It's always shocking when Democratic candidates talk about raising taxes. It's never shocking that they DO raise taxes if elected, because that's what Democrats do. It's who they are and what they stand for. John Edwards broke the pattern by saying so at the California Democratic Convention this weekend, according to Mark Z. Barabak and Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times :
Democrats opened a new divide over taxes Sunday, as former Sen. John Edwards said he would consider an added levy on businesses and individuals reaping the kind of huge financial reward enjoyed by some of the nation's wealthiest investors.
Speaking as state party activists wound down their three-day convention in San Diego, the North Carolina Democrat told reporters that "paying additional taxes, an excess-profits, excess-income tax" was a notion "worthy of consideration." He did not offer specifics.
Read the entire article at the link above. Of course Democrats will raise taxes. They are already committed to allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, which constitutes a huge tax increase already in the pipeline, but that won't begin to cover the costs of their mammoth nationalized health care proposals - not to mention the swelling of transfer payments through the thousands of existing programs which is bound to occur if Democrats control the White House as well as Congress.
They will gut defense for some of the money, as they always do, but that won't begin to feed the hungry throngs of their base constituencies, who believe they have been starved during the Bush years, their high incidence of morbid obesity notwithstanding.
Democratic tax hikes? It's guaranteed. Give Edwards credit for being somewhat honest about it - although naturally merely taxing businesses and "the rich" won't generate the kind of money these big spenders need. Don't give him too much credit, though, because he was under pressure for accepting much of his campaign money from a New York hedge fund, one of the sources of "excess income" for individuals in recent years.
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2008 Presidential Race, Democrats, Edwards, Primaries
Tags: Democrat, Edwards, presidential campaign, taxes
Comments (1)
How much income would quali... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Falze | May 1, 2007 4:02 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
How much income would qualify as 'excessive'? Who exactly will be judging the level of 'excess income'? Will it vary depending on the number of dependents? Will it vary depending on the cost of living in your particular town or even part of town (Brooklyn vs. Manhattan)? Will it vary by how much you started with - inherited vs. earned? Will it be indexed to inflation unlike the Alternative Maximum Tax? Will it be indexed to education? Will we be allowed 'excessive education' or have any reason to pursue education? If gas prices surge in the summer will we be allowed to earn more to cover that cost? Will employers, already burdened by Sarb-Ox, now have to track on a yearly/monthly/daily(?!) basis the cost of living for their employees and adjust their income in line with that (Will we even need to worry about 'excessive profits' after such a burden on businesses?)? Will democratic blowhards that channel dead babies to disastrously warp our health care system (see the result on C-sections thanks to lawyers like the baby-channeler) be exempt so they can have gigantic houses and heated swimming pools? Will rich democratic blowhards be able to buy 'excessive income offsets' by, say, paying to run a soup kitchen and health clinic in a slum so that those people (and you know who I'm talkin'bout, right, Mizz Hillary?)never have to work or have any income at all, thereby letting it all 'average out'? If heating oil goes up in the winter? What if we had enough to get by in the summer, but then the winter is really cold and we can't afford to heat our homes because we couldn't save enough for the winter? What if we create jobs by opening a second store location? Will we have to not do that to avoid 'excess profits'? Aren't we all going to be dead in a few years from 20' sea level rises and blistering temperatures anyway, especially when we have no more spotted owl or polar bears to eat? Will it vary by hardship? Who will make the determination of hardship? Will there be a new Office of Hardship Determination in government? How many people will it take to staff the OHD if nearly every American begins to file claims of hardship? How much will that cost? Will they be as effective as the current crop of, say, IRS help line operators when you call? How much will they make? If they never answer a question correctly is their income 'excessive'? If we have a medical mishap or lose a lawsuit will we be allowed to earn more in the future to cover that cost or does the doctor just lose out? Will there be some new tax schedule forms to fill out to detail just exactly how each of our earned dollars is spent to ensure that we are not earning any 'excessive' income? Is my income excessive if I can afford 'Coke' instead of store brand 'cola' every week instead of twice a year? Does it matter when there is no 'cola' to buy, let alone 'Coke'? Will I, ugh, have to drink Pepsi? Will illegal aliens be exempt from 'excessive earnings surcharges' since they clearly make too much money because they can afford to send money to their families where they came from? If illegal aliens can afford to live and buy cars and forged IDs and still send money home on what they earn, cannot everyone live on what illegal aliens make or less? What if we want to send money overseas when less fortunate countries are swept away by tsunamis - oops, sorry, no 'excess income' to send you. What if we want to buy a house? Will we be allowed to earn some 'excessive income' for a few years so we can put down 20% or will we have to settle for a no money down, 2 points above prime rate? Can we buy a 3 bedroom house if there are only a married couple? Can a married couple get a 2 bedroom apartment or would they be earning too much if they can afford more than a single? What if we want to have children? Will we be allowed to put away money for their education? Will we have to detail every penny that we put away for the education so that it is exempt from 'excessive income' taxes? What if the child is tragically killed by a drunk driver leaving high school graduation? Will the dead baby channeler show up and say that's now 'excessive income' that we didn't really need after all?
I'm just getting started...
The answers, by the way, to all these questions, is the same: 1) You will have no need nor opportunity to earn 'excessive income' in a socialist state, you will receive the same amount as everyone else according to your 'need', regardless of your effort or productivity, except for certain comrades who are more equal than others; 2) If you did not receive a satisfactory answer to your question in #1, please refer to #3; 3) Questioning of the rules will not be tolerated. Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass income on to your heirs, do not collect 'excessive income'.
Who the F*** is John Galt, Mr. Edwards?
thanks for the post, Jim, I'm putting it on my blog as well.
1. Posted by Falze | May 1, 2007 4:02 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on May 1, 2007 16:02