Of all of the political insanity that comes from DC, nothing is more dishonest and wrong than the notion that millionaires are “getting away” with a low tax rate or that they aren’t paying their “fair share”. The rich pay a much, much higher tax rate than the middle class.
Of course, Obama isn’t campaigning with economic facts, because dishonesty has always been the politician’s best political weapon. This eternal law of politics has always been true and always will be true. That’s why politicians have built a reputation for dishonesty — it’s in their self-interest to lie.
For example, Barack Obama just a few days ago explained that the rich weren’t paying much in taxes, pointing out that Romney was only taxed at “14%”, and then pointed out how this was evidence that we need to increase taxes on the rich — presumably referring to the “Buffett Rule”. He then explained:
“If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes.”
Aside from the fact that no one should have a third of their income stolen from them — not the rich, the middle class or the poor — the president is surrounded by enough tax experts to know that he’s essentially lying to the American people. He’s betting on the fact that Americans will be too ignorant of economics to have any idea why the rich aren’t really being taxed at 15%.
Double Taxation: How the Rich are Taxed at over 50%
It’s called “double taxation” — even though it should probably be called triple taxation. The low tax rate that millionaires get is from income from capital gains and dividends. Essentially all of that comes from investments like the stock market — in other words, corporations or privately owned businesses.
The rich are paying more like 50-75%. The reason is simple… there are more than one layer of taxes to most of the “low-tax rate” incomes of the rich. Here’s what they are:
- Corporate Taxes. The corporate tax rate for most corporations is roughly 35%.
- Dividend Taxes. The dividend tax is 15%. This is from dividends already taxed at the corporate level.
- Death Taxes. The death tax is roughly 45%. The poor don’t get a death tax.
In other words, if a man owns a company that made some profit, he starts with 100%. After corporate taxes, he’s left with 65%. After dividend taxes, he’s left with 55.25%.
If you want to get even more realistic, don’t forget about what happens to money that isn’t spent… after the death tax, his estate is then left with roughly 25% of what he earned. That’s insanity.
Note that this is just the federal tax. State income taxes, local sales taxes, property taxes, fees, and paying accountants and CPAs all chisel even more from the incomes of everyone.
Of course, there are plenty of tax breaks — but the middle class also qualifies for tax breaks, and most of the poor don’t even pay income taxes after everything is said and done. But overall, the rich are paying a far higher rate.
Fair Share? BS. They Aren’t After “Fair” Anything.
Barack Obama isn’t trying to increase taxes on the rich to help the poor, because he couldn’t care less. Obama gave less than 1% of his income to charity when he made $1,200,000 between 2000 and 2004. Less than 1%. Heck, most people in the middle class give more than that amount and they’re certainly not making hundreds of thousands per year.
Obama is like most leftists. He doesn’t give a damn about helping others. His actions show it. He’s all about increasing the size of government control over people’s lives. If liberty is good, then Obama is evil — for the exact same reasons liberty is good.
It’s not about fairness. If it was, they’d be trying to make the tax code equal — not different for different incomes or professions. If the tax code was equal, then the rich would pay more in proportion to how much more they make — that’s fairness. And leftists hate that idea.
Why This is Evil
This is evil for several reasons, each just as bad as the others — and each just as important during our current economy. Here they are:
- Lying to Americans. The president knows what “double taxation” is. It’s one of the most basic principles that tax attorneys and accountants have to study. Anyone who understands economics knows that dividends and capital gains are taxed lower for a reason — they shouldn’t be taxed twice at all. Yet the president still lies to the American people for the sake of class warfare.
- Unequal Under the Law. The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law to everyone — and that includes the rich. That people find it difficult to care about protecting the constitutional rights of someone because they happen to be wealthy is a great sign of what’s wrong with society. This isn’t envy — it’s just plain resentment, and that’s even worse than envy.
- Destroying the Productive. Steve Jobs did more for the world than Barack Obama could ever do, and he did it in business and innovation, not politics. That’s why he was in the 1%. Obama and the other rich politicians? Almost all of them are rich because they’re leaching off the rest of society. That’s why politicians who support large governments often support harvesting the rich on the alter of statism.
- Hurting the Economy. Raising taxes anytime is a horrible idea. Raising them during a bad economy is close to treason. It’ll hurt everyone, because less money will be in the economy. When the government taxes, it wastes — which means it takes huge portions of the money and essentially burns it. Sometimes literally blowing up property in other countries. Government is waste, by nature.
The President is a Liar
Of course, this leads us to an important question… why is the president lying to us? Simple. He’s trying to change the focus from being about fixing the economy to making it about economic class warfare. He doesn’t stand a chance if we judge him on the basis of the economy, because he’s made it worse.
- Unemployment is higher than when he took office.
- Regulations are higher than when he took office.
- Taxes are higher than when he took office.
- Spending is through the roof since he took office.
- Debt is astronomical.
- Our credit rating is shot.
You know how Bush was horrible for the economy? That’s why Obama is worse, because everything Bush did, Obama has done worse. If you hated Bush, you should feel the same way about Obama.
The facts are clear: Barack Obama is a failed president. He has failed to do what he promised for the economy.
And that’s why the president is making up fake statistics about the rich. He’s lying about the economy for political gain — just like politicians have always done and will always do. Hope and change? Give me a break. I want lower spending and taxes — I don’t care if it’s easy to chant at a political rally or not.
It’s election season. If you’re tired of Obama lying to the American people, click the “share” button below. It’ll help us and hurt him — and it doesn’t get much better than that.
For over a century, leftists have used the word “capitalism” as a type of curse word, the cause of all economic ills. “Oh, well that’s capitalism for you”, they’ll mutter when they read a story that involves anything economically negative. They see “capitalism” as a system where the rich wage war on the poor, or where corporations use the government to trample the rights of minorities and the defenseless.
One of the great tragedies of history is how many “followers” of Jesus Christ have all but rejected his peaceful teachings for a violent religion that bears no resemblance to His real teachings.
