Guest Post: Please Know and Understand This: The Liberal’s Numbers Don’t Work!

This is a piece a friend of mine wrote. He actually reaearches while I just bloviate!!

Please Know and Understand This: The Liberal’s Numbers Don’t Work!

First, recognize that the proposed Republican plan for fiscal reform is just that – a proposal, a place to begin negotiations. It does do many things, and raising tax RATES is NOT one of them. But it does appear to raise more taxes, even initially, by BROADENING THE TAX BASE. They do want to reform the tax system. Once significant spending cuts are achieved, I’m sure that some marginal increase in rates will be negotiated.
OK, so the “most fortunate among us” pay a lot of taxes – almost the entire current tax base. Why not just expand the base – i.e. let the wealthiest still pay almost all of the taxes, but make the total tax collections much larger! Won’t that work? No! Read on!

Many of us have seen the statistical analysis which shows the absurdity of the idea that the “rich” are the real solution – even if significantly increasing the total tax base. If we took ALL of the annual income of taxpayers earning over $250,000, IT WOULDN’T EVEN COME CLOSE TO SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF OUR NATIONAL DEBT! And what would happen to the investment/capital base in this country? That scenario just wouldn’t work!!

From Economist/Educator Walter Williams – and Bill Whittle of “Real Clear Politics”:

All told, households earning $250,000 and above account for 25 percent, or $1.97 trillion, of the nearly $8 trillion of total household income. If Congress imposed a 100 percent tax, taking all earnings above $250,000 per year, it would yield the princely sum of $1.4 trillion. That would keep the government running for 141 days, but there’s a problem because there are 224 more days left in the year.

How about corporate profits to fill the gap? Fortune 500 companies earn nearly $400 billion in profits. Since leftists think profits are little less than theft and greed, Congress might confiscate these ill-gotten gains so that they can be returned to their rightful owners. Taking corporate profits would keep the government running for another 40 days, but that along with confiscating all income above $250,000 would only get us to the end of June. Congress must search elsewhere.

According to Forbes 400, America has 400 billionaires with a combined net worth of $1.3 trillion. Congress could confiscate their stocks and bonds, and force them to sell their businesses, yachts, airplanes, mansions and jewelry. The problem is that after fleecing the rich of their income and net worth, and the Fortune 500 corporations of their profits, it would only get us to mid-August.

And we still wouldn’t have put a dent in the national debt!