tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post5466635927250714866..comments2023-12-17T16:13:06.670-05:00Comments on In a Godward direction: It’s the Stupid EconomyTobias Stanislas Haller BSGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08047429477181560685noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-11934191641004192312008-11-01T10:33:00.000-05:002008-11-01T10:33:00.000-05:00During the debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Bide...During the debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, when Gwen Ifill asked Biden why the plan to tax folks earning over $250,000 per year wasn't class warfare, Biden responded, "Well Gwen, where I come from, it's called fairness, just simple fairness." <BR/><BR/>That's about right. And I don't care if it is class warfare. Call it whatever you like. It's the right thing to do.June Butlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01723016934182800437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-38042097317795156982008-10-31T11:01:00.000-05:002008-10-31T11:01:00.000-05:00Good post.I don't think there are many truly moder...Good post.<BR/><BR/><I>I don't think there are many truly moderate Republicans left--the responsible, pay-your-own-way, small-government and mind-your-own-business ones.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul" REL="nofollow">The nominal Republican who deserves to be president.</A>Ecgberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354592772973677609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-91874591530515804902008-10-30T13:57:00.000-05:002008-10-30T13:57:00.000-05:00Mad priest quotes a study as follows:From BIG NEWS...Mad priest quotes a study as follows:<BR/><BR/><I>From BIG NEWS NETWORK:<BR/><BR/>When it comes to helping those in need, Republicans differ from Democrats - irrespective of their religious inclination - according to researchers at University of Missouri. The researchers found that while Democrats, whether religious or not, did help others in need, unlike both religious and non-religious Republicans, who gave preference to financial success.<BR/></I><BR/><BR/>I don't think there are many truly moderate Republicans left--the responsible, pay-your-own-way, small-government and miind-your-own-business ones. I was one, briefly, until they were subsumed in the Reagan years by neocons and theocrats. <BR/><BR/>ITAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-68966229630224968192008-10-30T10:02:00.000-05:002008-10-30T10:02:00.000-05:00Yeah!And I have never received a satisfactory exeg...Yeah!<BR/><BR/>And I have never received a satisfactory exegesis of Luke 14:33:<BR/><BR/>"So also, if you are not prepared to leave all your possessions behind, you cannot be my disciples."<BR/><BR/>What is absolutely missing in today's controversies is what used to be called simply "the common good", and that, in turn, collapsed with the victory of individualism over community -- in religion, economics, art, literature, government, and health care. And that began with Constantine when religion became identified with the state, and political considerations superseded religious ones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-84538169921097366112008-10-30T09:27:00.000-05:002008-10-30T09:27:00.000-05:00Tom is right on in his analysis of the Republican ...Tom is right on in his analysis of the Republican position, which I usually characterize as “don’t tax and spend” (i.e., spend and don’t tax—my formulation can be parsed wrongly). Carried to its logical conclusion, the McCain position is something like this: Don’t tax the rich, since they create wealth. Government does need money to run, however, so tax the poor and middle class, since they are not creating wealth. (In fact, we all create wealth through work.)<BR/><BR/>In reality, the Republicans want you to think that we can lower taxes indefinitely—in Alaska, taxes are even negative—and create more and more wealth. All we produce this way, however, is a Hobbesian “state of nature,” certainly not the Kingdom of God.Lionel Deimelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08363018512775944659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-25081070439942871632008-10-30T08:47:00.000-05:002008-10-30T08:47:00.000-05:00Thanks Tom. I have some real sympathy with the "cl...Thanks Tom. I have some real sympathy with the "classical Republican" model, in that I am a "government minimalist" -- seeing the primary role of good government in bringing order to the civic structure. The cooption of the GOP by social (rather than fiscal) conservatism has led it into paradoxical waters. Perhaps this election cycle will be the cleansing that is periodically needed. The Democrats have had similar experiences over time.<BR/><BR/>Craig, thanks for this. I expanded a good bit on this notion of Original Sin in <A HREF="http://jintoku.blogspot.com/2008/05/good-as-gold-1.html" REL="nofollow">my earlier series on the Golden Rule.</A> I do think this is the root of our dilemma, and our need for government, hopefully by the Holy Spirit as much as the civic form!Tobias Stanislas Haller BSGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08047429477181560685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-61503517369340924022008-10-30T08:34:00.000-05:002008-10-30T08:34:00.000-05:00T - my contention is that fear (bred through evolu...T - my contention is that fear (bred through evolution as self-preservation instinct) IS original sin. We cannot love the other as our self because of this. Thus, in short, Jesus is truly the New Humanity because he was obedient to the Father, even to and through the fear of death and death itself. In Jesus' resurrection, death (the root of all fear) is destroyed which makes it at least possible to begin to sin less - as we learn to trust God as Jesus did. Only as we lose our fears can we begin to truly love others.<BR/>Good column, and absolutely correct.Fr Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04232925124388686609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-63856328336098977792008-10-29T20:24:00.000-05:002008-10-29T20:24:00.000-05:00I've often thought that a good response to the acc...I've often thought that a good response to the accusation that the Democrats are "tax and spend" is that the Republicans are "borrow and spend." At least Democrats tax current taxpayers, Republicans seem to want to tax our children and grandchildren....<BR/><BR/>BTW, I'm a moderate Republican.Tom Sramek, Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17891982131922786298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-36786215176145272402008-10-29T17:01:00.000-05:002008-10-29T17:01:00.000-05:00Can you hear the clapping coming from Albany?Oh so...Can you hear the clapping coming from Albany?<BR/><BR/>Oh so well put Tobias, so well put.<BR/><BR/>I think your theory is spot on. I see it at work in my own life these very days.Franhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181529277715646835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-76207510472176573392008-10-29T16:47:00.000-05:002008-10-29T16:47:00.000-05:00Oops. Quite right. I've fixed the erring word.Oops. Quite right. I've fixed the erring word.Tobias Stanislas Haller BSGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08047429477181560685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6786565.post-28606876280208625002008-10-29T16:40:00.000-05:002008-10-29T16:40:00.000-05:00"...since the days we first introduced regressive ..."...since the days we first introduced regressive income taxation, in which those with more give more proportionately...."<BR/><BR/>Isn't that progressive taxation? I thought regressive taxation was where those with less wealth receive the greater tax burden, such as with sales taxes.<BR/><BR/>KevinAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17550041790269387561noreply@blogger.com