Op-Ed: Obama's 'Spreading The Wealth' Problem In Word And Deed

"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," Barack Obama famously told Joe the Plumber. Yet Obama's own personal details raise some curious questions.

Barack Obama, who claimed personal wealth of $1.14M in addition to his house last year, told Joe the Plumber the following:

"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," Obama responded. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Granted, Obama would himself pay dearly under his own tax plan (barring any creative accounting and loopholes few know better than Washington politicians), but it would adhere to his self-declared belief that "I am my brothers' keeper." Fair enough. But what of Obama's half-brother George in Kenya, who lives in squalor on less than $1 a day? All Obama would have to do is send him a check or money order for $12 to double George's annual earnings and improve his standard of living. Why hasn't he, if he is indeed his brother's keeper? Doesn't he want his own blood to 'have a chance for success, too'? Wouldn't he want to make George's economy good from the bottom up? Or are the only donations he gives to charity dirty contributions that his campaign couldn't keep legally anyway? Is this a peek into a potential Obama hypocrisy? What's good for the goose (or the plumber) ain't necessarily good for the gander (or the Messiah)? Or am I making a mountain out of a mud hut? Discuss amongst yourselves.