OVERPAID?

“We know this is Chicago, but isn’t $63,000 quite a lot for a no-show job?”

President Obama recently said "At some point I think you've made enough money." A lot of people are upset by this statement, particularly when combined with others he's made in the past such as his "take from you for your own good" statement to Joe the Plumber. Personally I happen to agree with President Obama: at some point some people have made enough money. Certainly Barbara Streisand, Al Gore, George Soros, Matt Damon, and many others have made enough money to survive and not need more.

The difference here is that I'm just voicing an opinion: you have plenty, do you need more? Not really. When the President of the United States says that, it isn't just opinion, its policy and he's emphasized this repeatedly with different policy decisions such as wanting more taxes on wealthy people, wanting to cap salaries, and other stranger statements such as the one that Michelle Malkin quoted from the same speech:

(Y)ou can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy.

Only one "ah" in there, it was a particularly smooth period in Obama's speech. The problem here is that its none of my business how much someone else makes. I can voice an opinion that they've made plenty and don't need any more, but that's their business and they're free to earn more if they choose. Its also none of the president's business. I understand he's a socialist and thus is deeply wracked with jealousy over the wealth of others, but honestly it doesn't matter how much other people make. It only matters how they make that money. The amount a robber steals is irrelevant; the crime is his theft. The amount a businessman makes is irrelevant, only if he's doing so by crushing others and breaking laws or not.

Who, pray tell, chooses what is "good" in the sense that President Obama is saying above? Plainly he means "good" in the sense of "that which advances socialism and social justice" not "that which is ethically righteous in an objective sense." This kind of statement and policy is why hiring hasn't taken off and the economy is largely stagnant. He scares companies and businessmen into being very careful with their earnings. Who knows what's coming next from these guys?

John at Power Line quips:

Federal employees now are paid much more money then their counterparts in private industry. Is Obama willing to acknowledge that they earn "enough" and should forgo future pay increases? Obama himself earned more than $5 million last year. Is that "enough"? George Soros has made countless millions from currency manipulations that many regard as little better than extortion. Does he have "enough"? I suspect that "enough" will prove to be a standard that is both highly flexible and intimately related to political influence.

Too much money, it seems, only applies to people who aren't sufficiently leftist, politically correct, and unwilling to support Obama's socialist plans. I think a CEO who makes 15 million dollars a year is making too much money, and any company that pays someone that much is idiotic. But its their money and if they want to spend it stupidly, then they are free to do so.