I just wanted to take this opportunity to apologize to Thomas Sowell, for calling him a racist.<div><br></div><div>And before I forget, I'd like to apologize to everyone else that I've called a racist previous to this, like Mr. Keim who did nothing wrong other than make an unrelated post on Vision 2020 and I attacked him. Someone help me, please!<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 2:58 AM, No Weatherman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:no.weatherman@gmail.com">no.weatherman@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Taxing Times<br>
The economy is not a zero-sum game where someone gains what others lose.<br>
By Thomas Sowell<br>
<br>
Chief Justice John Marshall said it all in one sentence: "The power to<br>
tax is the power to destroy."<br>
<br>
It is not the money that is taxed away that is destroyed. What is<br>
destroyed is the wealth that does not get produced in the first place,<br>
because high taxes make its production not worthwhile.<br>
<br>
Those who are receptive to Senator Barack Obama's plan to increase<br>
taxes on "the rich" seem not to understand that the issue is the<br>
nation's loss of wealth. Today, wealth can leave the country when<br>
heavy taxes threaten it — instantly, in an age of electronic financial<br>
transfers — and create jobs and economic growth overseas, instead of<br>
at home.<br>
<br>
The two months between the time of a presidential election and the<br>
time when the new president takes office is an eternity in terms of<br>
how much money can be transferred out of the country electronically<br>
before any new high-tax laws can be enacted.<br>
<br>
Like so much that is said glibly by Barack Obama, raising taxes on<br>
"the rich" has serious — and potentially disastrous — implications for<br>
the whole country that have been ignored amid the political euphoria.<br>
<br>
Moreover, like so much that is proposed under the magic mantra of<br>
"change," it is something that has been tried before in many countries<br>
and failed before in many countries.<br>
<br>
Much wealth from Third World countries flows out to richer countries<br>
like Switzerland or the United States, where it is safer from<br>
confiscation. Jack up the capital-gains tax rate in the U.S. and more<br>
Americans can be expected to send their capital elsewhere.<br>
<br>
That means sending jobs elsewhere, so that even people with no capital<br>
to invest lose employment opportunities.<br>
<br>
Economists have trouble determining how many people are affected by a<br>
tax increase because those affected extend far beyond those who write<br>
the checks to pay the government.<br>
<br>
Taxes on businesses can get passed along to consumers, in whole or in<br>
part, even though it is only the business that writes the check to the<br>
government.<br>
<br>
Payroll taxes or government-mandated employee benefits may be paid for<br>
directly by the employer, but these costs reduce the value of an<br>
employee to the employer. If these costs add up to $10,000, for<br>
example, employers bidding for labor may bid $10,000 less in salary<br>
than they would have otherwise.<br>
<br>
As in other cases, who writes the checks does not tell you who really<br>
pays the costs, since the worker is now $10,000 worse off. The idea<br>
that you can single out one segment of society to be taxed or<br>
mandated, for the benefit of the rest of society, is reminiscent of a<br>
San Francisco automobile dealer's sign: "We cheat the other guy and<br>
pass the savings on to you."<br>
<br>
The economy is not a zero-sum game where someone gains what others<br>
lose. The whole economy can lose when ill-considered policies gain<br>
political popularity and stifle economic growth.<br>
<br>
People who do not own a single share of corporate stock can still lose<br>
big time when capital gains taxes are raised — not only because jobs<br>
can follow capital out of the country, but also because millions of<br>
working people's pension plans own corporate stock, and those people's<br>
retirement incomes will depend on the value of those stocks, which is<br>
reduced by capital-gains taxes.<br>
<br>
One of the biggest taxes is one that is not even called a tax:<br>
inflation. When the government spends money that it creates, it is<br>
transferring part of the value of your money to themselves. It is<br>
quiet taxation but often heavy taxation, falling on everyone, no<br>
matter how low their incomes might be.<br>
<br>
By the end of the 20th century, a $100 bill could not buy as much as a<br>
$20 bill would have bought in the middle of that century. For people<br>
who saved cash, inflation amounted to an 80-percent tax. For others,<br>
it was an 80-percent tax minus whatever cumulative interest or<br>
dividends they received on the money they invested.<br>
<br>
Given the staggering cost of the government's financial bailouts,<br>
there is no way that Barack Obama's grandiose spending plans can be<br>
carried out without inflation.<br>
<br>
When politicians start talking about taxing "the rich," remember the<br>
old saying: "Send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for<br>
thee."<br>
— Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.<br>
(c) 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.<br>
<a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWRjMjIxMDE4NGRmZDdmMDE0OGEwZmZmMjI5ZGZiZTg=" target="_blank">http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWRjMjIxMDE4NGRmZDdmMDE0OGEwZmZmMjI5ZGZiZTg=</a><br>
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</blockquote></div><br></div>