by T Nelson

High Taxes Benefit the Rich

e're always being told that raising taxes on the “rich” (which, in practice, means everyone who actually has any money) is a great way of eliminating inequality. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that everything we know about macroeconomics is wrong, and eliminating inequality is a actually a desirable goal. Is it actually true?

Money is power. But it's only power if it's used—that is, if you plan to spend it. Rich people have bigger a say in government because they pay more taxes. The top 1% now pay 40% of the income tax revenue—the equivalent of 3.75% of GDP. That's a huge amount. The more they pay, the more the government comes to depend on it. Having someone dependent on you is the same as having power over them.

If you have two rich people and one of them donates to a nonprofit, which of them has more clout? The nonprofit treats the donor like a king, but only if the donor can give them money. Once that stops, the donor's name is pasted on a wall plaque somewhere, and their only power is to be used as an example to lure and ensnare others.

Nonprofits give potential donors food, wine, free balloons, and confetti. Just think how much confetti we'd get if the government had to ask us for money. We get none, of course, and no balloons either, because they have the power to take it by force, so they do. But those who have money have more influence, not because they're rich, but because they can find ways to stop the government from taking it. They could move to another country, or stop making money altogether, or even burn it.

The more progressive taxes are, the more power flows to the rich. But the more they pay, the more the government depends on them. This is especially true of city and state governments. If the rich threaten to move away, it's not just the abstract threat of maybe fewer jobs. It's direct: less tax revenue, so less money to spend on programs to keep the people subservient.

Maybe that's why all these mega-rich Hollywood types are always begging the government to raise their taxes. It's not because they're a bunch of airheads. Well, not just that. It also makes them more important. But science has shown that having too big an ego causes high cholesterol and leads to bad hair. Cases in point: Michael Moore and Donald Trump.

Conversely, those who pay no taxes—the poor—become less important, and more of a liability. Ask your CEO what happens to an employee who produces nothing but still sucks up a salary. They are eliminated. Likewise, aside from their votes, poor people have no value to the government, and their only future is to be crumpled up and thrown away. The government has lots of bean-counters, and eventually they'll decide to “cut costs.” Maybe they can't fire you, or convert you to biofuel ... yet ... but they've got to be thinking it. If you're poor, you've got to be feeling it.

The only way to make our system truly democratic, to spread the power evenly, short of eradicating the Federal monstrosity, is with a flat tax. That won't happen as long as the Keynesianistas maintain their death grip on America's economic policy. But if you really want to screw the rich, as the Democrats say they want to do, the best way is to cut taxes to the bone ... and, counterintuitive as it may seem, get as many people as possible off welfare and back to being productive.

Thanks to welfare, the poor are no longer free. They are in chains because the man from the government came and was there to help. Now they must do whatever the government tells them, for fear of losing their benefits. If the government pays them not to work, they dare not work. They dare not learn a new skill, for fear that it might lead to work and loss of their benefits. If the government offers them free benefits, they dare not pass them up.

Here is an example. Last month a homeless guy found $850, and turned it in to the police. As a result, his services and Medicaid were cut off because he didn't report the income. This is how the poor live. The government has poor people by the balls, and it's not about to let go, because it derives much of its power by ensuring that they remain powerless and poor.

And making us powerless is really what Obamacare is all about. If the government can tell you which doctors you're allowed to see, they can control where you live. For sure they can tell you what to eat. They're already banning trans-fats. High-fructose corn syrup is next. Eventually they'll ban cholesterol as well, not caring that low cholesterol causes depression. You will eat carrots, and you will like them. Look for a big study to come out someday saying that living in a big house in the suburbs and driving a SUV is bad for your health.

Of course, even before Obamacare all you needed to get a free colonoscopy was to let them think you're smuggling drugs. The Feds are probably thinking: what a great idea. Eventually we'll probably get all our medical care from TSA agents. We're seeing it already. Okay now, sir, do you smoke, wear seat belts, or get beaten up a lot by your wife? Have you ever committed rape, murder, or genocide? (This latter was an actual question from an immigration form that we had a few years ago. Yes, I used to work for the Dark Side. As far as I know, no one ever checked that box.)

You have an illegal brain tumor, ma'am. Your operation is scheduled for six years from today at nine o'clock. Turn your head, sir, empty your pockets, and cough. Have you ever been a member of a Christian church, the Rotary Club, Boy Scouts, Tea Party, or any other subversive organization? Okay, second door to your right, marked “disintegration chamber.” Move along. Next!

And we'll put up with that, just as today's poor put up with having their ambition crushed by those laconic folks and their piles of forms at the welfare office. Eventually, we'll all be on welfare. It won't be so funny to watch Donald Trump fill out a Housing Choice Voucher Program form, or Michael Moore filling out a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program form to get his EBT card. Or maybe it will. Unfortunately, we'll all probably be too depressed, due to low cholesterol levels, to laugh.