Ben Stein: “Tax the Rich. Really, I Mean It”

by David Safier

(TASL) I have a love-hate relationship with Ben Stein. On the one hand, I love him in Farris Bueller’s Day Off and Win Ben Stein’s Money. On the other hand, I hate his basic conservative ideology and his “Let’s create an Intelligent Design Department at Harvard” stance. (OK, I exaggerated a bit on that last one, but not by much.)

On the other other hand, as a TASL (Tax-And-Spend Liberal) [which is short for the too-clumsy-by-far acronym T(twcbai)AS(wawagh)L, which stands for Tax (those who can best afford it) And Spend (with a wise and generous hand)], I love Stein’s stand on taxing the rich. He repeats his position in today’s column in the NY Times. First he knocks Bush for lowering taxes and raising the deficit. Then he (gasp!) badmouths Reagan for the same thing. He hates to admit it, but he says Clinton had a responsible tax policy. Here’s how he ends the column.

The question is simply this: Do we want to step up to the plate like responsible people — I hate to say this, but the last responsible people who actually did this were named Bill and Bob (Clinton and Rubin) — and shoulder our responsibilities? Or do we just kick the can down the road a bit and leave the mess for our children and their children?

And if we do raise taxes, should people who are barely getting by pay them or should people who are getting by very nicely pay them?

I don’t like taxing rich people or anyone I like. But our government — run by the people we elected — needs the revenue. Do we pay it or do we make our children pay it? Dwight D. Eisenhower — and Bill Clinton — knew the answer: You behave responsibly and balance the budget except in rare circumstances.

Somehow, Republicans (and I am a Republican) have forgotten this basic lesson of adulthood. Maybe Senator McCain is grown up enough to remind us of the real urgency of personal and national responsibility. Or maybe not.

What’s not to love about Ben? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, everything else about his political views.