John Stewart and the Tax Avoidance Fallacy!

John Stewart can be funny in that annoying snarky way. He is hit or miss--unlike my hero Steven Colbert. Colbert always seems to be on his game, and I'm amused with him even when he is poking fun at people I like or policies I advocate. I think its healthy to laugh at yourself sometimes, and good humor can give you perspective.

Don't get me wrong--I think Stewart has his moments for sure. But, his leftist ethos bleeds through with such unapologetic hyperbole that he sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out. For example, in a recent episode of the Daily Show, Stewart suggests that Mitt Romney is somehow contradicting himself in saying that government shouldn't be giving people more things while--at the same time--accepting tax exemptions. But Stewart is to be forgiven; he has simply fallen victim to a fallacy that I've heard President Obama and the liberal echo chamber repeat time and again. Its only annoying coming from Stewart because I think he is intelligent enough to understand the absurdity of what he is suggesting.

There is a world of difference between opposing government policies that redistribute wealth (arguably at the expense of market efficiencies and our national economic vitality), and believing that one is entitled to (and rationally should) take advantage of tax exemptions. Stewart, and the liberal echo chamber, act like exemptions are somehow taking something away from the public that is rightly the public's in the first place. Perhaps they are forgetting that whatever the public has taken for the treasury was first private property.

Mr Stewart, I think you get my point. Its simply playing to the lowest element of society (by that I mean those who vote without digesting thoughts for themselves) to talk about another man's wealth as if "we the people" have some god given entitlement to it. But by all means, if you want to talk about god given rights, I'm happy to have that conversation. Personally, I think America should have that discussion. But, I wish politicians and commentators would refrain from these sort of glib criticisms. Unfortunately, we live in the age of soundbites and the electorate suffers from such terrible ADD that few stop to question these things.

-Liberty Tree