First billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates made news on cable television by declaring they would really like to pay taxes at a higher level. They claimed they were simply not taxed enough. Neither seemed to understand that they could send in any amount they felt they didn't deserve to keep into the IRS as extra payment at any time. Checks and money orders are accepted, any working business day.
Now this week we have the "Patriotic Millionaires". No, really. They wrap themselves in their own patriotism because they are all about higher tax rates, too.
These "Patriotic" Millionaires want to pay more in taxes? Why am I skeptical about that claim?
All three took exception to the idea that instead of calling for higher taxes, they should just personally mail the government a check.
“The government is not a charity,” said both Garret and Katzman. “It cannot and should not be run like one,” added Garret. Pearl noted the same thing That's right, Mr. Garret and Mr. Katzman. The government is not a charity. If it were a charity there would be demands for transparency and accountability for every dime spent. Currently, the massive behemoth of a government we operate under has waste and fraud out the wazoo. Technically, the government is to be held accountable for expenditures. Realistically, we know this is not the case. Add into the mix that Democrats traditionally enact huge social programs that cost millions upon millions of taxpayer monies, as a way of buying votes for the party in elections. Voters dependent on social programs will be loyal voters, the thinking goes.
This is not the time to delve into the morality of keeping folks dependent on the government versus the integrity of self-reliance. Give a man a fish and he eats one day. Teach a man to fish and he eats every day. I paraphrase.
The name of the group, the “Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength,” has prompted questions as to whether the signatories consider those who do not support higher taxes unpatriotic.
“Not at all. I never thought such a thing,” said Pearl.
“Disagreeing does not make you unpatriotic,” echoed Garret. “Patriotism is not a zero sum game.”
So, on Thursday, the House of Representatives voted on the "middle class tax cuts" part of the extensions. Those families and individuals making $250,000 or less will keep the present tax rates. The rest of the people earning income will be seeing tax increases. This includes small business owners who pay taxes on individual tax rates.
The final vote was 234-188, with 20 Democrats joining a nearly unanimous block of Republicans against the plan.
The vote in Congress' lame-duck session was a symbolic one boosted by Democrats, still in the majority, who sought to force Republicans to vote against a tax cut.
All about the politics of re-election. This vote will be used in the election cycle of 2012, rest assured of that fact. The Democrats will claim that those mean Republicans don't care about the working families, about the average Joe and Jane. It is a basic difference in political philosophy. Democrats divide by income and status. Republicans unite by clearing the path for all to do best. Republicans believe that it is the money of the individual earners, not the government's money, in the first place.
Good riddance to a House of Representatives led by Democrats. Americans deserve much better than cheap political stunts, especially in difficult economic times. The tax code vote could have been done before the election in November, and should have been, but the Democrats decided to be cowards and go into recess instead of doing the peoples' business.
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