The Redistribution of America

There is a lot of talk about redistribution in the Presidential campaign right now. In the typical use of the term it describes a policy where government uses its taxing power to take money from one person to give it to another. However, this common definition is much too narrow in my opinion. Redistribution is not just about money.

Redistribution is occurring whenever you see our federal government making decisions favoring one person, one group, one business or region compared to another. Providing an advantage to one side at the expense of another. Taking sides where it should not be taking sides. Picking winners and losers. Tilting the playing field to play favorites.

Government should not be on the playing field calling the plays. Its primary role should be making sure that the playing field is safe, that people are playing by the rules and that penalties are assessed when the play is out of bounds. This is what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote our Constitution.

The Redistribution of America takes many forms. It is time to think about what this has done to our country. What it has done to our economy. What it has done to the very fabric of our nation. It does not have to be this way. We can restore America to the founding principles that made this country great. However, we first have to recognize the insidious nature of The Redistribution of America.

You don't need a massive government structure to protect the nation, establish justice and promote the general welfare. You do need one to manage, control and serve special interests. Special interests also grow exponentially when the system is designed to pick winners and losers rather than just provide a level playing field for everyone to compete on.

Credit: PuzzleHistory.com

Let's look at a list of what is occurring in The Redistribution of America. These are all examples where the federal government has taken an active role in stacking the deck for one group to the detriment of another. Providing an advantage to one party to the disadvantage of another. The sad truth is that at times the advantages have even been given to foreign interests to the disadvantage of Americans.

You will notice that I use the word "We" to describe what is going on. Why? Because we all have allowed this to happen. These are all conscious policy decisions that our federal government has made. It doesn't have to be this way. However, The Redistribution of America will continue until WE demand that it stop.

We are stealing from the next generation to fund current government spending with our massive budget deficits. With every dollar of deficit spending we are shifting costs from today to tomorrow which our children and grandchildren will have to pay.

We are taking from savers to bail out bankers and debtors with the ridiculously low interest rates that have been manipulated by the Federal Reserve .

We have hurt those on Main Street to bail out the people on Wall Street who caused the financial meltdown.

We are taking from the private sector and giving the public sector wage and benefit packages that long ago were deemed unaffordable for private businesses and which are not sustainable over the long term.

We have favored illegal immigrants who broke our laws over immigrants who patiently wait in line to come here legally.

We ignore rich energy reserves in this country and have redistributed billions of dollars of our wealth to dictators and despots in the Middle East and elsewhere. The result is that they are richer, we are poorer and we remain energy dependent when we could be energy independent.

We have given much of our manufacturing base away by legislating, regulating and stipulating almost everything involved for the industrial sector of our economy. The result is that we have redistributed good paying jobs from the United States to China and other foreign countries.

We have seen a redistribution of power from the states to the federal government that has turned the original intent of our Constitution upside down.

We continually see the public interest having to yield to special interests and people of faith being required to yield to people of no faith.

We will soon see the further redistribution of America in our health care system under Obamacare. Decisions that used to be made between doctor and patient will increasingly be made by government bureaucrats. We have already seen the impacts of this where religious organizations must provide and pay for health benefits that are contrary to their religious beliefs.

The size and scope of the federal government today is a direct result of The Redistribution of America.

As I stated above, you don't need a massive government structure if you are focused on protecting and promoting the public interest. You do need one to manage, control and serve special interests. Special interests also grow exponentially when the system is designed to pick winners and losers rather than just provide a level playing field for everyone to compete. I have written before that per capita personal income in Washington, D.C. was $73,105 in 2011. This is 75% higher than the national average. Personal income has grown by 81% in Washington, D.C since 2000 compared to 37% for the nation at large.

The metro Washington, D.C. area also has the highest percentage of millionaires in the United States (as a percentage of households) according to the August, 2012 issue of Money magazine. Money also points out that 40% of the world's millionaires live in the United States. Therefore, it seems to follow that a fair percentage of the world’s millionaires live in close proximity to The White House and Capitol Hill. This would not be possible without The Redistribution of America.

Washington is largely a gigantic redistribution machine today. Money comes in one end from one group of people and it goes out the other end to another group of people. Requests from special interests comes in from one end and favors and advantages go out the other end. Money and wealth have been created in Washington because of the bureaucracy to run that machine and all of the politicians, lobbyists, lawyers and special interest groups working to get "their share" of money and advantages coming out of the other end.

President Obama recently said that "he could not fix Washington from inside." He can't fix it because "the fix" has been in for a long time with The Redistribution of America. The Redistribution of America means power and money to Washington, D.C. However, as power and money go to Washington, the People lose their freedom in addition to the power and money that has been redistributed to Washington. Is it any wonder that a recent Gallup poll found that President Obama's approval rating in Washington is 83%! Washington, D.C. does not want to change.  Things are working out well for them.  However, how is The Redistribution of America working out for you?

I hear people say all the time that they don't think it makes any difference who is elected President or sent to Washington. I am hear to tell you that is nonsense. Our Founding Fathers established a system of government to provide unprecedented powers in the People. Every two years the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate is accountable to the People as the ballot box. After four years, the President and two-thirds of the Senate must face the People's vote. In six years, the entire Washington power structure could be replaced if the People wanted it.

The Redistribution of America does not have to continue. It does not have to be this way. We have the power to change it. November 6, 2012 is your opportunity.

Update:  I just came across an op-ed in The New York Times by Ross Douthat entitled "Washington vs. America" that makes many of the same points as I do.  When something in The New York Times is consistent with the thoughts in BeeLine we may really be on to something!  

Last week, new census data revealed that 7 of the 10 richest American counties in 2011 were in the Washington, D.C., region. Fairfax, Loudoun and Arlington Counties, all in Northern Virginia, have higher median incomes than every other county in the United States.

Whence comes this wealth? Mostly from Washington’s one major industry: the federal government. Not from direct federal employment, which has risen only modestly of late, but from the growing armies of lobbyists and lawyers, contractors and consultants, who make their living advising and influencing and facilitating the public sector’s work.

In reality, our government isn’t running trillion-dollar deficits because we’re letting the working class get away with not paying its fair share. We’re running those deficits because too many powerful interest groups have a stake in making sure the party doesn’t stop.

When you look around the richest precincts of today’s Washington, you don’t see a city running on paternalism or dependency. You see a city running on exploitation