WEALTH:  EARNED, PRODUCED OR DISTRIBUTED?

The New York Times is reporting with great fanfare that the gap between the rich and the poor is rising.  They seem aghast that the top .1 percent of income earners are raking in an average of $3 million a year.  Furthermore, That's only about 145,000 taxpayers.  So much money in the hands of so few..they must have stolen it!

Another interesting statistic...households with a net worth of $10 million or more, that group has grown more than 400% since 1980.  So there you have it...the rich are getting richer!  OH .. And if you read the Times story you'll come away with the distinct impression that the main reason these people are getting so rich is because of the Bush tax cuts.  In other words, they're getting richer because they're being allowed to keep more of the money they earn -- instead of having that money taken from them and redistributed to the poor, poor pitiful poor. 

This is bad news?   If rich people are getting richer, that means they're producing more profit or earning more money.  We'll call them the achievers.  But this isn't how the class warlords on the left see it.  To them, the entire economy is a certain-sized pie.  If a rich person is getting richer, that means they have gotten wealthy because they have stolen that money from poor people.   Their piece of the pie is just too big, and only government can step in and make things right .. but cutting a smaller slice for the rich, and a larger slice for the poor.  Somehow it just doesn't occur to them that everyone can have a bit more if you just bake a bigger pie!  For those of you who went to government schools, you bake a bigger pie by growing the economy!

While the New York Times was focusing on the rich, here's what you weren't told.  Home ownership is at an all-time high in the United States.  Not just an all-time high for the evil rich, but an all-time high for all income categories.  Also, family net worth is at an all-time high.  Again .. not just for rich families, but for every income quintile.  I guess the Times believes that if you include this information in the story you somehow take away from the "rich as evil" theme.  It's also hard to paint the Bush tax cuts in an unfavorable light when all boats seem to be rising on the tide.

Poverty is a mental disease at worst and a behavioral disorder at best.  The rich keep getting richer because they keep doing the things that make them rich.  Ditto for the poor.  Everyone is where they are in life as a direct result of the decisions they have made to put them there.  If they've worked hard, they can be rich.  If not, then they won't be rich.  Unless, of course, you're a Kennedy and get rich by default.  

MORE WEALTH ENVY

Bringing the Nuze to the home base here, a little example of wealth envy from the Atlanta environs.  This is of particular interest to me because I've been involved with Atlanta's DeKalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK)  for nearly 20 years.  As with other airports around the country, there is a very active anti-airport crowd living in the vicinity of PDK. These are people who somehow didn't realize that they were buying their homes near an airport.  You can imagine their distress when, on move-in day, they see an airplane landing or taking off over their home.

I served on the PDK Airport Authority for about 6 years. I've had an airplane based there for over 15 years.  During this time I've had more than ample opportunity to study the anti-airport crowd.  Sure, there are some legitimate noise complaints.  Hey, you moved next to an airport.  What do you expect?  Gurgling streams and chirping birds all day long?  As I said, some legitimate complaints,  but for the most part there are other motivations behind the incessant complaining.   Number one:  Wealth envy.  You don't have to attend too many anti-airport rallies to realize that money is the motive behind many of the most ardent anti-airport "activists."  On the one hand you have people who bought their homes on the cheap because of the fact that they were located near an airport, and who now believe that they can realize a big increase in property values if that airport can be closed.  OK .. at least they have some financial motive behind their activism.

It's the other money-oriented anti-airport activists who are so transparent.  Those who oppose the airport not because of the noise, not because of their property values, but because of a burning jealousy ... bordering on hatred ... of those who have accomplished more, and those have more than they do.  These people operate under the assumption that all private airplanes are owned by rich people.  They fail to realize, or refuse, if you will, that the average value of a piston powered privately owned general aviation airplane is less than what you would pay for a new bass rig.  Airplane owners are millionaires.  Period.  End of story. 

The thought processes of those envious of the wealthy are interesting, to say the least:  "Since they are millionaires, and I'm not, that must mean that they're bad, because I'm good.  If hard work and good decision making was all it took to be rich, then I would be rich.  I work hard and I make good decisions.  I'm not rich.  That means that there's something else to getting rich; something other than hard work.  They must be cheating.  They're exploiting people. They hire crooked attorneys who steal money from the poor for their clients."  And on and on. 

OK .. so what led to this particular rant?  A story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last Friday detailed  yet another fight from the anti-airport crowd against the airport.  The anti-crowd says that the airport is secretly allowing the airport to expand, and is shielding the wealthy (See!  The evil rich people!) from paying taxes on their airplanes.  Now .. is there any truth to the allegations?  I don't know for sure.  I'm not on the PDK Airport Authority any more.  What I do know is that the anti-airport crowd has a rich history of outright lies when it comes to their anti-airport activities.  I particularly enjoyed their anti-airport leaflets showing a 747 preparing to land on PDK's 6000 foot runway.   But as I was reading the story of a court appearance by the anti-airport crowd's attorney last week I was struck by one statement in particular:  Speaking of the airport this attorney said "They don't want anyone to know these multimillionaires are out there."

So, folks. There you go.  Once again, it's not about noise.  It's about those evil, nasty, wicked, hated, exploitive, cheating, crooked, snotty, self-involved multi-millionaires!  "They're rich. We're not!  We aren't going to make the sacrifices necessary to become rich like them, so they have to be brought down a few notches to our level!  We'll close their airport!"

This wealth envy isn't confined to areas around airports.  I've seen an amazing amount of wealth-envy in my second home of Naples, Florida.  Naples is growing fast, and the median price of a home in Naples is the highest in the state of Florida.  The rise in home prices in Naples, and the influx of wealthy retirees has brought what is almost a volcano of anti-wealth sentiment to the surface.  Every time a developer dares to step forward with a plan for another project those who would love to hold a lynching party for the wealthy come out of hiding.  If you go to the informational meetings or commission hearings you will hear a constant stream of "rich developers this" and "greedy developers that."  One of my favorites is the "Haven't you made enough money?" line.  It's as if they're saying "How dare you make more money!  I'm not making more money!  Just who do you think you are making all that money like that?" 

This wealth-envy turned anti-development activism isn't confined to Naples or to Florida.  It exists anywhere in this country where you see properties being developed for sale to the evil rich.

And so it goes.  There's really not all that much new here.  This envy has always existed, and it has always been a motivating factor for political activism.  This envy drives voters to the polls to vote for those who call for increased taxes on the rich.  The 16th Amendment to our Constitution -- the Amendment that brought us the income tax -- was sold on the concept of wealth envy. 

Doesn't the Bible say something about the poor always being with us?  Someone should have added:  "And they will always be envious."

ADOPT AN ISLAMIC TERRORIST

Amnesty International is at it again.  The Executive Director of Amnesty USA William Schulz accused the United States yesterday of running secret prisons around the world in which people are tortured or killed.  Apparently Amnesty International doesn't know what real human rights abuses are.  So why are they attacking us?

It was reported last week that a lot of the people running Amnesty are Democrats.  They contributed overwhelmingly to the Democratic Party in the 2004 elections.   This squares with their obvious position as Bush-haters.  They also evidently are trying to impress their bosses over in Europe with their anti-Americanism.  But back to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. What would they have us do?

The United States was attacked on 9/11, and several times before that over a 20-year period.  For years we tried to sweep Islamic terrorism under the rug and pretend it wasn't a problem.  But it kept coming back.  Now we're doing something about it, and people don't like it. Too bad.

Senator Joe Biden says we should shut down the Gitmo prison.  What would he have us do with the 500 or so jihadists we have imprisoned there?  Perhaps we should put them all up for adoption?  Send them around to live with liberals in a terrorist exchange program.  Then people could learn the "root causes" of terrorism and try and reason with these bloodthirsty animals, which of course would never work.

The rest of the world thinks we should turn the other cheek when it comes to terrorism.  Let's hope that idea isn't catching on at home.

HOWARD DEAN AT IT AGAIN

You thought it was fun when Howard Dean was running for president....it's starting to get just as good with him running the Democratic Party.  In fact, things are getting so out of hand, other Democrats are starting to publicly disown him.  For instance, The Tort King, John Edwards, came out of hiding over the weekend to say that Dean didn't speak for him.  Same with Joe Biden.

So what is Dean up to?  Last week,  when talking about the difficulty of working Americans waiting in long lines to vote, he actually said this: "Republicans, I guess, can do that because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives."  Whoa boy.  But it gets better.

In a speech to Democratic supporters, Dean said this: "I would make the argument that America is safer when Democrats are in the White House, than when Republicans are in the White House."  The more he talks, the deeper the hole gets. 

At some point, the Democrats will give him the boot.  Until then, we get to enjoy all of the fun!

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

You know, I'm not really sure what's going on here. But it comes with the caption Redneck Jet Bike. More from the redneck scrap book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Like the runaway bride, here's another example of somebody who split and didn't want to be found.  Shouldn't we ask ourselves whether or not it's worth it to expend public effort and resources when somebody "goes missing?"

Here's the latest claim of the environmentalist wackos...Louisiana is about to fall into the Gulf of Mexico.  Oh well, they could probably use the rinsing anyway.

You know how when you buy something online from a company that doesn't do business in your state?  No sales tax!  Well, not anymore, if the states get their way.  Like all governments, there's no limit to their hunger for revenues.

Here's an interesting tactic from the left.  John Kerry is blaming George Bush for the supposed "abuse" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  So according to The Poodle, the president was down there at Gitmo flushing Korans down the toilet. Right.

Why is Amnesty International making their ridiculous charges against the United States?  Debra Saunders says it's because of nothing more than their blind hatred for George W. Bush.

Are the opponents of funding for embryonic stem cell research really  holding us back from  the miracle cures to diseases like diabetes and Alzheimer's?  Steve Chapman breaks it down.

Why does it seem like so many airlines are losing money and always on the verge of bankruptcy?  George Will says it's because Washington D.C. keeps poorly run airlines in the sky.

Dan Rather is still living in a dream world...he's still not admitting that the Bush National Guard memos are fake.  The Media Research Center reports.

Bill Cosby has dared to take on the establishment mentality of the race pimps...but he's right.  Star Parker talks about a new book that defends The Cos.

Does the Imperial Federal Government of the United States guarantee your Social Security benefits?  Nope...they're not required to pay you a dime.  Michael Barone has more.

Morning Sickness: Teen beat to death with hammer...killer set free.

Wikipedia is the online editable encyclopedia Neal talked about today. Here is the entry on Neal.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?
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