In this column, Sheldon Richman drives a stake through the heart of Obama’s demagoguery about the need for “shared sacrifice” in dealing with out debt crisis.
When Obama talks about “shared sacrifices” he means that productive people should be forced to give up more of their earnings. That’s a foolish and unjust idea. But what about saying that those who receive money from the government must all share in taking less of it? I’d be in favor of that. We could start by having ethanol subsidy receivers give up their subsides, labor unions that benefit from the price fixing scheme under the Davis-Bacon Act give up their haul, and firms that have taken federal money for various “green” projects give it back.
