We All Pay the Price of Ignorance

"The number of ignorant people in America is growing much faster than the number of intelligent ones." (Chris H, paraphrase)

The Saturday morning business segment on FOX News has its moments of silliness and posturing. But if you listen carefully, you'll learn more about jobs and the economy in one morning than the average Obama Supporter has learned in a lifetime.

For example, "the top 10% of wage-earners [Joe the Plumber is smiling] pay 80% of federal income taxes." Barack Obama knows this startling fact, but you'll never hear him or and other left-wing Democrats admit it. The average American, according to various surveys, knows nothing about the huge "patriotic" (?) "contributions" (?) made by high wage earners.

Our typical American apparently believes -- falsely, absurdly -- that high wage-earners pay little or nothing in taxes. People like Obama and Biden make lucrative careers out of fostering such illusions. Alas, when its comes to economic knowledge, the average American is relentlessly . . . average. As such, he or she is the custodian of a vast horde of misinformation.

Another FOX insight: since the stock market crash in 1987, how much has the "tech-heavy" NASDAQ index declined? In fact, since that sharp market decline two decades ago, the NASDAQ has gone UP by 486%. That number takes into account the the recent decline.

If you focus on that time period (1987 until now), it would have been wise to put ALL your money in NASDAQ equities. Your investment then to now would have skyrocketed.

Oh, and if you'd been able to put a portion of your Socal Security contributions into the NASDAQ, as Bush and McCain proposed -- and Obama opposed -- you'd be looking at an affluent retirement. Of course, your involuntary "contributions" to the Social Security Trust Fund really didn't grow at all -- since the money went out as fast as it came in.

Again, we turn to FOX: What about Obama's plan to dole out $500 (or more) to all Americans earning less than $250,000 a year? Isn't that just what he calls it, a tax "rebate?"

No, it isn't because the $500 would go both to most of the 60% of wage earners who DO pay taxes -- and to all the 40% who don't pay taxes.

In other words, for approximately 100 million Americans who don't pay federal income taxes, the $500 would be a welfare check. It would be especially welcomed by Obama's core demographic: the tens of million of non-income-tax payors who will be voting for the Illinois Senator.

There are just a few paragraphs in this piece. But they contain information that most American voters should know -- but don't. The smart Americans, those who are economically savvy, will not generally be voting for Obama. The stupid Americans -- those who know as much about economics as they do astrophysics -- will cast their ballots heavily for the Illinois Senator.

Why do left-wing Democrats like Obama continue humoring -- and deceiving -- ignorant people, uninformed voters? They do so because it's good politics. They may end up wrecking the economy, but -- unfortunately -- such demagogues will rarely lack for work themselves.

Putting Obama in charge of the economy is like making Rev. Wright president of a theology school.

Sarah Palin's motto is: "Serve the people." Obama's seems to be: "Deceive the people."

steve maloney
ambridge, pa