Tax the Rich? Maggie changed this 25 years ago
October 16th, 2008 at 11:11am Bob Trojan
Listening to Obama’s “tax the rich” scheme reminds me of 25 years ago. At that time, I had taken a job in England and Margaret Thatcher had recently become Prime Minister. She had come into office following a lengthy tour by the Labor Party who among other things had raised taxes on individuals. The more they made, the more they were taxed. Sounds good huh?
Well, I got to know many British businessmen and they were getting complacent. “Why should we work harder and make more money only to have the government take a bigger share of our earnings away from us”? The malaise that I saw in the early 1980’s was real. Until she changed all those tax handcuffs. She also made it easier for companies to become more competitive and then England began to pull out of it’s malaise and once again became more competitive in the world markets.
Reminds me of the Joe the Plumber comments…”spread it around”!
So is this the smart strategy?
Entry Filed under: Economy
4 Comments Add your own
1. gowader | October 16th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Don’t tell Obama this, he knows it all.
2. keithproctor | October 16th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Joe the Plumber’s business tax rate at $250,000 will go from 36% to 39%. He will also have no capital gains taxes, and he will receive $3000 credit for each new employee he hires. In addition, he will receive credit for half of the cost of health insurance for his employees should he wish to offer health insurance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFC9jv9jfoA
It seems after the conversation that Joe the Plumber was satisfied with what Obama said. He did not protest, he did not ask follow up questions. He shook Obama’s hand with a smile and moved on.
Then, instead of speaking up directly to Obama, Joe the Plumber speaks to Fox News:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDVM7ODUBn8
And then Joe the Plumber thinks Social Security is a joke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sx04zXISnE
It might do you and your readers well to see what CNNMoney has to say about Obama’s taxes and Joe the Plumber’s situation.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/15/smallbusiness/small_biz_taxes_factcheck.smb/index.htm
3. Bob Trojan | October 16th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Thanks for your response, I’m sure the principal I quoted from England started to creep up over time until it got to the level I indicated. Here’s another issue:
DIrect Quote from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/16/joe.plumber/index.html
“Obama explained his tax plan in depth to Wurzelbacher, saying it’s better to lower taxes for Americans who make less money so they can afford to patronize his business.
“I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody,” Obama told Wurzelbacher.
At the debate, McCain said Obama’s plan would give the government the power to redistribute wealth by raising taxes. ”
If this isn’t Socialism, I don’t know what is!
4. keithproctor | October 18th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Socialism in America is:
The federal employees health care system (Congress, et al)
The entire VA system
Medicare
Medicaid
Continuing corporate welfare (corporatism)
The recent $700 billion bailout
The $25 billion to the auto industry
The 1.5 billion to the auto industry in 1980 ($4 bil in today’s $)
Per McCain, Obama’s tax plan
Per independent economists, McCain’s health plan
http://www.propublica.org/special/government-bailouts
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