Our Character, Our Future: on Tax Reform


“Soak the rich” schemes have socialist objectives

These days politicians talk as if the money belongs to the government unless we can prove otherwise. That’s the real logic behind the demagogic “soak the rich” tax proposals. If people [with] higher incomes have no just claim to their money, on what grounds can the rest of us lay claim to what we make? The idea of a basic individual right to property that the government must respect is tossed aside in favor of a socialist understanding of property as a collective good that the government distributes according to its whim.

The “soak the rich” tax proposals are therefore a politically shrewd way of getting the mass of our people to buy into socialist logic without having to declare socialist objectives. By following this approach, the day will come when our paychecks won’t record our net pay; they’ll record our government allowance. In words, it’s a small difference, but in fact it’s the difference between economic slavery and economic freedom.

Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 73-4 May 2, 1996

  • The above quotations are from Our Character, Our Future, by Alan Keyes.
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2016 Presidential contenders on Tax Reform:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI)
Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Feb 20, 2019