The Grand New Party

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Beemnseven

Since most Americans aren't paying the bulk of the taxes I have no doubt they would answer this way.

Americans will start caring about the over $250k per year crowd when the jobs start going away. After all, the high earners in this country are usually their employers.

You cannot help the wage earner by bringing down the wage payer.

I think you can sell the idea of reforming the tax code can work if you sell it right. For instance, everybody pays the same rate. Nothing wrong with that. Then you eliminate withholding. Once everybody has to write a check directly to the government every quarter, people will start paying much more attention to how much is taken out of their paychecks, spending will get under control real quick. Then there's the privacy issue. As I said earlier, I'll bet most Americans would agree that the federal government has no right to know how much money you make, what you contribute to savings, or what you put into retirement. Just like the privacy issue, which most Americans like, the same should go for their bank accounts.

Our financial situation is none of the government's business. Sell it that way, and I think you've got yourself an issue that can win.

Everyone is motivated by money including those with money who "employ everyone." This is by far the biggest consumer market in the world as well as the best place for talent. No self-respecting business man would simply pack up and leave because a) it wouldn't be in their best interest for what I hope are obvious reason (employees -> consumers -> $$$ -> employers) and b) someone will step in and fill in the gap they left including foreign investors/corporations/entrepreneurs. There's simply too much competition out there to walk away from the biggest pie on the planet. Sure, our economic power might decline in the future but taxation would be the least of our worries in that regard. Anywho, I leave you with this quote from Ike (the letter is worth reading in its entirety):

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas.5 Their number is negligible and they are stupid.

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

p.s. Ayn Rand's utopian view of the world is no better than that of an anarchist shouting "abolish money!"