July 20, 2012

Obama's Surprising Tax Logic

By S.T. Karnick
Like many of his other public pronouncements, President Obama's recent comment about self-made wealthy people -- "If you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own" -- is a truism that actually proves the opposite of what he suggests. It's true, of course, that wealthy people use government services, as the president observes, and that little bit of truth lays the groundwork for a huge fallacy.  The notion that the rich should pay a higher tax rate than others does not follow logically from the observation that they use government services.  In fact, Obama's premise leads directly to the exact opposite conclusion. Obama's premise is that we should view government as a service we should be expected to pay for: If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in...(Read Full Article)