So Mitt Romney only paid 15.4% in federal income tax, or $3.2 million, in 2011.
And those of you who resent that Mitt only paid 15.4% as a percentage of his income, did you know he also contributed over $ 3.5 million to churches and charities?
Again, that’s an additional 15% of his gross income to charity.
(For the uninitiated, “gross” means the top line, biggest number, before any deductions) Now back to our numbers discussion: Have YOU ever earned enough to pay over $ 3.0 million in federal income tax?
And if you did, was your first thought, gee, I need to figure out how to give more money to my church or charity? Really?
If you’re honest, your first thought was NOT how to give away even more money. If you’re honest, your first thought was how do I KEEP more of the money I worked so hard to earn?
After all, even if I did earn that much money, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to do it again any time soon.
And so here we have Mitt Romney, a man who has used his brain and his talent to maximize his earnings and his wealth to create a legacy for himself and his family. Is there anything wrong with that? No. In fact, if you’re honest, you’ll admit that’s exactly what you would do if you had the chance.
In fact, that’s what anyone would want to do. If they’re honest, that is. Apparently, not everyone is. Honest, that is. Now, if you earn $ 30,000 per year, you probably work to stretch out your money as far as it will go. And if you earn $ 300,000 per year, you probably do exactly the same thing.
So why would anyone begrudge Mitt Romney the wealth he’s worked hard to create?
Maybe we don’t live in the same world that our parents grew up in. Then, if you earned it, others would give you the benefit of the doubt that you earned it honestly, they would congratulate you, wish you well, and go on their way.
Not today. Today, we’re encouraged to criticize those who earn a lot of money. We’re taught and coached to shun befriending the rich. After all, God forbid we would become one of them!
Not me. I help my clients to create wealth, and I’m not ashamed of it. I want my clients, and their employees, their kids and their friends to seek riches. Why? Because the Bible tells me that it is God who gives us the power to get wealth – and we’re supposed to seek wealth so that we can DO MORE GOOD with it.
Do you want to do good? Help poor kids? Help poor countries? Donate to women’s shelters? Feed the less fortunate? Help find cures for all manner of dread diseases? Build more orphanages in poor countries? Support animal causes?
Sorry to break this to you: You need money to do any of these things. CAPITAL. It takes Capital to do good.
You can think good thoughts. You can hold hands, light candles, meditate and encourage others. You can even pray. ( I do )
But the hungry need food. The sick need medicine and care. The downtrodden need more than a pat on the back. They all need material goods to ease the suffering, to put a roof over their heads. They need clothes on their kids’ backs.
The purpose of Capital is to do good. You can’t do good without it.
So tell your friends to come down off their lofty, impossibly ignorant, self-righteous and hypocritical perches, and go out and build wealth! You’ll be glad for all the good you will do with it.
Note:
The opinions of the author are mine alone. I represent no organization, public or private, with these comments. I mean no harm or ill will to those who believe that poverty is a virtue. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if that opinion directs them to conclusions opposite from mine. Everyone has the right to remain in poverty.
But that right does not carry with it the right to demand that I relinquish any portion of my hard-earned wealth to support them, simply because they feel it’s their right, for some unknown reason, some perverse, queer logic.
I’ll accept the consequences of my own actions, and you do the same. Peace.
