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The only way that I've ever seen the conservative mind-set where it's "redistribution of wealth" and not "helping the needy" is when the person can thoroughly convince themselves that the poor deserve their situation, either through apathy, laziness, or poor choices.
If you find it possible (despite the cognitive dissonance) that people are genuinely poor out of circumstance - fatherless home, poorly educated parents, poor schools, crime-ridden neighborhood, poor job markets, abusive relationships, then this conservative ideology necessarily falls apart.
When you believe that "it's 2008! The world should be color blind! And sexism does not exist! Women have broken the glass ceiling!", the mindset works. When you honestly believe that everyone has the same 'opportunity' as you, and the ONLY reason you're as successful as you are is because of your ingenuity or your drive, then you're ignoring the privilege you had as a child. There are plenty of people with ingenuity and drive who will never even reach the starting salary of a more privileged person. No matter how many times a conservative harps on the point that everyone can 'pull themselves up by their boostraps', it doesn't make it any more true. And as Obama said so nicely, you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you DON'T HAVE BOOTS.
I hardly think that a few percentage point change for those making over $250,000 will unfairly burden them, particularly when considering the potential benefits. Wealth disparity is a GENERATIONAL thing, and it takes a long time to repair. If your parents are poor, and can't afford to give you a stable home in a good neighborhood with good schools, your chances of providing those for YOUR children diminish. That's not to say it's impossible, but the 'potential', the 'opportunity', isn't the same.
The really damning part of this op-ed is that someone thinks that a minor increase in the taxes of those making $250,000 or more is socialism, communism, or wealth distribution.
And finally; "He’s what you want your son to grow up to be. He loves God, his country, his wife, and his kids." Sorry, that is not what I want my son to grow up to be. Thanks, though, Dave Ramsey. Your characterizations of the 'talking heads' is bemusing, made particularly so by the fact that you too are a talking head.
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"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel
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