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February 18, 2009

Geithner, Daschle and Palin - progressives miss the obvious

What do Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, former Senator Tom Daschle and now Alaska Governor Sarah "I can see Russia" Palin have in common? Failure to pay taxes

Where progressives are missing the stunningly obvious is the common thread. It is much less a Left/Right issue (as framed at Huffington Post) and much more a Have/Have Not issue. Geithner, Daschle and Palin were all in a position to know better... to pay taxes owed. And each got away with it on a level that I never would because I'm not one of the Haves.

Money and power produce a fundamentally different level of "justice" in America from that afforded to the least among us. As often as not, those who end up in our prisons are the Have Nots who couldn't afford the high-power and high-priced legal counsel which routinely keeps the wealthy and powerful Haves out of prison.

I believe that it is a fundamental disservice to this country for progressives to cooperatively play the same Left/Right game of divide and conquer that the conservatives play. Yes, it will be interesting to see if conservatives hold Palin to the same standard they've articulated for Geithner and Daschle, as Mark Nickolas framed the issue at HuffPo. But it will be just as interesting to see if progressives will too.

My $0.02 worth on the subject...

Posted by Kevin at February 18, 2009 12:34 PM