the happy conservative

The Obama spokesman called McCain “out of touch” because he has so many houses.

A perfect opportunity to highlight a difference between Americans and Europeans in general and Republicans and Democrats in particular.

I’m really not bothered by the fact that John McCain has numerous houses. As hard as I try, I can’t find a single iota of ire or seed of self-pity. I actually admire the guy; I want to have lots of houses. I want to live in the Keys in the winter and Wyoming in the summer and travel to Virginia to my house on the ocean. Why would I begrudge McCain what I myself desire?

A corollary describes why taxes on the wealthy are generally unpopular: we want to be wealthy someday. We want to be wealthier than our parents and give our children more than we had. We like promotions. We like responsibility and its associated return. Why would we want to punish people for achieving a dream similar to our own?

A progressive tax code provides incentive to under perform. It raises the return to leisure and discourages people from working to own several houses. Which, naturally, explains its popularity with Democrats: a progressive tax code keeps people poorer by lowering the return to the next hour of labor.

Entrepreneurial people tend to vote Republican. People who aspire to that house on the beach, cigars in the humidor, and Cardinals season tickets. In a box. Behind home plate. People who understand that wealth creates wealth. Economics is not a zero-sum game. Just because Jones wins doesn’t mean Smith loses. And unless Smith is a Democrat, he probably doesn’t want Jones’ taxes to go up either. Someday, he’d like to keep up with Jones.