It plays well to say that some hedge fund guru who makes $ 100 million per year should pay higher taxes. Who can't sympathize with the view?
But, of course, that is never what is actually proposed by the Obama folks.
Instead the "tax on millionaires and billionaires" is aimed at the very large group of Americans who make far less than a million dollars per year. The Obama "tax on the rich" aims it's bazooka at Americans who make $ 250,000 or more. How did that group get labeled "millionaires and billionaires?"
There are a lot more families with income between $ 250,000 and $ 1,000,000 than families with income above $ 1,000,000, so Obama's plan is to soak the folks that aren't millionaires and billionaires, but, perhaps, aspire to be. Worse, anyone aspiring to join the $ 250,000 plus crowd should take note. This bazooka is aimed at your economic future.
No point in starting that new business or hire that extra employee! The President is your new future partner and is planning to sell you a new "protection" scheme on your future income, reminiscent of Al Capone days, by taking a higher percentage of that future. Can't increase the number of millionaires and billionaires, can we? Heaven forbid!
This is the same rhetoric that recently led France to adopt a 75 percent tax rate on "millionaires and billionaires." The few such people remaining in France are planning their move to Luxembourg, Monaco, or Switzerland. Why remain in a country that doesn't want you?
The "fairness" argument put forward by Obama is really a direct attack on the very idea of free markets and property rights. The middle class gets its largest boosts in wealth and income when the economy grows and "fairness" takes a back seat to economic growth. Emphasizing "fairness" is a ticket to economic stagnation with an ultimate destination of modern Greece.
