Our New Patriotism has been defined for us by former Labor Secretary under President Clinton, Robert Reich.  Writing last Friday in the Congress Blog on TheHill.com, Reich offered a predictably watered down version of left-wing condescension toward the notion that the people should voice their opposition when the government has overstepped its authority.

Commenting on what he calls “Tax-Day Demagogues”, Reich kindly boiled down the message of protests in which he was not actually involved.  As Reich was reading talking points from the DNC about the ‘unhealthy’ tea party environment, his translation of its slogans represents a slanted set of preconceptions not challenged by actual exposure or investigation.

Reich leads by stating his first inaccurate interpretation of the tenets of tea partyism.

1. “Americans pay too much in taxes.” Wrong: The United States has the lowest taxes of all developed nations.

Former secretary Reich should request a partial refund of his Yale Law School tuition for their failure to drill into him the weakness that arises from making fallacious arguments such as this one.  The idea that Americans pay too much in taxes is not in any way relative to those paid by other countries.  It is relative to what Americans feel is an appropriate level of taxation.  A man with only five fingers would not feel whole merely because all of his neighbors had only their thumbs.

Beyond the logical flaw in his statement, Reich has completely misrepresented the tea party claim which is that the taxes tat are collected are being spent irresponsibly by a federal government that has cast aside the concept of fiscal restraint.  He fails to recognize that when the government spends $4 on programs that are necessary and constitutionally mandated, plus $6 on programs that are of dubious value, the American people are being taxed too much.

Furthermore – lest Mr. Reich has failed to notice – the developed nations to which he is referring have extremely high rates of unemployment, even higher in the midst of this global recession.  Is that the model we are chastened by Mr. Reich to follow?

Reich also dismisses claims that the current unprecedented rate of federal spending will result in higher taxes.  Again, watching his argument take form has the feeling of watching a scarf juggler.

5. “The huge debts we’re wracking up will cause your taxes to rise!” Wrong again. When it comes to the national debt, as I’ve said before, the relevant statistic is the ratio of debt to the gross domestic product. The only sure way to bring that debt down and make it manageable in future years is to get the economy growing again — which requires that, in the short term, the government spend a lot of money (because consumers and businesses won’t). In the long term, the biggest source of concern is rising health-care costs. And that’s something Obama and Congress are aiming to tackle.

Well, I guess that ends that debate.  As long as the economy heats up to solar surface extremes, and we get a handle on health care costs (rationing should accomplish that quite nicely) everything will be just fine.  Don’t worry your pretty little hear about that because it’s all in the competent hands of the Congress and President Obama.  Reich’s attempts a sleight-of-hand to pass along the undeniable truth that it is required that the government spend “a lot of money”.  Nice try, but we’ve been watching this trick too many times.

In closing, Reich admonishes those who would dare speak out against the government’s right to tax and spend without response from the people.

True patriotism isn’t cheap. It’s about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going.

What is cheap, Mr. Reich, is talk and your hastily constructed and off-target critique is nearly valueless.  The patriotism of Americans to their nation is not obligatory, and it has nothing to do with taxes. 

We pay taxes (unlike so many appointees to President Obama’s cabinet and administration) because there are things the government must do, things we agreed long ago could only be accomplished by a central federal authority such as regulating interstate commerce and providing for a common defense.  The wellspring of our patriotism is not what the federal government provides for us, but the spirit in which it exists, that it is invested with power by and for the people, not the other way around.

And look, Ma, I made it through that entire blog post without a single short joke, proving that political discourse does not have to resort to ad hoc and ad hominem attacks.

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