Obama What?

In my Expository Writing class I wrote a persuasive essay about Barack Obama, (our delightful new president) and his just wonderful tax plan. Truth be told, I'm completely burned out by politics and want nothing more than turn off the news, throw away all politic related articles, and indulge in any form of a nice fictional read. However, I wrote this a while back and there is no harm in posting it now.

I hope you enjoy.

“Spread the wealth.” That is exactly the thing to do with the money people have worked so hard for. Redistribute that hard earned income to people less fortunate. That is what any caring citizen would do, right? But who has the authority to tell someone what to do with the money they have worked so vigorously for? Well, that is simple; Barack Obama can! Penalizing only certain citizens is not in the least bit fair. Why should one man have to give up his success to another, who may not have worked as hard to begin with? Punishing success only creates class warfare.

People in America tend to be more generous with their money, more so than other countries in the world. This generosity, however, is limited to people that are known and charities that are trusted. The money being taken away from the wealthy will surely have an impact on the poor as charitable contributions will decrease. No one wants to give their money away to people they do not know. Obama says, “It’s not that I want punish your success, I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success too.” It is easy to see Obama’s good intentions, but it truly is punishing the American worker’s success and because of this, the incentive to succeed will be minimized. Children have been taught that stealing is wrong. The government, itself, uses certain punishing tactics on thieves as well. For the government to take more than its fair share would be thievish, would it not?

The administration taking a higher percentage of tax from people who have been successful is not only immoral but it is also unjust. Immorality can be said for many acts of evil and legalized extortion is one of them. Whatever happened to everyone being treated as equals? If the citizens of America really are equal to one another then shouldn’t we all be getting taxed the same percentage? Everyone should pay their fair share of taxes for certain government services, the most important being, protecting its citizens from foreign invaders and terrorists. Other services that are constantly abused are Medicaid and welfare. If the government would more closely monitor such abuses and put an end to it, maybe everyone’s taxes could decrease.

Some might be able to understand this tax debacle more clearly with an analogy. Say a student had all A’s and another student had all D’s. Would the all A student want to give some of their A’s to the D student just to be “neighborly” (as Barack Obama would say) when the A student certainly put forth much more effort than the D student? It is the classic Robin Hood Theory, taking from the prosperous and giving to the poor. People need to look out for themselves and take personal responsibility for their success or lack thereof.

A good portion of America vote without really knowing what they are voting for. They vote based on appearance or the political party their family has always been a part of. If people truly understood politics and the issues, maybe they would take voting seriously and vote for what they believe in, rather than what the media and Hollywood tells them to. Television entertainment, magazines, and even the news use tactics to turn the working class against the rich, when in reality, these two classes need to work together to keep America afloat.

When small businesses are punished merely by being successful, it hurts the workers as well. Now that taxes are being raised, owners of businesses will have to start laying off their employees and raising prices on products to be able to pay the government. Because people will be losing jobs and prices will be raised on products and services, the jobless will no longer be able to afford certain necessities. So who is this tax plan really helping?

America has been told to “spread the wealth” which does not sound like such a horrible suggestion, but in reality it causes more problems rather than solutions. The plan not only punishes success, causing warfare amongst the social classes, but it also hurts workers as well. Barack Obama, the new president, has the authority to tell people what to do with their money, for now. Maybe in four years, people will come to realize that without business, big and small, there can be no jobs for the American worker and without jobs our economy will suffer more in the future. Think about who should be in the White House and vote for the population’s benefit, not the governments.