Lindsey Graham defends Mitt Romney's tax avoidance:
Mitt Romney shouldn't be criticized for using off-shore tax havens because "it's really American to avoid paying taxes, legally," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Tuesday....Really? Now it's OK to right-wingers if you do whatever the law allows you to do with regard to money?
"As long as it was legal, I'm OK with it," Graham said. "I don't blame anybody for using the tax code to their advantage. I blame us for having it so complicated and confused. Pick a rate and make people pay it." ...
"...I've got no problem with people playing the game, as long as they don't cheat."
Last time I looked, that wasn't true if, for instance, you needed food stamps and collected them. When I checked that out recently, the right-wing response was something like this:
Asked what labor wanted, the great 20th-century union leader Samuel Gompers answered, "More." The modern welfare state lives by the same credo.And it doesn't seem to be true if you're one of those horrible Americans who collect Medicare, Social Security, or other government benefits -- groups such as the Heritage Foundation depict you as freeloaders cadging handouts:
And it isn't true, specifically, if you become disabled and apply for Social Security disability benefits (something that, understandably, is happening to a lot of Baby Boomers as they age) -- in that case, Congressman Allen West describes you as a slave.
But I understand the difference: If you're in need, you're a moocher. If you just want whatever you can legally grab, you're a patriot.