“The
wealthy are getting bigger tax breaks,” Democrats incessantly howl. Or, “The
wealthy are poised to receive larger tax refunds than the less fortunate.” The
proper response to these inane assertions would be, “Yes, and do you know why
that is? It's because they pay more in taxes. In fact, by some measures, the
top 1% of income earners pay nearly 40% of the federal income taxes.” The
bottom half of income earners, or non-income earners, pay virtually no federal
taxes at all.
This
is as if progressives would be pissed off if somebody who spent $1000 at
Menards got more money back via the company’s 11% rebate then somebody who
spent $10 at Menards. That would be insane. Should we go to a progressive
rebate structure, too, based on one’s income level? Those on the left would
probably say yes. But, again, most wealthy people already pay far more in taxes
via our “progressive” tax rate than do those less well-heeled. And that
discrepancy doesn't even take into account the myriad other income transfer
programs and schemes for which someone other than the recipients must pay. Nor
does it consider or reflect the inconceivably vast levels of Democrat
corruption and fraud-- or the related billions of dollars in freebies for
illegal aliens that must either explode the debt or be paid for by higher
income earners. To wit, Elon Musk recently claimed that he has paid over $10
billion in cumulative taxes as the most soaked individual taxpayer in
history.
As
California, among other states, is poised to find out, if you punish the talented,
productive and job-producing, you will be left with the incompetent, shiftless,
and welfare-addicted. And you sentence your state—and its residents-- to a
dismal and dystopian future.
In a
related story, new New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised his constituents “free”
buses. And the city’s first “Free”
Grocery Store just opened. Fox News reported that “hundreds
of New Yorkers queued up outside a pop-up shop offering free
groceries.”
But
how can anything be truly free? Will farmers donate their produce? Will
shipping and packaging be done for free? Are store employees willing to work
for nothing? (Hell, they’re barely willing to work for good wages.) So, in the
end, guess who pays? Guess who always pays?
Looks
like we’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do. Okay, Democrats, for there to be a
product or service that some people “are not paying for,” others would have to
not be paid for their labor. Of course, this cannot be the case, at least at
scale. So, what people mean when they say something is free, is that others
must be made to pay for it. And when some people are made to pay more and more
for things that are provided to other people for free, they will naturally do
the logical thing and flee that state or municipality, taking their
productivity-- and money-- with them. This is doubly bad for the state from
which they fled. But, a large, and apparently growing, percentage of the
populace either doesn't understand the connection, or doesn't care as long as
they can get free stuff, provided by others. These are not the “moral” people
that John Adams and the other founders were Speaking of, as regards the Constitution.
When
government demonizes the most productive segment of the population and confiscates
ever more of its money, those in that population tend to try to protect themselves
and their families’ financial future. Surprise! Who woulda thunk?
But
so-called progressives live in an alternate “reality,” albeit one that can
never become real. At some point, Atlas Shrugs.
And
with him go the rest of us.
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