Nathan Key

Husband, Father, Thinker.

 

 
 
A friend of mine asked me the other day how it is that I can rationalize taking the New Homebuyer Tax Credit when I don’t believe in Federal subsidies, bailouts, and most welfare programs. Good question!

He could have also asked me why it is that I took unemployment checks from the State of Washington if I don’t believe in government subsidies, bailouts, and most welfare programs. And he could have also asked why I cashed the stimulus check in the summer of 2008 if I don’t believe in government subsidies, bailouts, and most welfare programs.

Here's the deal: I definitely filed for unemployment and I am definitely taking the New Homebuyer Tax Credit and I definitely cashed the stimulus check. All three are true and all three seem to be directly counterintuitive to this blog’s ideals on liberty and limited government. So the question becomes this:

Am I a hypocrite for taking government money when I’m so adamantly against government spending programs?

In the cases mentioned above, I’m going to say no. To prove this, I’m going to suggest that we tackle each of these apparent discrepancies in chronological order: First, the Stimulus Check, then the Unemployment Checks, and finally the New Homebuyer Tax Credit.

The Stimulus Check:

Back in the summer of 2008, we got a check in the mail from the Federal Government asking us to “Stimulate the Economy” by spending a few hundred dollars. Most Americans got one. I didn’t believe then that we’d be able to spend our way out of debt anymore than I believe it now, but I went ahead and cashed it anyhow.

Why?

Because this check proved to me that the government doesn't know what they're doing with the money we give them. Programs like these are rediculous. They tell us that if we just continue spending enough, eventually, everything is going to work out. President Bush told us after 911 that the Terrorists would WIN if we stopped spending our money and going on vacation. What?

If one of my friends told me that their way out of debt would be to continue maxing out their credit cards until someone came along and offered them a job that would take care of the amazing stuff they just purchased- I'd laugh them off. And I'd definitely not feed their lunacy by giving them more money to waste.

So, I decided that since I apparently know how to manage money better than the government- I'd keep the check and use it for something better than a "spend your way out of debt" campaign.

Unemployment Checks:

When I was laid off at the end of 2008, I filed for Unemployment Checks. And I received my unemployment checks for a few months until I got a new job here in Florida. They weren’t really enough to live on- so I’m really grateful for our savings account and my in-laws who were kind enough to help us out a little bit- but I still filed for unemployment and made it my “job” to search for a job (and I was pretty good at it, too).

Why, if I don’t believe in Federal Welfare Programs, did I take Unemployment- doesn’t that violate my principles? There are really three reasons why I did it:

First off, unemployment is usually the realm of the State government rather than the Federal government. While I don’t believe that government welfare programs are usually the most effective programs to ensure the welfare of the people, I’m actually OK with them on the local and state levels unless they violate the local or State constitutions. They usually don’t.

What I am opposed to are Federal Welfare programs. This isn’t because Welfare programs are “evil” or anything. It’s merely because on the Federal level they are unconstitutional.

No matter how helpful a program might be, we cannot continue to fund something that isn’t allowed within our US Constitution. Check this site for some interesting facts about how Welfare is in Direct Defiance of our Constitution.

Anyhow, although I don’t believe that Federal Welfare Programs are the most effective means to bring about social justice and ease poverty- if our nation truly wants them, let’s vote to amend the Constitution rather than continuing to ignore it. Amendments aren’t easy to pass, but it’s better than allowing other things to slip by that undermine our freedom.

So, to summarize- the first point is that welfare programs that are done on the State level aren’t unconstitutional and are OK, even if there are better ways to provide for people.

Secondly, I paid into unemployment and so did my employer. We were taxed on it. Every week, we both had our own income taken out in order to fund the unemployed of our State. So after paying into it, I believe that it’s OK to take out of it, too. The same goes for Social Security- I don’t think it’s going to be around when I retire, and I think it was a bad program to begin with, but I’m not opposed to anyone taking Social Security checks- especially after paying into the program for their entire life.

I hesitate to call it an entitlement because I hope that it’s gone one day… but for the time being, if it’s given to you- take it.

Third, I couldn’t allow my principles to starve my wife and child. If I had been on my own, an idealist without anyone relying on me, I might have been more inclined to refuse help and go get a minimum wage job or live off of savings until I landed another position. But now that I have two other people depending on me (three other people by Thanksgiving) I couldn’t reasonably refuse unemployment on principle. My principle of taking care of those entrusted to me trumps any personal need to thwart the government.

New Homebuyer Tax Credit:

Tax Credits, we must understand, are different than welfare programs, stimulus programs, and bailouts, but since the definition is a very narrow one, I’ll need to explain it a bit more so that you’ll understand why it’s not hypocritical to take a tax credit- even when I’m against government spending programs.

Stimulus programs, bailouts, and welfare programs all mean that the government is giving me something. I take money from the government.

Tax Credits, on the other hand, mean that I owe less to the government in the first place. It may seem like a very arbitrary difference, but it’s very important to get this if we’re to understand property rights and such.

Let me clear it up: I believe that I own 100% of my paycheck even though I am obligated to pay taxes. So every year, I pay the full amount of my taxes because I believe that we should obey the laws of the country that we live in. Those taxes are given to the government and they use them for whatever is in the Federal Budget that year (including a lot of things that I agree with and a lot that I don’t).

If the government says, I owe $8,000 LESS this year because I just purchased a home, that doesn’t mean that they are GIVING me $8,000. That means that out of the taxes that I owe from the paycheck that I own, I am obligated to pay $8,000 less than normal. That’s my money that I no longer have to pay rather than a gift from the Federal Government.

Do you see the difference?
 


Comments

John Lewis

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:56:31

Well, you paid money in already, money that you rightfully didn't owe (according to the framers of our constitution), now you have a chance to get it back.

It's only fair.

Although I disagree with the tax credits trying to prop up the market, at an individual level, of course you should take it. Unless you've paid in nothing.

 

Anonymous

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:39:49

You sir need to get a life, get over yourself, and off your high horse. Because while you bad talk the federal government and the rationale behind them giving these stimulus checks and tax credits you take the money. All of this money has helped you out in someway when you were in need. You sir should not be entitled to any of the money. But, I suppose since you are a citizen here then you are entitled to it. I don't know how you have a wife and child with your hypocritic ways. I hope you do not pass these ideals onto your child because he/she will be in for a rude awakening. Stop being a hypocrite and stick to your ideals if you really believe in them. It shouldn't matter if you had a wife and child if you didn't believe in it then you shouldn't have taken the money. Period.

 

A true American

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:58:47

You're a hypocrit, you dumb redneck!

 

Nathan

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:03:58

It's a good thing that I don't have feelings that are easily hurt, huh?

 



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