It was a revelation of sorts.

In listening to a news report about how the Big Three automakers in Detroit are asking for another bailout, we started thinking about the nature of these bailouts. What are they, exactly?

These “bailouts” are the giving of government money to struggling industries and businesses. The government doesn’t have the money right now, so they borrow it from other countries (like China and Dubai) in the form of 20-year U.S. Treasury Bills. These are paid back by… taxpayer dollars. And those who pay the most in taxes are the people who are responsible and successful, be they corporations or individuals.

So, we are taking money from companies and people who are responsible, successful, smart, and classified as “rich” by politicians, and giving it to companies who are irresponsible, unsuccessful, have made bad business decisions, and as a result are on the brink of failure.

Isn’t the proper course of nature for these beleaguered companies and industries to fail? Is it not in our best interests for them to fail?

By taxing those who are successful and responsible, we are punishing them for doing the right thing, for running their businesses and living their lives in a responsible way. So before any new tax plan even goes into effect, we are already redistributing the wealth of the successful and responsible to the companies and industries who — through their own irresponsibility — are least deserving of it.