Leftists Admit They Want Big Tax Hikes on the Middle Class

Townhall.com ^ | August 11, 2012 | Daniel J. Mitchell

[Kaslin]

While I disagree with statists, I sometimes admire their discipline. They are very good at staying “on message.”

I am 100 percent confident, for instance, that they intend big tax hikes on the middle class, even though they would piously swear an oath to the contrary. Indeed, I suspect more than 90 percent of them secretly would like a value-added tax.

It’s not that they necessarily dislike ordinary people, but privately they understand that you can’t finance big government by taxing rich people.

Simply stated, there aren’t enough of the “1 percent.” Moreover, rich people have significant control over the timing, composition, and level of their income, so class-warfare tax hikes inevitably will fail to generate much revenue (yes, the Laffer Curve exists).

So it makes sense that they want to screw the middle class, but it’s also obvious that they don’t want to admit this is their goal. As such, it’s always interesting and revealing when folks on the left slip up and admit their true intentions.

• The New York Times endorsed higher taxes on the middle class in 2010.
• The then-House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer also gave a green light that year to higher taxes on the middle class.
• Earlier this year, MIT professor and former IMF official Simon Johnson argued that the middle class should pay more tax.

In recent days, more leftists have come out of the we-only-want-to-tax-the-rich closet.

Here’s some of what Jared Bernstein, former economist for Vice President Biden, just wrote for the U.K.’s Financial Times.

That plan will have to include tax increases beyond just the wealthiest households, although that is the right place to start. But what should happen next? …The best thing to do, once the economic recovery is solidly under way, is to simply let the Bush tax cuts expire and return to the tax structure that prevailed under Bill Clinton. …I’d urge Democrats to be forthright with the fact that we’re way below where we need to be in terms of revenue collection.

Bernstein, by the way, was a co-author of the infamous prediction that enacting Obama’s stimulus would keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent.

The Washington Post also is on board with the idea of big tax hikes on ordinary folks.

…it’s impossible to tackle the federal debt by taxing only the wealthy. …the middle class is going to have to pay more…the only way to achieve tax reform with a reasonable increase in revenue is to reset everyone’s rates at Clinton-era levels.

Keep in mind, by the way, that these proposals are just the tip of the iceberg. Once tax rates are pushed back to 2000 levels, then the drumbeat will sound for additional tax hikes.

“The middle class is an easy target”

And, sooner or later, the left will push for its big goal of a value-added tax.

This is not a trivial threat. Obama, for instance, already has expressed support, saying that the VAT is “something that has worked for other countries.” Romney’s also untrustworthy on the issue, having left the door open to this European-style national sales tax.

But the main point of this post is to explain that class-warfare taxes on the rich are a real threat, but they’re also just the camel’s nose under the tent. The left’s real goal is to fleece the middle class.

There’s no way to boost the burden of government spending to European levels without mimicking European tax policies.

And the dirty little secret about European tax policy is that taxes on the rich are about the same on both sides of the Atlantic. The reason government is so much bigger in Europe is that they ransack the middle class.

[PGalt]

Socialists admit they will plunder as many people as it takes.

“Socialism is Legal Plunder” - Frederic Bastiat 1801-1850

DEFUND socialist collectives, foreign and domestic. DEPOPULATE socialists from the body politic.

T.E.A.

live - free - republic

[GailA]

They have already taxed the middle class fixed incomes in to the poverty class...the local city gov't of Memphis is asking for a raise in sales tax and a gasoline tax. 6 months of being SLAVES to the government is no longer enough for them, they want more, so they can party, travel, steal, cheat, and enslave us even more by taking our Constitutional Rights away from us.

Not only does 0 have to be removed, but every dem who we know is crooked, stupid, and every RINO who joins them for their voting. You cannot just cut off the head, and leave the body to continue to function as usual...Gov't has become a Hydra.

Every one seems to forget this country was founded on a TAX REVOLT

[PGalt]

BUMP! GRRRRREAT post, GailA! Revolt against criminals/socialists/totalitarians!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Vintage Freeper for posting this:

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Kaslin.

[ThunderSleeps]

No tax hikes, in fact, tax cuts across the board. The government does not need any more money, period. If fact, it should probably have a lot less money under its control. The government is already far too big, doing far too many things it is not Constitutionally authorized to do, things it cannot do well nor efficiently, and things that infringe upon our freedoms and liberties.

Tax cuts, government cuts. Result, private sector growth. Oh, wait, that is expressly not what the "liberals" aka socialists want.

[ThunderSleeps]

No tax hikes, in fact, tax cuts across the board. The government does not need any more money, period. If fact, it should probably have a lot less money under its control. The government is already far too big, doing far too many things it is not Constitutionally authorized to do, things it cannot do well nor efficiently, and things that infringe upon our freedoms and liberties.

Tax cuts, government cuts. Result, private sector growth. Oh, wait, that is expressly not what the "liberals" aka socialists want.

[driftless2]

Leftists have always targeted the middle-class as well as the rich. You know what their response is when you middle-class people claim your taxes are too high? “Well,” they screech, “taxes are a lot higher in Europe.” So there. How’s that for a reasoned logical argument on why you shouldn’t complain about high taxes. I guarantee you, if Obama gets another four years, average Americans will see their tax rates go up appreciably. Obama can’t wait to start the carnage. There’s a lot of Peggy Josephs out there waiting for the manna i.e. tax-money to start falling.

[BobL]

“It’s not that they necessarily dislike ordinary people, but privately they understand that you can’t finance big government by taxing rich people.”

Unfortunately the country, as a whole, wants big government too. The Dems are merely reflecting that. Heck, half of the seniors ON THIS SITE could care less how big the government gets, or how big the debt gets, as long as their welfare programs (i.e., Social Security and Medicare) ARE NOT TOUCHED.

So, with the country (including Republicans) DEMANDING big government, I’m with the Dems now, and want those same Middle Class taxes - because the ONLY other choice is driving this country to bankruptcy while dumping even more debt on future generations...and I have kids, and hope to have grand kids, and want to leave them a country that’s in better shape than El Salvador.

[sauropod]

Great graphic. ‘Pod.

[JudgemAll]

The IRS is an extention of a big illegal extortion racket and bribing automated system.

Now they are trying to f#ck with our guns with gun legislation.

Yeah, right. F#CK YOU!!!!!!! F@@@@GS\.

[Venturer]

There are not enough rich people to support this country even if we taxed them at 100%,

50% do not pay any taxes.

WHO DOES THAT LEAVE?

You got that right Cisco.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Every one seems to forget this country was founded on a TAX REVOLT...

...and also on the tradition of a self-sufficient populace.

[RWB Patriot]

“something that has worked for other countries.”

“The question...is not whether the system works, but whether we like the way it works. Just because something works doesn’t mean it is desirable. Concentration camps work, if your purpose is to enslave people. Stealing works, if all you care about is money. Lying works, if you don’t give a damn about your personal integrity. Literally anything, no matter how monstrously immoral, will work, depending on your desires and how you define the term “work”.

Sy Leon

Something to remember whenever someone declares something good because “it works”.

[GOPJ]

Leftists have always targeted the middle-class as well as the rich. You know what their response is when you middle-class people claim your taxes are too high? “Well,” they screech, “taxes are a lot higher in Europe.”

The only good thing about Europe falling off the financial cliff is we don't have to hear how superior they are to us from our leftest friends...

[Paladin2]

I am John Galt.

[Paladin2]

"Every year, the outlaws swing out of the trees, rob the merchants and ride back to Washington D.C. for a glorious feast over the stolen goods, which they may in some small way share with a few peasants, to secure their support. "

- Sultan Knish