A Republican's Confession

So if the true reason the Democrats pushed to increase tax rates on the "rich" was to establish the precedent for making the government the ultimate judge of whether one's income is so high as to be "unfair," as a Democrat recently confessed, why did Republicans not make the case against that jaw-dropping proposition, one whose tenets are contrary to everything America has stood for since its founding? A Republican confesses the reason (or, to be more accurate, chides his own party for it) in a recent op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, saying that the issue isn't "tax cuts," per se, but ensuring liberty through limiting government:

Republicans forgot how to talk about what it means to be free. Freedom is rooted in the understanding that government is not the source of freedom and prosperity — those things belong to men and women as created beings and are actualized by their choices and hard work. If government is too big, if it taxes too much and over-regulates, then the people lose a portion of their freedom because they can no longer chart their own destiny and follow their dreams. 

Therefore, Republicans should be focused on reducing the size and reach of government. Voters need to understand that the battle is not about tax rates, it is about a government so big that it threatens their freedom. This will help redefine the debate as one about the relationship between the people and their government. If that is the debate, then conservative principles for preserving liberty can once again prevail.

Exactly.