Taxed to Death

Certain Senate Democrats have been holed up this week brainstorming on ways to tax Americans to pay for the proposed government-provided healthcare program. They seem to like this “tax surcharge” on higher income earners the best, but have also considered taxes on employer provided healthcare (meaning employers subsidize healthcare insurance for people that DON’T work for them) and even taxes on “sugary” drinks!

Many have referred to the Obama administration as a “Tax and Spend” government. I think the order is wrong - really I see it as more of a “Spend and Tax” administration. That is – spend, spend, spend, and then figure out how we are going to pay for it. Well, we all know who is going to pay for it – those who are already taxed to death. The administration just cannot decide which of these folks' pockets it is going to pick.

Here are some staggering statistics, based upon the 2006 tax year. The bottom half – yes half - of earners in this country only paid 2.99% of the taxes. The bottom 75% of earners footed only a paltry 13.73% of total taxes. During the AIG bonus debacle, I always got a kick out of the protestors claiming “that’s my money – those are my tax dollars.” Well, not really… most of them don’t really pay taxes; little if any. The top 1% of earners pay a staggering 40% of all taxes, and the top 5% pay a whopping 60% of all taxes! So whose money is it really anyway?

Could you imagine dining at a restaurant serving 100 customers, eating the same pasta, the same salad, and drinking the same ice tea, and when the bill comes 5 individuals over at a small table in the corner had to pay 60% of EVERYONE'S bill? Then, to a round of cheers, the restaurant decides that going forward everyone should have appetizers, dessert, and wine too?

It is time to cut spending in our government and for this administration to quit acting like a college student with his first credit card. Unless we want this recession to worsen, or for recovery to be prolonged a decade or more, it is time for the nonsense to stop.