Taxing the rich may be popular with many Americans, but some experts warn that a proposed tax on the wealthy to pay for an overhaul of health care could be bad economic medicine.
He substantiates this by mentioning and quoting Joseph Thorndike:
Joseph Thorndike, a historian with the Tax History Project, said broadening the tax base to more Americans — though it may be less politically popular — might be better policy. In part, a broader tax could be less easy to repeal in the future.
"If you ask people to pay something then they have an ownership stake in it," Thorndike said, citing Social Security as an example. "The narrow, soak-the-rich approach is real short-sighted politics."
Thorndike is probably right. Strategically speaking, it's more sound to have everyone contribute.
But you know what, Frank? I say fuck it.
We've taxed the hell out of both the poor and middle class. The rich have had their asses carted around and treated like royalty. Only to have their banks bailed out and car companies salvaged (kinda) by the poo(er) after being mismanaged by the rich. Halliburton overcharges the governement--who get most of their money from the non-rich.
Enron and Maddoff and the like liquidate the retirement accounts of the poor and middle class. Well, really, I guess Maddoff screwed anyone he could, regardless of richness. I retract him.
So, yeah, anyway. What the hell. Let the rich pay for facilitating healthcare change. At least for a couple years.
I'm good with that.
And if/when I'm making that kind of money, I'd be happy to kick down a couple extra grand a year to help and make sure people on the street have access to care.
Are you kidding me? If this was a truly civilized society, this would not even be an issue. As Thorndike says, we'd all pay for it.
Let’s Give it a Try
In an article titled House Dems' health bill would tax rich, John Fritze of the USA TODAY writes:
He substantiates this by mentioning and quoting Joseph Thorndike:
Thorndike is probably right. Strategically speaking, it's more sound to have everyone contribute.
But you know what, Frank? I say fuck it.
We've taxed the hell out of both the poor and middle class. The rich have had their asses carted around and treated like royalty. Only to have their banks bailed out and car companies salvaged (kinda) by the poo(er) after being mismanaged by the rich. Halliburton overcharges the governement--who get most of their money from the non-rich.
Enron and Maddoff and the like liquidate the retirement accounts of the poor and middle class. Well, really, I guess Maddoff screwed anyone he could, regardless of richness. I retract him.
So, yeah, anyway. What the hell. Let the rich pay for facilitating healthcare change. At least for a couple years.
I'm good with that.
And if/when I'm making that kind of money, I'd be happy to kick down a couple extra grand a year to help and make sure people on the street have access to care.
Are you kidding me? If this was a truly civilized society, this would not even be an issue. As Thorndike says, we'd all pay for it.