smaller government
so my latest thinking boiled down to a sound bite is this: if you want smaller government, make the wealthy pay for it. consider the status quo. the bottom 49.5% grumble about not getting enough entitlements. and by grumble sometimes i mean express huge amounts of gratitude. the next 49.5% grumble about paying too much taxes to support said entitlements. meanwhile individuals in the 1% do one or more of the following: a) educate the 99%. b) give up trying to teach calculus to pigs. c) stoke both sides so they're too busy with each other to notice anything the 1% does. so basically, there's the bottom looking for a helping hand (ie handouts), the middle paying for it, and the top spectating all the way to the bank. err... spectating *from* the bank. ;-> okay, now suppose the constitution gave congress the power to levy progressive wealth taxes. without that stupid apportionment clause. suppose further that the vast majority of tax revenues had to be raised this way. you'd still have the bottom looking for handouts. the middle however is looking for jobs and opportunities to get rich. and the top is all fuck you. the status quo balance is between the poor class and the working class. the proposal would change the balance to be between those who have the votes, and those who have the money. which is a win all the way around. by the method of blatant assertion.