Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Obama's Tax Spree: Economic Scorched Earth

The indispensable opinion page of the WSJ continues to warn of the danger to our Republic's pursuit of happiness posed by promises of higher taxes.

Tallied, Obama's tax-the-rich proposals would push the top marginal rate close to 2/3. That means that those with money to invest in greater economic productivity would be de-incentivized to the point that they'd keep just over a third of what their productivity earned.

"Tax shelter" was a widely used word in the 1970s, when inflation and unemployment had highs that paralleled marginal tax rates. Folks with dough spent their time protecting it from Washington's robber barons rather than finding ways to invest it for greater returns and greater public benefit. We fear that this miserable phrase will return to common usage when the politics of envy has its day again.

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