Political Malpractice: Why Both Jim and Jean Have It All Wrong

By Mike Ferguson

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Someday, I hope to discover the reason basic morals get lost along the campaign trail that leads to Washington, D.C.

Would it be wrong for me to walk up to you, take your wallet out of your pocket and buy something for myself with your money? Of course, that would be stealing.

However, what if I just wanted your money for something I really need. Then would stealing your money be acceptable and moral? Of course not, that would still be stealing.

OK, how about this: instead of me putting my hand directly in your pocket to take your money, I have someone else do it for me. After they take your money, they hand it over to me so I can then buy what I need. Would that scenario be any more moral? Of course not, that would still be me stealing from you.

Then why are Jim Talent and Jean Carnahan arguing over who has the best plan to steal from taxpayers? The answer is simple. They want to get elected to the United States Senate and they are willing to buy the votes of others with your money.  This campaign is quickly turning into a race to see who can promise the most loot to the most groups, and it is disgusting.

The big "debate" so far is over who will spend more of your hard-earned money to pay for the medicine of other people. Jean Carnahan claims her "Pledge to Protect Medicare" will preserve the government handout program from those in the private sector. Her plan calls for all prescription drug benefits to be administered entirely by the federal Medicare program. In fact, one of her press releases actually slams Talent for never cosponsoring a bill while in the House of Representatives that would force taxpayers to pick up the extra medical tabs for others. Senator Carnahan obviously trusts government bureaucrats to care for people more than she trusts the actual people. This is what can be referred to as a "big government" plan.

Jim Talent, on the other hand, refuses to be left behind in this race. His plan calls for the federal government to spend $400 billion dollars of taxpayers' money over the next decade to pay for the benefits of a portion of the population. Talent brags that his plan is slightly cheaper than Carnahan's because it is a partnership between Medicare and private companies. "Partnership" is an interesting claim because his plan still gives federal bureaucrats the final authority over the plan. Talent calls his approach the "Compromise Plan". The really amusing part of Mr. Talent's campaign is that he actually claims to be for small government.

I have another suggestion. I call it the "Hey Granny, buy your own medicine" plan. I don't mean to sound mean about this, but let's look at some basic realities: senior citizens are the fastest-growing age demographic of the United States and they vote in higher percentages than do every other age group. This gives them the ability to demand everyone else's money, via the government, in exchange for their votes. Candidates like Carnahan and Talent who want all those votes are more than willing to listen up and pay the political ransom out of your pocket.

Somehow, in the complex issue debates we engage in during the political season, this process of taking money from one person in order to pay for the benefits of someone else is considered to be completely different than the basic example of theft I gave at the beginning of this commentary.

Somehow this process is viewed differently than the welfare handouts that discourage work, self-sufficiency and personal responsibility from younger people. It is still theft, it is still taking from one to give to another, it is still immoral.

The argument in favor of this outright socialism goes something like this: it's cruel to deny senior citizens the money from other people if that money is going to pay for something the senior citizens really need, like prescription drugs.

In other words (to paraphrase another commentary I once read): Thou shalt not steal unless, in the opinion of the thief,  he who receives the loot can put it to better use then he who loses the loot can. You see, Jean Carnahan and Jim Talent find it compassionate to steal from you in order to buy votes from...er, I mean, provide benefits to others.

So, what about the argument that those who have not bothered to save their own money or buy their own insurance will be left out in the cold? Can they be provided for without laundering taxpayers' money through the bowels of Washington, D.C.? Yes, they can.

Here is a better plan that the government can enact that actually would allow senior citizens and their families to provide for themselves:

1) Completely exempt anyone over the age of 55 from all property and income taxes.
2) Make all prescription drug purchases and health insurance premiums tax-deductible for everyone.
3) Allow a tax deduction for anyone who provides prescription drugs for elderly family members (including parents, grandparents and great-grandparents), regardless of whether or not the beneficiary of the purchase is a dependent or not.
4) Allow a tax deduction for the amount of contributions to private charitable organizations that provide medical and prescription drug assistance to senior citizens.

This is an approach that gets medical decisions out of the hands of federal bureaucrats and into the hands of patients and doctors by getting the government out of the process. This is also an approach that lets hard-working families off the tax burden's hook. This is a plan that calls on people to provide for themselves and, most importantly, this is a plan that reduces that size, burden and intrusion of the government by rewarding real compassion for those who choose to voluntarily provide for others.

The Missouri Senate race is widely considered to be one of the most important in the country this year. This is the perfect opportunity for us to send Washington D.C. a real message. Don't waste your vote on Jean Carnahan or Jim Talent, both of whom support a big-government approach to dealing with societal problems, problems that are usually caused by big government in the first place. Instead, tell Washington, D.C. that we are fed up with big government by joining me in voting for Libertarian Tamara Millay in November.