Economics

Rich People Fleeing the Country and High Taxing States

Money is a coward. It goes where it won’t be assaulted. Our government is not making money safe for doing business, so many Americans are taking their money overseas. “Denise Rich, the songwriter and socialite who was once married to pardoned financier Marc Rich, has given up her U.S. citizenship, a move that could also help shield her from future U.S. taxes.”

You may recall that on the last day of his presidency Bill Clinton pardoned her former husband who had been indicted in the United States on federal charges of tax evasion and illegally making oil deals with Iran during the Iran hostage crisis. Liberals may be unethical, but they’re not stupid.

When 51 percent of the people in the United States don’t pay income taxes and tens of millions rely on government wealth transfer payments, it’s no wonder that money looks for safer havens. It’s being assaulted. If such assaults continue, the engine that is keeping the US economy moving will no longer have the fuel to move.

It doesn’t help that employment numbers look dismal, an indicator that American business is suffering.

The economy created 80,000 jobs in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. In contrast, 85,000 workers left the workforce to enroll in the Social Security Disability Insurance program that same month, according to the Social Security Administration.

The temptation to reverse the low employment trend is to raise taxes to pay for more services demanded by the unemployed and underemployed. This is happening in states like New York and Maryland and is having unintended consequences. Consider Maryland:

“A new report says wealthy Maryland residents may be moving out due to recent tax hikes – a finding that is sure to escalate the battle over taxing the American rich.

“The study, by the anti-tax group Change Maryland, says that a net 31,000 residents left the state between 2007 and 2010, the tenure of a ‘millionaire’s tax’ pushed through by Gov. Martin O’Malley. The tax, which expired in 2010, imposed a rate of 6.25 percent on incomes of more than $1 million a year.

“The Change Maryland study found that the tax cost Maryland $1.7 billion in lost tax revenues. A county-by-county analysis by Change Maryland also found that the state’s wealthiest counties also had some of the largest population outflows.”

Prosperous people are voting with their feet. It’s no wonder that low-tax states have the lower unemployment rates.

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