The new war cry from the powers that be: “We will pay for $635 billion in extra heath care spending and lower the deficit at the same time by taxing the rich.”
So, exactly who are those rich folks? Anyone who makes more than $250,000 a year; nice number to pick. Don’t get excited though; when the “Make Work Pay” thing came out, it was intended to be for everyone making less than $250,000 a year but ended up being set at $150,000 for couples and $75,000 for singles. Taxes do trickle down.
Let’s take a closer look inside the numbers. The top 2% in income, those folks making $250,000 and up, currently pay 62% of the taxes. You have 35% or thereabouts who pay no taxes, and some of them not only get back the money they paid in, but they also get extra money that you and I paid in. Better yet, even if the nice folks at the IRS took every taxable dime of the top 2%, the total wouldn’t come anywhere close to covering this big, new speeding spree.
So basically what we have here is a nice sop to the class warfare/soak-the-rich trend that seems to be on the upswing. It is also important to note that many small business owners file as individual tax payers so those folks who provide JOBS are getting hit as well.
Another important note: with the economy the way it is, there are quite a few folks now earning less than $250,000. The really big money guys have their money nicely socked away where it won’t be touched. Believe me, you will not see Pelosi’s very wealthy hubby, the Kennedys, the Kerrys, et al paying out one extra dime. Plenty on the other side of the political aisle won’t be paying anything extra either, but those aren’t the ones who want to raise taxes. It is sorta like the death tax; Kennedy & Co. yell about it being perks for the rich, yet all their property/money is tied up in trusts so they don’t pay any anyway (and from the way things are going, wouldn’t even if it wasn’t). So who gets hammered? Farmers (and I’m not talking about the big agri-guys but the family farmer) who have a chunk of land, or the small business owner.
Now I don’t really care where those folks have their money stashed to protect it, or even that they have the money. It is the hypocrisy, the sheer gall to insult my intelligence by using this soak-the-rich crap for my “benefit”, when they aren’t getting the least bit damp.
Cough it up, boys and girls. You lions for the “little people”.