I Have a Friend, Part 2

Some of you may remember my liberal friend and my post about him and his claim to healthcare. I called him a thief and he was not happy. He couldn’t refute it, but the truth can be painful.

He loves what’s going on in Washington right now. (he and about 36%of the population according to the latest polls) He loves to regurgitate all those great lines that liberals love, lines like:

1. It’s our turn.

2. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

3. Soak the rich, they can afford it.

My friend works as a DJ part time and he works for a company that I own. I want to take the opportunity to explain how his “soak the rich” / “It’s our turn” mentality has affected him this year. My business in December relies heavily on Company Christmas parties. In fact, December is one of our busiest months. We average 35 to 45 parties each December. Not this year. We have 12. Nearly every company that we deal with (most return every year because I have very good people like my friend) has cut out their Christmas party this year.

The reasons are varied I’m sure, but most share the same feeling. They’re scared. What sort of massive new taxes on the rich will this congress come up with next year? Mandated taxes for health insurance? Increased energy costs due to Tax & Trade? (Even though we now know the whole global warming religion has lost all credibility.) You see, most of these companies are owned by the so called rich and they are changing their spending habits due to a predatory atmosphere in Washington. I don’t blame them.

On to the point… Who is getting hurt most by these policies? Working people and small businesses like me and my friend will take the brunt of it. Let’s just look at a small slice; the month of December and the twenty five parties we didn’t get this year. 25 DJ’s not working. 25 reception halls not booking parties. 75 chefs not working. 200 servers not working. 5,000 guests not buying any new Christmas clothes for the parties. 10 photographers not shooting pictures. This is just the tip of the iceberg. All those people whose incomes are down because of this will not be spending as much on Christmas presents. The ripple effects go on and on and on…

I guess my friend thinks that well-to-do people bury their money in a jar or send it to a Swiss bank account never to be seen again. I guarantee he will not take any blame for this and will probably try and blame it on A. George Bush, B. Sarah Palin or C. Global warming. Anybody that thinks that trickledown economics doesn’t work needs to say hello to the fool in the mirror looking back at them. I for one, like it when companies and individuals are doing well. They like to celebrate and that keeps me working hard. That’s trickledown and that’s what this economy needs right now.