This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Friday, September 23rd, 2011.

I'm Keila Brown.

When Elizabeth Warren made her recent comments about class warfare,

she advanced a theory of political obligation.

That argument doesn't stand up to much scrutiny even if we accept the argument on its own terms.

That's according to the Cato Institute's Aaron Powell, editor of Libertarianism.org.

So Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senate candidate, she's better known for being a part of an oversight panel that governed how a lot of the tart money was spent.

One of the statements that she's been making is making the rounds.

She says, I hear all of this oh this is class warfare no there is

nobody in this country who got rich on his own nobody you built a factory

out there good for you but I want to be clear you moved your goods to market on the

roads the rest of us paid for you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate

you were safe in your factory because of policies police forces and fire forces the rest of us paid for, you didn't have to worry

that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory.

Now look, you built a factory and turned it into something terrific or a great idea.

God bless, keep a big hunk of it, but part of the underlying social contract is that you take

a hunk of that and pay forward the next kid who comes along.

So in trying to understand, she's actually advancing a theory of political obligation.

What should you be obligated to do essentially

given the things that government has done

and that your fellow taxpayers have paid for.

Yeah, she's advancing what's typically called the fair play theory of political obligation

...