Obama says it’s “selfish” of McCain-Palin supporters to cut taxes rather than increase them. Obama believes that people who want to keep their own money are selfish, and bad, while people who want to redistribute other people’s money are virtuous. But what about the self-interest of people who seek to hold political office at taxpayer expense? Government officials have self-interest too.
Self-interest is part of life. It’s not right to say that self-interest is all bad, or all good. It depends on the context. People who seek to obtain wealth through voluntary, non-coercive means are entitled to keep their money. If someone wants to pay me a million — or even a billion — dollars for a product or service, that’s between myself and that person. It’s not Obama’s money. Obama is happy to operate on the principle of self-interest when it comes to the self-interest of politicians and bureaucrats — including himself. What about the rights of the rest of us? We’re the ones expected to pay for his power trip.