It’s Not ‘Class Warfare,’ It’s ‘Mass Warfare’
Liberals believe that if the rich are taxed, all will be right with the world, that only the rich will be affected, and since they have so much money, they won’t miss it. When the rich are taxed, everybody is affected in a negative way. Investments drop, building is curtailed, and hiring is postponed. It’s cheaper for a business owner to give a raise to a present employee than hire a new one. A two-dollar per hour raise is cheaper than a seven-dollar per hour new employee who will cost more in Social Security taxes, workman’s compensation, and health insurance.
The call for higher taxes and more deficit spending will affect the masses, not just the rich.
Politicians don’t care about these truths. All they care about is having enough money to redistribute to their constituents so they can get elected. Confiscated dollars are used to bribe voters. In addition, a lot of politicians are envious. They derive satisfaction out of taking money from people who are better than they are. It’s payback for the times they were picked last in dodge ball and the first to get smacked in the head by a future entrepreneur.
Joe Scarborough, cable news and talk radio host of ‘Morning Joe’ on MSNBC, said, “The average millionaire-billionaire pays eighteen percent in taxes in America.” He believes this isn’t enough. “If we can get the millionaires and billionaires to even pay 25 percent, . . . that would be a massive influx of money.” As a percent of Adjusted gross Income, people making $1 million or more in 2009 paid nearly 25 percent. That means they paid on average $250,000. What right does a politician have a right to take this money? Why should anyone benefit from some other guy’s money? A private citizen couldn’t take it from the millionaire, so why should it be right to elect people to take it?
Consider billionaires. A billion dollars is a thousand million. Twenty-five percent of a billion would be $250 million. Please explain to me why somebody should be forced to pay this much money for the same amount of government services that you and I receive? Billionaires don’t pay more for houses, food, cars, and clothes than we do. Sure, they buy more expensive items, but they don’t pay a premium because they are rich. Why doesn’t President Obama’s call for them to pay “their fair share” on everything? Why doesn’t the president say about the 47 percent of the people in the United States who don’t pay any Federal income tax? These people don’t have any skin in the game. They should pay something, even if it’s $100 per year. Taxation in America is punitive; it’s designed to punish.
Millionaires and billionaires don’t sit on their money unless they are fearful that they might lose it, whether in a bad business deal or because of irrational government policies. Good business people are risk averse, whether it’s a new business venture or new confiscatory tax policies.
When they know the future and are assured their money is safe from governmental predators, they invest it. If a billionaire did not have to pay $250 million in taxes, he would invest it. That investment would mean more jobs in areas that are more likely to produce positive results. Governments spend tax dollars to secure votes. There is little concern for how the dollars will seed the market. Investors don’t have the authority or power to force people to pay them if an investment doesn’t work. This means that they have to be smarter and more judicious in the way they spend their money or the money of their investors or stock holders.
When politicians “invest” poorly, they can cover their mistakes by calling for higher taxes. Since a near majority doesn’t pay any income taxes, the tax and spending politicians can almost be assured that they will have enough votes to pass such legislation. The masses may be catching on. Many are beginning to realize that when the rich don’t have extra money to spend and invest, they don’t spend and invest it. When they don’t have money to invest and spend, the non-rich lose their jobs. Everybody loses.