Touré breaks down America's givers and takers, ignores actual giving

Brett T. | 9:12 PM on August 24, 2013

When it comes to misinformation, MSNBC’s Touré is a giver. Today he’s on about red states and blue states, and how blue states are the givers. We wouldn’t necessarily call paying taxes “giving,” and Touré’s followers aren’t ready to concede that conservatives are doing all the taking.

https://twitter.com/misteratlanta/status/371376474437070848

https://twitter.com/Matthops82/status/371376694474452992

https://twitter.com/AngryBaldwin/status/371376702233931776

https://twitter.com/Toure/status/371378010756505601

https://twitter.com/DaveDenomie/status/371381158023413761

But, numbers! Never mind what a certain former senator said about there being no such thing as a liberal America and a conservative America; there are now Republican states.

https://twitter.com/Toure/status/371378234547380224

https://twitter.com/TheDIG616/status/371379271358775296

https://twitter.com/Toure/status/371379973535576064

https://twitter.com/TheDIG616/status/371380399672676352

https://twitter.com/Toure/status/371380649271111680

You know what else some people say wasn’t an accident, right?

https://twitter.com/Toure/status/371384415105998848

https://twitter.com/Toure/status/371384060246884352

@Toure wealthier urbanized places like Detroit?

— Greg Crawford (@GregCrawford) August 24, 2013

That’s not fair; everyone knows the Republicans running Detroit drove their city into bankruptcy.

https://twitter.com/BrettHamlin/status/371381556176101376

Touré stopped making sense quite a while ago. Maybe it would make more sense to look at individuals and actual giving, not redistribution through taxation. Professor Arthur C. Brooks “assumed that the people who are most vociferous about socioeconomic inequality would give the most to alleviate it,” but proved his theory wrong through an extensive study that inspired his 2006 book, “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism.” As Barbara J. Elliot explained:

Conservative households donate 30 percent more money to charity than liberal households, and they are more likely to volunteer as well. Why the difference? Brooks found that liberals view government redistribution as a “form of charity,” which they believe exonerates them from further giving. But it clearly is not the same thing. Charity is voluntary and taxation is not.

So, maybe it’s time to slash taxes, cut off the “takers” and see who complains.

@Toure ok. So who gets more government aid? People who voted for Romney or people who voted for Obama? Who paid more taxes? @JayCaruso

— Jay Boren (@borenjay) August 24, 2013