We’re hearing an awful lot about the “wealthy” paying “their fair share” where taxes are concerned. Pres. Obama and his Progressive and liberal Democrat brethren have perfectly coordinated their talking points to affect a campaign of undefined and reckless class warfare against the productive class, doing so for the sole purpose of political gain. Expectedly, Mr. Obama presents a Janus face: denying out of one mouth that he is utilizing class warfare; demonizing the producers out of the other.

In announcing his new, but all too familiar, deficit reduction plan on September 19th, Mr. Obama said:

“This is not class warfare, it is math…All I’m saying is that those who have done well, including me, should pay their fair share in taxes…We can’t just cut our way out of this hole… It is only right we ask everyone to pay their fair share…We can’t afford these special lower rates for the wealthy. We can’t afford them when we are running these big deficits… Middle class taxpayers shouldn’t pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires. That’s pretty straightforward. It’s hard to argue against that…”

Of course, an honest man would admit that the federal government is spending way, way, way beyond its means. An honest man would admit that the federal government has gone far, far, far beyond its constitutional mandate in providing special interest programs that would be better suited for private sector benevolence organizations. An honest man would acknowledge the fact – the fact – that the federal government, now hijacked by the political correctness of Progressivism, has ventured into social engineering via its “social justice” campaign and departed, to a great degree, from the vision of federal government established by our Founders and Framers.

But, that would be an honest man and honest men. We, here today, are dealing with opportunistic politicians, whose primary goals are to retain power (and by any means possible) and to “fundamentally transform the United States of America.”

Which brings me back the points I want to address: What is anyone’s “fair share” of taxes when our tax code is not only a progressive tax code (oh, the irony), but rife with special interest exemptions, limitations and write-offs? Who decides what constitutes someone’s “fair share”? And for that matter, who defines who is “wealthy” or “middle class” or “working class” or “poor”?

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As states around the country continue to face ongoing projected budget deficits, many elected officials are advocating consumption tax hikes in an effort to close budget holes (see Dayton, Mark and Democrats, Minnesota).  However, New Hampshire recently cut its cigarette tax in a move to increase revenue and now Michigan—the state generally regarded as having the worst economy in the country—may follow suit.

Senate Bill 517 would roll back the $2 per pack cigarette excise tax, among the highest in the nation, and reset it at $1 per pack.  It would be partnered with budget cuts including an option that would tighten up Medicaid restrictions, loosened by the previous Democratic administration.

As with New Hampshire, experts believe the move could enable Michigan to become more competitive vis a vis neighboring states with higher cigarette taxes, encouraging consumers to purchase their cigarettes within the state rather than elsewhere.  In addition, the move could reduce the attractiveness of smuggled cigarettes illegally sold without tax being levied.  Studies by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy have estimated that nearly 35 percent of all cigarettes consumed within the state were purchased outside its borders, in Indiana, Ohio and even Kentucky. The estimated tax-induced smuggling in Michigan, which increased steadily as the taxes on cigarettes also increased, was a hefty 16 percent, the fifth highest in the nation.

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I guess Mexico ’s President Calderon forgot to mention what happens to illegal immigrants on his southern border when he came to Congress to scold us for “discriminatory” treatment in Arizona.

They are summarily raped or killed and commonly stripped of every meager possession they carry by soldiers and policemen. Arizona ’s new law is downright humane compared to Mexico ’s brutal treatment of illegal immigrants and his false indignation was the height of hypocrisy.

Neither he nor Mr. Obama nor a lot of other holier-than-thou liberals ever want to talk about the central issue—we’re having a hard enough time paying for our own schools, healthcare, roads, and law enforcement without having to pick up the tab for millions of people here illegally.

Yes, President Calderon, the good people of Arizona got so tired waiting for our national government to do its job, they took it on themselves. Yes, they have decided to discriminate– between tax paying citizens and illegal beneficiaries of our own hard work and tax dollars. They decided that the rule of law, ignored by our federal government, would be enforced by state and local government.

I don’t begrudge illegal immigrants doing what they have to do to take care of their families but I have a family, too, and immigration laws are supposed to protect us from unrestricted access to the infrastructure that comes out of my family’s pocket. Social costs, jobs, security of our borders against criminals and terrorists and the rule of law are all at stake here. Every citizen knows that a primary responsibility of our government is to protect and secure our borders for all these reasons. The concern by the public in Arizona and elsewhere is entirely legitimate but, as usual, the response from Washington is anything but.

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