But the Conquered, or their Children, have no Court, no Arbitrator on Earth to appeal to. Then they may appeal, as Jephtha did, to Heaven, and repeat their Appeal, till they have recovered the native Right of their Ancestors, which was to have such a Legislative over them, as the Majority should approve, and freely acquiesce in.
-John Locke

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

You Say It's Your Birthday!

As the ship sinks, the band plays on.  Captain Oblivious, after railing against millionaires and billionaires during the debt ceiling debates tantrums and demanding that the wealthy pay even more of their fair share, is celebrating his 50th birthday in grand fashion.  Really grand fashion, it turns out.  Of course, it's not just a birthday party...it's a fundraiser!  Tickets to the event will cost around $40,000!  I bet a lot of the people who will pay $40K are also owners of private jets or run corporations or even run/own corporations that own private jets.

what is not clear is whether anyone who ponies up the $40K will then get to claim that they have erased their personal share of the national debt.

would a balanced approach to the debt crisis include asking wealthy people to voluntarily donate money to the government for the express purpose of paying off the national debt?  Do any wealthy people give extra money to the government on the belief that the government needs it more than they do, or that the government will find a better and more worthwhile way to spend that money than the individual could?  There is no law prohibiting the voluntary payment of extra taxes.  Finally, when does the government's revenue constitute a windfall?

I just hope that nobody serves Obama peas on his birthday...although the old line, "It's my party and i'll cry if I want to" works on just so many levels these days.

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