How the progressives think, part 238,342...

How the progressives think, part 238,342...  Most of us (especially homeowners!) have often had to make a choice between hiring someone to get a job done and doing it ourselves.  We just did that with our barn: we hired painters to paint the inside (and in the spring, they'll do the outside), rather than doing it ourselves.  Basically we traded off the cost of hiring someone (presumably skilled and equipped with all the right tools) versus the time and effort to do it ourselves.  Sometimes we decide one way, sometimes another.  Sometimes we decide we can do it better ourselves (as with me and the electrical work in the house), sometimes we'd rather pay to have someone else do it (as with the painters in the barn).  That's all commonplace for most adults.

Unless you're a progressive, though, you most likely didn't consider the taxes Uncle Sam won't collect when you do it yourself.  For instance, when I decided to do my own electrical work, the electricians didn't get to do it.  They didn't get paid for it, so they didn't pay taxes on the income I didn't provide.  If you're a real progressive, then you think I should pay those taxes when I do the work myself.

My first inclination was to laugh at this, assuming it was a joke.  Then I read up more on the topic, and discovered that they (the progressives) are serious.  This topic is being bandied about by progressives in power (in California and Massachusetts, in particular) as a possible legislative initiative for this year.

Man, we escaped from California in the nick of time!

Ace, writing on the same topic, includes this joke that I am shamelessly stealing:

A man owned a small farm in Vermont. The Vermont Labor Board claimed he was underpaying his help, so they sent an agent down to interview him.

"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.

"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand -- I pay him $200 per week plus free room and board.

The cook has been here a bit more than a year and I pay her $150 every week plus free room and board.

Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours per day and does about 90% of the work.  He makes $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night.  And, once in a while, he's pretty sociable with my wife."

"That's the guy I want to talk to -- the half-wit," says the agent.

"You're talking to him," replied the farmer.

It's things like this that make me doubt this country's chances for long-term survival...