuer was currying favor with the Democrats, who are overwhelmingly supported by the Church hierarchy. When Mr. Hannity asked what the Rev. had done to combat the horrible sex abuses among the clergy, he was unable to answer. I didn't hear the Rev. attacking Catholics who support abortion, such as Sens. Kennedy, Dodd, Biden, Durbin, Leahy, etc. Nor does he criticize their enablers among the clergy, such as Cardinal McCarrick going down the aisle after Mass arm-in-arm with the famous swimmer, D.-Mass., or the Bishops who support the pro-abortion, pro-sodomy Speaker Pelosi, D.-Cal.

Mr. Hannity is not a theologian. Rev. Euteneuer's predecessor and the founder of HLI, Rev. Paul Marx, said, "Contraception always leads to massive abortion." When asked, "Who are the greatest obstacles to the pro-life cause?" He responded, "The Catholic bishops."

So I would urge Rev. Euteneuer, "Clean up your own back yard before attacking someone who is on the right side of the abortion controversy."
-- C. Baker

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Education, Health Care, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Economics, Business, Social Security, Medicaid, Satire, Religion, Catholicism, Islam, Abortion, Hollywood, Law, Supreme Court, Military, Iraq, Iran, NATO, Africa, Fascism, Nuclear Weapons, Medicare