EDITORIAL: Washington will take care of you

Democracy and Power 103:  Government money

In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. – Voltaire (1764)

The money taxed and spent by the politicians comes from the labor and ingenuity of millions of working persons.  Politicians spend other peoples’ money.

EDITORIAL: Washington will take care of you

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has a new definition of “entrepreneurial,” which justifies taking money from all working Americans and giving to her chosen cronies.  The Las Vegas Review-Journal writes:

Speaking at a Washington event, Rep. Pelosi, D-Calif., gushed that the government will take care of anyone tired of grinding through this recession.

“We see it as an entrepreneurial bill, a bill that says to someone, if you want to be creative and be a musician or whatever, you can leave your work, focus on your talent, your skill, your passion, your aspirations because you will have health care,” Rep. Pelosi said. “You don’t have to be job-locked.”

The Review-Journal appropriately noted that successful entrepreneurs generally advance the economic vitality of a society.  Pelosi is merely transferring money from working Americans to everyone, regardless of their effort or productivity. 

As Walter Williams writes:  Conservatives and liberals are kindred spirits as far as government spending is concerned. First, let’s make sure we understand what government spending is. Since government has no resources of its own, and since there’s no Tooth Fairy handing Congress the funds for the programs it enacts, we are forced to recognize that government spending is no less than the confiscation of one person’s property to give it to another to whom it does not belong – in effect, legalized theft. – Walter Williams