A Poll and a Chart; Liberty Matters

First the Rasmussen poll:

67% Say They Could Do A Better Job On The Economy Than Congress

When it comes to the nation’s economic issues, 67% of U.S. voters have more confidence in their own judgment than they do in the average member of Congress.
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Since they no longer control either the Senate or the House, it’s no surprise that a majority of Republicans (51%) say a group of people picked at random from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress. But even more unaffiliated voters (56%) agree.

Democrats take the opposite view–49% of those in Nancy Pelosi’s party say Congress today is better than a random group from the phone book. Just 28% disagree.

Random people from the phone book? Man, that’s harsh. Meanwhile in those “smoke filled rooms” where decisions are made, a handful of people of dubious intent have come to an agreement. And they did it while the loyal opposition was shut out of the process.

Now, the chart, created by Laura at Pursuing Holiness:

The proportion of debt in comparison to the populace

Laura has declared herself on strike and is set to voluntarily reduce her own income in order to contribute less to the stimulus boondoggle. I strongly suspect others are thinking along these lines, too, but she’s articulating it:

Like most religious conservatives (and conservatives generally, unlike liberals), I give a healthy portion of my income away. In our family, we start with 15% of our gross income. We live modestly and don’t lack for anything, and give as much as we can away. As soon as we have met our obligations to debtors, we’re going to start reducing our income. It’s one thing to give our money away. It’s an entirely different matter to have it forcibly taken, and to be told that no, that’s not enough, and for it to be made clear that it may never be enough…People think they’re going to get rich by some magical means, “because we have Barack Obama.” But he’s not interested in creating wealth. He’s ignoring every historical means of doing so, and placing all his focus on taking wealth from one group and giving it to another. Which has never worked in all recorded history. H.L. Mencken said, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”

I suspect a lot of people are thinking along these lines. Tax Freedom Day in 2008 was April 23. That’s 113 days of working for the government, and 252 days of working for ourselves. And given the amount of debt our country is taking on, it seems clear that ratio is going to dramatically change in favor of the looters and moochers.

I’m not anti-government or even anti-social programs. I was on welfare myself. The system helped me tremendously so that I progressed from being without any decent job skills to clerical work to computer work – and owning a small business. In the long term, I’ve given back much more to society than I’ve taken, both in my personal giving and in my tax receipts. But the massive increases in entitlements – both in attitudes and in planned spending – have convinced me it’s gone too far.
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Last year my family paid nearly a thousand dollars a month in federal taxes, and we are not by any stretch of the imagination rich. I’m going to make it my business to cut that amount in half, using every legal means possible and reducing my income so there is less to tax. Joe Biden insists that high taxes are patriotic. Luckily for Joe, there are a whole bunch of “Born Again Americans” who presumably agree with him. Good luck taxing them; you’re not going to get it from me.

According to Mickey Kaus, the stimulus is going to contribute to the end of the very welfare reform which helped Laura to become less, rather than more dependent on government.

Laura, who – like me – is addicted to the “liquid crack” that is Mystic Monk Coffee declares that the Java will be her sole luxury during this strike.

Because – and I said this yesterday – if we’re going to find ourselves, deliberately or not, thrown into the path of economic catastrophe, well at least we should enjoy good coffee while we can, before we’re forced to the ersatz stuff Winston Smith was forced to drink.

Laura touches on something I wrote about a while ago – there is a vast difference between denuding oneself voluntarily and being compelled to do so. The first instance works; the second never does. The first instance requires and enhances liberty, the second steals it. Think about that. Your assignment today is to consider the simple word LIBERTY and how having it or not having it affects every area of your life. Liberty matters.

Btw, I had Rush on for a few minutes; couldn’t listen long because he was screaming mad, but he made a point of threatening the Democrats “when we get back in power.” Silly man…Obama owns the census, and no one cares about that – the press doesn’t, that’s for sure. With that in his pocket, and ACORN running it, you don’t really think the GOP will ever have a chance in any sort of unrigged election again, do you?

Related:
Althouse: Has Has Obama’s presidency failed?.
Michelle Malkin: The Savior-Based Economy
Leading by example: Give up your house so Obama can be loved? Political theater at its best. State-by-state.
Fake Stimulation; Fake Greenery: Fake, fake, fake