Ever wonder if anybody ever really disagrees about anything on TV?
Oh sure, there are plenty of pitched verbal battles and angry comebacks. And on some shows it seems like a lot is happening because the host keeps interrupting and talks very fast and with a lot of authority, or at least a lot of rudeness. But the TV pundits tend to get mired in the minutiae of current controversies. What about viewpoints that challenge the very terms of the debate? Wouldn’t that be interesting to watch?
Yet, too often, chances for truly challenging discussion are just plain lost. For example, Paul Craig Roberts is a widely published commentator and former Reagan Administration official. He worked with the Secretary of the Treasury to help develop economic policy. In other words, a big name.
Recently, in his syndicated column, Roberts has been saying that sales and excise taxes are more consistent with freedom than the income tax, because sales and excise taxes lay no direct claim to a person’s labor. He also says that the income tax is slavery. And that politicians who try to clamp down on international tax havens are chasing after runaway slaves.
But isn’t this incredible? A former Reagan Administration official claiming that the income tax is the same as slavery! Certainly something to argue about and discuss. I mean, who is this crazy renegade from the establishment, and why is he saying such things?
But is Roberts on all the talk shows, debating this issue with Sam & Cokie? Nah. Let’s just rehash the latest phony battle between the Demopublicans and the Republicrats.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.