Saturday, November 1, 2008

Thomas Jefferson on Wealth Redistribution...

by jwright

Of late, there has been much said and discussed regarding “spreading the wealth around a little bit”, which for the uninformed is simply allowing the government or someone else to take a portion of your income or savings and give it to someone else. Don’t confuse this with charity where one gives to the disadvantaged of their own volition, free will.
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Thomas Jefferson, patriot, one of the nation's original Founders, best known as the author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States, wrote in a letter to Joseph Milligan, April 6, 1816: “To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.”
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For decades, this has been the foundation of our free enterprise system. One of the presidential candidates doesn’t seem to accept that premise. If you agree with that premise, you’ll know whom to vote on Tuesday November 4.

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