Conservatism is simply a wiser path
Re “Life as a conservative would be much easier; no critical thinking skills required” letter by Terry Munson.
I am personally offended by that letter. Therefore, in order to parry the knives thrown at me and every other compassionate conservative, I felt compelled to metaphorically use my Second Amendment-guaranteed .40 caliber to shoot back at this ideologue.
First of all, the last time I did my complex research, the United States has a graduated tax system where the wealthy already pay 39.6 percent in federal income taxes, in addition to applicable state taxes, as opposed to the lowest tax bracket of 10 percent for the poorest who even pay taxes. Maybe the current tax system is not too difficult for my liberal friend to understand because of his complex mind, but I think, for the average person, the tax system is too complicated.
In terms of businesses, the United States also has the third highest corporate tax rate (39.1 percent) in the world. Again, when you add state and local taxes on businesses, that rate is much higher. For example, in Horry County, a business must purchase a business license in the county and then purchase business licenses in each town where that company does business. In Myrtle Beach, that also includes paying a percentage of the income earned by that business to Myrtle Beach after a small exemption. If you consider individuals and small businesses the rich, I suppose you could say that Republicans favor tax cuts for the rich.
The writer’s reference to “trickle down” economics shows a lack of knowledge about trickle-down economics. When tax rates are decreased for businesses, it provides them more money to expand and grow their businesses, which creates new jobs. The ultimate benefit is that more individuals are working, the unemployment rolls are decreased and those new middle-class employed persons are now paying taxes.
As far as the writer’s assertion that the Pentagon apparently does not need funding, I guess he would rather us just rely on nuclear weapons to handle every situation rather than have a technologically current and prepared military? I think that even my liberal friend would agree that a strong military helped turn the tide in WWII and caused Gorbachev to dismantle communism in Russia.
The writer’s remark about cutting welfare also affects me like fingernails on a chalkboard. In 2016, government spending for welfare was estimated at $1,032 billion - a major contributor to our current $19 trillion debt. According to the website, Federal Safety Net, welfare fraud totaled $71.5 billion in 2015. Compassionate conservatives certainly support feeding the poor. It’s the ones who grossly take advantage of the system that we do not support.
With respect to the writer’s claim about inheritance taxes, let me remind him that the 0.2 percent includes Democratic Party financiers; Hollywood Actors and Actresses, who primarily support Democratic candidates; and even Bill and Hillary Clinton. Inheritance taxes are not a Republican issue; it is equally shared by Democrats. In addition, there are circumstances where exemptions from paying inheritance taxes are justifiable, such as a family farm, where the land value has increased so much that the inheriting son or daughter would have to sell the farm that the family has had for generations to pay the inheritance tax.
As far as the 2008 financial crisis is concerned, if the writer looks (as he states), at both sides of the issue, he would realize that the roots of the 2008 financial crisis began when Congressman Barney Franks led the effort to ease housing underwriting standards by allowing government entities, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, to begin accepting loans from higher risk applicants so that poorer individuals could purchase homes. A charitable idea to be sure. But what he didn’t anticipate and understand was that this would lead to speculation in the housing market and ultimately flipping houses for profits. This caused a major house of cards that eventually, as we all know, collapsed.
On the topic of energy, the liberal policy of alternative energy now is short-sighted and misguided. Put people out of jobs in the fossil fuel industry and use massive government debt instruments to subsidize alternative industry. Of course, we have seen during the Obama administration that government investment in a solar company made the founders rich and the company fail. Conservatives have a pragmatic attitude to the energy industry.
Winston Churchill once said, “If you are not a liberal at twenty, you have no heart; if you are not a conservative at forty, you have not brain.” My liberal friend, you don’t have to wait until you are reincarnated to become a compassionate conservative. It’s simple!
The writer lives in Myrtle Beach.
This story was originally published November 26, 2016 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Conservatism is simply a wiser path."