Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Who has more morals... democrats or republicans?

Is it OK to cheat on your taxes? A total of 57 percent of those who described themselves as “very liberal” said yes in response to the World Values Survey, compared with only 20 percent of those who are “very conservative.” When Pew Research asked whether it was “morally wrong” to cheat Uncle Sam, 86 percent of conservatives agreed, compared with only 68 percent of liberals.
Ponder this scenario, offered by the National Cultural Values Survey: “You lose your job. Your friend’s company is looking for someone to do temporary work. They are willing to pay the person in cash to avoid taxes and allow the person to still collect unemployment. What would you do?”
Almost half, or 49 percent, of self-described progressives would go along with the scheme, but only 21 percent of conservatives said they would.
This is from http://www.examiner.com/a-1419425~Peter_Schweizer__Conservatives_more_honest_than_liberals_.html

I encourage you to read the whole story. Yes some of this has to do with the strong presence of religious people who are conservatives due to social issues, but that aside, these questions have to do with not just moral issues but the fundamental difference in views about the national purse and our own responsibility to keep taxes down. The people who cheat welfare and don’t need it, but take it because it’s there and they qualified for it are raising the taxes. The thought among some is… it’s there and you’re stupid for not taking it. Hell, I got a TV that needs one of those boxes for the HD signal and I can’t bring myself to get the little $40 dollar check from the Gov. because I know that I can find $ 40 dollars somewhere. It’s not because I'm more moral then anyone, it’s only because I think of the money the government has differently. It’s not their money, it’s ours and it needs to be spent wisely, especially at the federal level. If we didn’t have programs like this in the first place I would have that $40. Not only would I have it, I could decide what to do with it. Maybe I want to put it towards a new TV instead of a box to make my old one work or maybe I’d decide I don’t need two TV’s in my house and I put it in my gas tank. They take money from us and then give it back with conditions on how it’s used.
There are people in this world who really do need help. The democrats think it’s the responsibility of the government to help these people where as the republicans think it is ours. We should be able to chose who we help if we’re going to give to charity, where the biggest portion is going to the actual people who need it. I think we can all agree the government is not it.

washingtonpost.com — Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227)

It’s not that republicans are categorically more moral then democrats and it’s not that democrats want all these programs to help people because they care more. It’s a fundamental difference in how we view the money the government is spending and a difference in opinion on who should have control over how the money Americans make is spent. Do we pool it together (cough, cough socialism) or do we spend it individually?

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