A triumph of cynicism

By Tom Quiner

Here’s how the fiscal cliff wrangling looks to me.

The government is going to seize (tax) an extra $65 billion a year from rich guys.

These are folks making over $400,000 per year, many of whom who are prosperous due to starting, building, and running small businesses.

President Obama built his successful reelection campaign on the premise that these super producers weren’t paying enough taxes. He said this tax increase was critical to helping reduce the deficit.

Even more, the unspoken assumption in all of this is that the government, or Mr. Obama specifically, knows how to better spend (or “invest,” using the jargon of a liberal) this money for the good of the nation.

So how are these new tax hikes going to be used? Will they be used to cut the deficit?

No.

For starters, the new revenues, should they actually be realized, would fund the government for about 200 hours or so. They represent chump change for a government running trillion dollar deficits.

As the Wall Street Journal revealed, these funds are actually going to be redistributed to other politically-connected businesses and industries.

The new revenues will get eaten up by crony capitalism. Here are a few of the winners, according to the WSJ:

√ $78 million in tax breaks for the owners of Nascar race tracks.

√ $62 million in targeted tax savings for businesses in America Samoa, including Starfish Tuna.

√ $222 million for rum distillers.

√ Another $222 million for businesses on Indian reservations.

I emphasize, these are but a few of the winners in the Obama lottery.

The president takes from our nation’s most productive Americans and redistributes it to the most politically-connected businesses.

Political connections trump productive capacity with the president and his party.

A lot of people buy his rhetoric, because they don’t hear about these political shenanigans. Some accept that this is the way the game is played, and that Republicans are just as bad.

They’re probably right.

But it’s still wrong, regardless of the party operating the spoils system.

Even more, it permeates cynicism. That’s poison for a democracy.

Let me leave you with this. The president and his party are adamant that we’ve got a revenue problem, not a spending problem. They look us in the eyes without blinking and say things like this in the face of hard data that reveals dramatic spikes in government spending, and that revenues have remained fairly consistent as a percentage of GDP.

Before you buy their false assertion, review the list below. This is a list of taxes added in the past century.

The government taxes us for seemingly everything, as you can see in the list below. In a triumph of cynicism, the president says it still isn’t enough.

TAXES ADDED IN THE PAST CENTURY …

Building Permit Tax

CDL License Tax

Cigarette Tax

Corporate Income Tax

Dog License Tax

Federal Income Tax (Fed)

Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)

Fishing License Tax

Food License Tax

Fuel Permit Tax

Gasoline Tax

Hunting License Tax

Inheritance Tax

Inventory Tax

IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)

IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)

Liquor Tax

Luxury Tax

Marriage License Tax

Medicare Tax

Property Tax

Real Estate Tax

Service charge taxes

Social Security Tax

Road Usage Tax (Truckers)

Sales Taxes

Recreational Vehicle Tax

School Tax

State Income Tax

State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)

Telephone Federal Excise Tax

Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax

Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax

Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax

Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax

Telephone State and Local Tax

Telephone Usage Charge Tax

Utility Tax

Vehicle License Registration Tax

Vehicle Sales Tax

Watercraft Registration Tax

Well Permit Tax

Workers Compensation Tax