I’m digging Tom Friedman’s article in today’s New York Times. He calls Sarah Palin out on the complete idiocy of her and McCain’s policies: where they basically advocate for government to do everything – from fight wars to bailout the economy – but then continue to argue that taxes should be low and that paying them is not a patriotic duty.
From Friedman:
…There was one thing she (Palin) said in the debate with Joe Biden that really sticks in my craw. It was when she turned to Biden and declared: “You said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. In the middle class of America, which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that’s not patriotic.”
What an awful statement. Palin defended the government’s $700 billion rescue plan. She defended the surge in Iraq, where her own son is now serving. She defended sending more troops to Afghanistan. And yet, at the same time, she declared that Americans who pay their fair share of taxes to support all those government-led endeavors should not be considered patriotic.
I only wish she had been asked: “Governor Palin, if paying taxes is not considered patriotic in your neighborhood, who is going to pay for the body armor that will protect your son in Iraq? Who is going to pay for the bailout you endorsed? If it isn’t from tax revenues, there are only two ways to pay for those big projects – printing more money or borrowing more money. Do you think borrowing money from China is more patriotic than raising it in taxes from Americans?” That is not putting America first. That is selling America first.
The fallacy of the modern right is that they continue to pillory government and taxes but then champion America and want to fight expensive wars. If you truly believe in America then you should want its government to work. If you truly support our troops then you should be willing to pay more to give them what they need.
Friedman calls the right out on their blatant hypocrisy and Sarah Palin on her populist pandering. Good stuff.
