A friend of mine quotes from the New York Times’s editorial endorsement of Obama, and then comments. First, the quote:
Mr. Obama is clear that the nation’s tax structure must be changed to make it fairer. That means the well-off Americans who have benefited disproportionately from Mr. Bush’s tax cuts will have to pay some more. Working Americans, who have seen their standard of living fall and their children’s options narrow, will benefit. Mr. Obama wants to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation, restore a climate in which workers are able to organize unions if they wish and expand educational opportunities.
And my friend’s comment: “I love the second and third sentences, juxtaposing ‘well-off Americans’ and ‘working Americans.’ That’s right: Those Americans who are well off aren’t working. They are just fat cats sitting around, letting their money grows on trees. The whole editorial is so offensive, it sickens.”
I should mention that this particular friend is very hard-working — in fact, inordinately so. He is also not very political. He just smells nonsense — and dangerous, confiscatory, growth-killing nonsense — when it’s in the air.