October 31, 2008

Spreading the Wealth and Killing the Goose

By Gregory V. Helvering
Larry King:  Concerning spreading the wealth, isn't the graduated income tax spreading the wealth? ....Senator McCain:  Well, that's spreading the wealth in the respect that we do have a graduated income tax.  That's a far cry from taking from one group of Americans and giving to another.  I mean, that's dramatically different.  - "Larry King Live," October 29, 2008John McCain put his finger on an important point:  we currently have an extraordinarily progressive income tax, which requires the wealthy (and the relatively wealthy) to bear virtually the entire burden of the income tax.  Obama wants to spread the wealth not because the wealthy do not currently bear their fair share of supporting the government.  He wants to spread the wealth because he views the wealth itself as unfair. According to the latest IRS statistics, released this summer, we have an extremely progressive income tax system.  For 2006 (the latest year for...(Read Full Article)