Tax the Wealthy?

Now, I am no economist, so if you feel that that makes me unqualified for this rant than stop reading now. In college I only took two classes in economics, micro and macro, and both were classes for non-majors.

So, recently we have been hearing about the latest plan of this administration to cut taxes to 95% of Americans and stop the tax breaks for the wealthy. It sounds great! I mean about time that the common person (like me) gets a break and the fat cats with milliions pay up. But, is this practical?

I say no! I think this has to be the stupidest plan; especially during a recession. There are two faults that I find with this thinking.

First, for the sake of the argument, lets assume that the rich (for the most part) are greedy. For years I have been hearing that the rich get richer and screw that common man. That all they care about is money and they will get it no matter what the cost. Ok, so... why is this an issue? Well, I ask you will this change once they are paying more taxes? Are they (meaning the rich guys) going to finally come to their senses and help out the common man? No! The rich will do what they have always been doing and that will be to get as much money as they can. How does this affect us? Well... this will mean that the consumer and the common man will suffer. Businesses faced with paying more taxes are going to pass on the cost to the consumer. This will mean that goods will cost more. At the same time companies will be cutting back on jobs. So, less jobs for the people who need it and more cost for the people who can least afford it.

Second, and I do not have the numbers, but, the richest 5% only have a certain amount of wealth. What happens when the government realizes that they need more money? Well they are going to start taxing more to the top 10% and then 15% and so on and so on. Furthermore, I can imagine that these people who can absolutely afford it will simply get tired of paying taxes and move out of the United States to some other country. What happens when our money moves overseas? Who are we going to tax then?

Overall, its just sad, really. I feel that our government (and I mean Republlicans and Democrats) are simply doing the wrong thing. Why are we spending so much money when we can least afford it? How about we cut spending for a few years? I have no problems with pork or earmarks in a time when we are not in a significant deficit. However, why are we paying for things we don't need during a recession? I don't know.