Democrits

John Edwards, the new heart-throb of the Democratic party, likes to talk about raising taxes on "the rich" and closing loopholes that supposedly allow companies to exploit overseas tax havens.

But despite his avid enthusiasm for tax increases, when it comes to paying his own share of the tax burden, the multi-millionaire ambulance-chaser seems a little less than eager.

Below is an excerpt from an article in the Wall Street Journal (run for your lives, liberals!) that exposes Edwards', as well as Kerry's blatant tax dodging.

You know, I'm beginning to think that Edwards and his liberal ilk wouldn't be so goddamn giddy about tax increases if they actually paid taxes.

Senator Edwards talks about the need to provide health care for all, but that didn't stop him from using a clever tax dodge to avoid paying $591,000 into the Medicare system. While making his fortune as a trial lawyer in 1995, he formed what is known as a "subchapter S" corporation, with himself as the sole shareholder.

Instead of taking his $26.9 million in earnings directly in the following four years, he paid himself a salary of $360,000 a year and took the rest as corporate dividends. Since salary is subject to 2.9% Medicare tax but dividends aren't, that meant he shielded more than 90% of his income. That's not necessarily illegal, but dodging such a large chunk of employment tax skates perilously close to the line.

The same vein of hypocrisy that is seen in Edwards' tax dodging, runs through the wider stream of liberal thought. Like women in mink coats lamenting the abuse of animals, the liberal elites love preaching one thing and practicing another.
 
You see it in the Hollywood airheads screeching about environmental degradation while turning up the thermostat in their central-heated mansions. You see it in Michael Moore, bemoaning the plight of the working man from the comfort of his West Side penthouse. You see it in John Kerry, decrying the scourge of outsourcing and the greed of "Benedict Arnold" CEOs, while his wife's company churns out ketchup from its 57 global factories. And you see it in John Edwards vowing to fix the health-care mess while avoiding to pay his Medicare taxes. Clearly, there is a gaping disconnect between what the Democrats advocate in public and what they do in private.

In all fairness, it must be said that the same type of hypocrisy permeates the social conservatives, who, like liberals, have a nasty habit of imposing rules and standards on others that they themselves seem unwilling to follow.

Newt Gingrich, for example, railed against Clinton's personal shenanigans while in the midst of his own extramarital affair. Bill Bennet, a notorious crusader for the Christian Right, bewailed the loss of morals while nurturing a gambling addiction on the side. And while the Bible-thumping moralists rushed to villify Clinton for his unsavory sexual escapades, nary a peep has been heard from them about revelations that a disgraced former Republican Senator tried to force his celebrity wife to perform lewd sex acts in public.

Ultimately, libertarianism is the most consistent philosophy because its underlying message - namely, that individuals should be free to pursue their lives without undue interference from the state - leaves little room for contradiction. Libertarians want to minimize government and maximize freedom - end of story.