When Capitalism Met Socialism
I attended the Wednesday morning news conference over on the east side of town where local leaders were joined by Billionaire Warren Buffet in announcing a new development project in the area where the Meadows used to be.
The $27 million East Village in Avondale is supposed to help revitalize the area near 38th and Keystone. Also scheduled to go up in the area are three new charter schools and a new grocery store. As I sat watching the news conference, I couldn’t help but notice that the primary beneficiaries of all this would be low-income citizens. However the primary builders of all this would be those who create wealth and generate tax revenue.
Yes the project does get tax credits from the federal government and the City of Indianapolis, thus the people who help create tax revenue. I think it’s a worthy deal and long-term will be great for a portion of the city that has been in perpetual neglect for years.
What I thought was ironic was the project would have never gotten off the ground had it not been for millionaires and billionaires who lately have been the targets of the progressive left because they don’t “pay their fair share”. I still have no idea what that means.
When we debate tax policy and increasing taxes, some of my friends say the Bush tax cuts were more responsible for our growing deficit than the stimulus package. No offense, but I don’t believe tax cuts cause deficits, spending money you don’t have causes deficits. And you could confiscate all the wealth in the United States and still have a deficit.
The true way to get the economy going is to grow it, plain and simple. I tend to agree with Governor Mitch Daniels when he wrote in his book “Keeping the Republic” that arguing over programs is pointless when you don’t have the money to pay for them. That is why when I look at the concept of raising taxes as the sole measure of tackling our national debt and deficit problem I cringe. I have never had a problem with tax increases as long as they walked hand in hand with spending cuts. My personal preference has always been $5 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax increases. I see no reason to take more of someone else’s money while not asking the people who are the beneficiaries of their productivity to share in the sacrifice as well.
Now I think this is the part where “crony capitalism” and “corporate bailouts” come in. I’m going to make your lives easy and tell you I am not a big fan of either. You can’t have capitalism on the way up and socialism on the way to bankruptcy court.
But it would probably make life easier for a lot of people if they would stop hating the rich but instead go out and create their own wealth and see how they feel about someone else taking it.
