Taxation

A local paper recently featured an Opinion Letter from a reader who seemed to be suggesting that the rich ought to be taxed based on their net worth. Now there is a lovely thought. The so called rich already pay for everything - as follows; the top earning 5% of tax payers provide 60% of all income tax receipts and the top 40% pay 99% of tax receipts. The bottom half pay nothing and a large portion of those actually get checks for Earned Income Tax Credits (welfare as a reverse tax). So how shall we tax net worth?

• Forced sale of a portion of their investments?
• Forced downsizing of homes over prescribed standards? (a home market killer)
• Auction their collectibles and valuables?
• Allow only Chevy Malibus and outlaw BMWs?
• Place an arbitrary limit on Net Worth with anything over going to the feds?
• For those whose earnings come solely from invested assets shall we confiscate a portion every April and consign them to diminishing income as a result?
• And, lastly, what do we do about the colossal drop in tax revenues that will result?

Such a scheme would have Marx & Lenin celebrating in their graves and Fidel Castro would want to live a few more years just to see the American economy fall to the same level that is enjoyed by Cubans.