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What is Fairness?

In the 2012 “State of the Union” address, President Obama said, “We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same set of rules.” But what is the meaning of, “fair share” or “fair shot”?

Dictionary.com says “fairness” is the state, condition, or quality of being fair, or free from bias or injustice. Merriam-Webster defines “fair” as marked by impartiality and honesty: free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism.

This administration has described its policies as fair a lot this year, but when you take a closer look, the actions that result from the policies are not “free from bias or injustice” or fair at all.

Fairness and freedom are two of our nation’s founding principles and are major reasons the United States is known as the land of opportunity. However, when we turn over our land of opportunity to government bureaucrats, fairness and freedom are at risk. When government bureaucrats in Washington make decisions for and spend the money of hard working American taxpayers, we lose our freedom and allow a select few to determine what is fair.

The so-called stimulus bill, an early policy of the current administration that was to curb unemployment, is an example of a policy described as fair, but which resulted in the opposite effect. In the three years since the Democrats in Congress passed the nearly $1 trillion stimulus package that was promised to keep unemployment below eight* percent, unemployment has averaged 9.1** percent. That level of unemployment has not been distributed “fairly” and has hit women the hardest. A recent Pew study found that “women are the only group for whom employment growth lagged behind population growth from 2009 to 2011.” Is this fair?

Instead of continuing to throw money at and add government regulations to our unemployment problem, we need to remove restrictions on the private sector and small businesses and allow them the freedom to create jobs. Republicans in the House introduced a budget entitled “Path to Prosperity” that would reduce government spending, place our country on a more sustainable fiscal path and encourage private-sector job creation. This plan reduces the size of government, allows American taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money, and fosters unbiased fairness and freedom.

Another policy intended to provide the American people with a “fair shot” is the “Buffett rule” or what the Senate called the “Paying a Fair Share Act.” This legislation would require anyone earning $1 million a year or more to pay at least 30 percent of his/her income to the federal government.  This would also apply to at least 75 percent of small businesses that file taxes on business income at the individual rate.

The last thing we need in this economic climate is increased taxes on our nation’s job creators.  Instead of adding to the already confusing and complicated tax code, we should focus on ways to allow Americans to keep more of their hard earned income. That is why last month Republicans introduced a 20 percent tax cut for small business owners that passed the House with bipartisan support.  Instead of increasing taxes on Americans and small businesses, this policy would allow employees and employers to keep more of their money and allow them to invest it back into their communities.

According to the National Taxpayers Union, in 2009 the top five percent of income earners paid almost 60 percent of the federal income taxes collected and almost four out of every 10 American households do not pay federal income tax at all. Is that fair?

Allowing unelected government bureaucrats to make decisions for the American people puts the definition of what is fair in the hands of a select few. The board of 15 unelected government bureaucrats charged with making personal decisions about Medicare and the growing number of EPA regulations that are arbitrarily imposed on Americans are two other examples of biased or unfair policy.

The famous poet and author Oscar Wilde once said, “Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” It is time for our government to stop acting selfishly and imposing its definition of “fair” on the American people.  We know that elected officials or bureaucrats in Washington cannot spend your money better than you can. We also know that Washington cannot make your personal decisions better than you can.

Deciding what is “fair” or picking winners and losers should not be the business of the federal government. The federal government should create an environment that allows the American people and the free market to establish what is a “fair” system. History has shown us that a free-market system undergirded by the rule of law and our strong sense of morality which has been a national tenet is as close to Merriam-Webster’s definition of fair, “impartiality and honesty: free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism,” as we can get.

Source:
*The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan Page 4
**Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2012)