It's getting rather tiresome to hear the same old chanting from the left, the liberals and the free-spending politicians -- "Tax the rich! Tax the rich!"
I've got a better mantra for you. How about "It's not my money"?
Aren't you a little ashamed of the self-demeaning characteristic of being jealous or envious of those people who have worked hard, sacrificed or had good fortune?
Are you also envious of people who have nicer homes, drive nicer cars and take better vacations? It's time to focus more on yourself and stop being so bitter. I know lots of entrepreneurs who have sacrificed, taken risks and who have succeeded and yes, some who have failed. I, for one, look up to those individuals.
Sure, you can think of an example where it seems a person who is undeserving of the wealth he or she possesses. Take, for example, Paris Hilton. Sure, she is a bubblehead. She didn't even graduate from high school; she dropped out her junior year. Sure, she contributes nothing of any worth to society. But it still has nothing to do with you. She was just fortunate to be born with the right last name.
But for every Paris Hilton there are thousands of individuals who have worked hard and made sound choices to get where they are today, and yes, have probably accumulated a sizeable amount of wealth as a result. Good for them.
Who are you to decide how much that person should earn or how much you think he or she should be allowed to accumulate or inherit? Well, you say, "the rich can afford to pay more." That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Take Bill Gates, for example. Yes, he is worth a lot, but do any of you have any idea of the size of the industry he created, the number of jobs and the amount of wealth he is responsible for? I thought America was supposed to be the land of opportunity. Maybe Mr. Gates shouldn't pay any taxes at all. And look at all the good things he does for charity, education and other such causes.
Even though the statistics will fall on deaf, liberal, leftist ears, they are worth repeating. The top 1 percent are responsible for 38.2 percent of all personal income taxes paid (tax year 2008 statistics). The top 5 percent pay a total of 58.72 percent. Isn't that enough?
On the other hand, the bottom 50 percent of AGI taxpayers pay only 2.7 percent of the total. Should they decide how much someone else should pay? They are getting all the freedoms, all the liberties, and all the opportunities available in this great country of ours and are paying a ridiculously small amount or nothing for these privileges. I'll say it again; stop being envious.
You don't think the federal government taking 35 percent of every dollar earned is enough? Come on, folks, get real, that's enough. As a matter of fact, it's way too much.
The problem is on the spending side of the equation. Hopefully, with the new Congress and the 2012 elections coming up in less than two years, we can put a stop to the spending hemorrhaging going on that the current administration and Congress is responsible for. For the next two years I will be proud to be the party of "no" if it means stopping the Obama socialist free-spending, big-government agenda dead in its tracks.
One more tiresome issue. I can take a second-grader and tell him that tax rates are going to be the same this year as they were the previous year. He certainly wouldn't see that as a tax cut for the rich. And the libs say these "tax cuts" will create an additional $700 billion deficit in our budgets. Only the mind of a leftist liberal thinks this way. The problem is that the Democrat-controlled Congress has spent the money before the issue was resolved.
I wish I had enough space to talk about the equally ridiculous notion of taxing the rich, mean corporations. Who do you think ends up paying all the corporation taxes? You do.
It has been estimated that 22 percent of the price we pay for consumer products represents embedded taxes. Our corporate tax rates are already among the highest in the industrial world. Corporations aren't relocating overseas because of greed. The government's burdensome regulations, unions and high tax rates are chasing them away. Come on, libs, think before you speak. Get on The Right Side.
Tom Sears is a local professor of accounting in Oneonta. He can be reached at searsthomas16@gmail.com. His column appears every other week. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/tomsears.
Columns
Related Photos
-
Tom Sears
Discussion
Welcome to our story comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including the unpopular ones. We only ask that you keep your conversations clean, civil and on the topic of the story you are commenting on.
Coinciding with our websites redesign, we launched our new story comments feature through Disqus.
Disqus gives users the ability to log into our story comments feature so that they may be able to track their conversations, receive emails when their comments get a reply or to even have your comments update onto your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
For the time being, our story comments feature will continue to have the ability to post comments anonymously. We reserve the right to require registration in the future using your name and verified email address.
Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified at the newspaper’s discretion for a number of different reasons. Please follow our Online Rules of Conduct at all times.
RULES OF CONDUCT:
We reserve the right to remove comments that are unacceptable, to wit:
1. False and inacurate statements.
2. Personal attacks. Explicit name-calling.
3. Harassing, harmful, vulgar, obscene and defamatory language.
4. Threatening statements or statements that suggest violence.
5. Hate speech of any kind.
6. Intolerant comments on religion, race, age, gender, sexual preference or disabilities.
7. Accusations of criminal activity.
8. Content that is harmful to children and minors in any way.
9. References to any type of sexual activity and other private matters.
10. Random and inflammatory statements that are off topic.
11. Advertising of any kind.
12. Typing in all caps.
WE ENCOURAGE REASONABLE AND COURTEOUS COMMENTS THAT:
1. Create conversation on issues of interest and concern to fellow readers and local community members.
2. Express opinions and contrarian views.
3. Stimulate debate with respectful language.
4. Stay within the boundaries of these rules.
WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SUSPEND OR TERMINATE ACCESS FOR:
1. Violating any of these Online Rules of Conduct.
2. Deliberately disrupting discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or spam.
3. Misrepresentation of identity or impersonating another user.
WE WELCOME:
1. Flagging violations of these rules that you observe to our attention.
MONITORING:
We monitor comments regularly Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Approval of comments outside of this time (including weekends) will be sporadic.
On the Right Side: Taxing the rich a poor idea
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
- Cary Brunswick
-
-
Some wisdom is best passed down through books
I was visiting a friend out-of-town recently and the subject of providing a "reading list" to young people came up in conversation. He said years ago he had asked a respected acquaintance in Oneonta to compile such a list for his teenage daughter, to help her be better prepared for life, culture, education, politics and people.
Continued ... - Let pragmatism, not politics, determine birth control debate
- As Center Street Elementary goes, so goes Center City
- U.S. intervention in Syria's uprising would be a gamble
- Santorum, Obama both got it wrong on Honduras
-
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
-
-
If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
In Otsego County’s local elections last fall, a number of candidates — most of them on the independent Sustainable Otsego line — ran on an anti-fracking, pro-sustainability platform. They recognized that our current way of life — dependent on increasingly scarce, costly and polluting fossil fuels — cannot continue.
Continued ... - Time to get off the bus and on the computer
- Cuomo's Machiavellian maneuvers are a danger
- Home rule laws aren't a radical idea
- Sustainable shouldn't be a dirty word
-
If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
- Lisa Miller
-
-
Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
Continued ... - Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
- Untethered from the cable box
-
Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Mark Simonson
-
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
Continued ...
100 Years Ago - Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
- Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
- Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
- Rick Brockway
-
-
Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
OUTDOORS COLUMN BY RICK BROCKWAY ... Last week, my friend George and I returned to the Gunks for another rock-climbing adventure. After last week's column, I asked about the rattlesnakes and was told not to worry. Rattlers are usually quite timid and will avoid people as much as possible. It's the copperheads that'll give you trouble. They're aggressive and will stand their ground to defend it. Oh great!!
- Rattlesnakes may be closer than you think, so pay attention
- Spring is here, so fishing should pick up soon
- Sneaky fox may be the next animal looking to horse around
- Pass down the rush of turkey hunting to your kids this weekend
-
Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
- Sam Pollak
-
-
I'm happy with our kids to a certain degree
It was several years ago, and I was in the kitchen, telling my eldest daughter and my then-teenaged son about the person who was taking over as publisher at The Daily Star.
Continued ... - I get by with a little help from my 'friends'
- It’s not easy for a politics junkie to get off the stuff
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica in print, unmourned by me
- Angelo Dundee was always a good man to have in your corner
-
- William Masters
-
-
Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
Richard Lugar, after six terms as a Republican senator -- known for his middle of the road rationality and his foreign policy finesse -- has been ousted by a Tea Party extremist backed by outside right-wing funding.
-
War not worth gambling with lives of soldiers
Are you not tired of our war in Afghanistan? It had a point, once, after 9/11. Bush couldn't distinguish his myopic personal agendas from the nation's needs and let Osama escape, dropping the ball entirely, causing many deaths.
-
Titanic was a microcosm of U.S. economic disparity
Haunting reminders of the Titanic tragedy have wafted over us with the centenary of its sinking. The maiden voyage of an impressive, state of the art vessel, was a little like that of the Challenger space shuttle, at the cutting edge of developing technology. But the shuttle carried our pride in science and space exploration, not hundreds and hundreds of people.
-
William Masters: Nation stands divided between 'us' and 'them'
In February, Trayvon Martin was shot dead as "suspicious" by a volunteer neighborhood watch man. The case has aroused community reaction in Sanford, Fla., and is still echoing across the country.
-
A quarterback can't win the game alone
What is the relationship between democracy and wealth? Democracy is a political system, while wealth relates to economics. We have equal political rights, but we don't all have money. Extreme differences destroy the continuity of community solidarity.
-
Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
