Jumping into the Vat

Steam Vat

When Barack Obama was running for President he kept promising that unless you were rich (an ever evolving standard of earnings) you would not have your taxes raised "even one penny." In fact, he told those with "tingles running up their legs", they would have their taxes cut.

Those greedy people with incomes over $250,000 were going to finally pay their fair share and therefore we could all enjoy buying health-care, cars and homes we couldn't afford, just like before it all came crashing down into a heap of government interference and crony capitalism.

 Forgetting for a moment that 10% of the earners are paying approx. 70% of the taxes and 43% of tax units (most of which are lower income households that may or may not file a return) will have no income tax liability or will have a negative income tax liability, meaning the government will actually pay them, it's not clear where the terminally gullible thought that money was going to come from.

I wrote a piece called "I Can't Hear The Howling Anymore" about a year ago which I hope you will re-read, but a more current essay has been written by Dr. Charles Krauthammer about his prediction of a coming VAT (value added tax) to pay for all the European (think Greece) socialism passed recently by the Bush/Obama combine. You can read it here, and I think you should.

Many think a national sales tax (instead of an income tax) is a better way for government to fund it's activities, and although the devil is in the details, I am one of them. This is not that tax, this is on top of the income tax and it taxes products and services at every single stage of the production chain. It is insidious and hidden. It has long been the political wet dream of the left.

And just as America has been the "steam control" for people from other failed countries, this scheme is the steam control for the over taxed "rich" people. It makes the gullible followers get their taxes raised like everyone else, even if their messiah promised them otherwise. Without more of your money, the currency will fail and hyperinflation will follow. The system will collapse.

Then, the tingle that ran up some legs, will become the tinkle running down.