The Left’s Class-Warfare Numbers Don’t Add Up

September 18, 2019 by Dan Mitchell @ International Liberty

I’ve written many times about the perverse and destructive economic impact of class-warfare taxation.

Today, we’re doing to look at the sloppy math associated with the fiscal plans of Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and the rest of the soak-the-rich crowd.

First, here are some excerpts from a story in the Hill.

The progressive push to raise taxes on the rich is gaining new momentum. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has already proposed a wealth tax to raise funds for a variety of new government programs, on Thursday unveiled a plan to expand Social Security by creating two taxes on wage and investment income for wealthy Americans. …Since the start of the year, much of the debate around taxes among Democrats has been over how much and how best to raise taxes on the rich. …Democratic presidential candidates across the board have proposed ways to increase taxes on the rich. The developments have encouraged liberal groups pressing for higher taxes on the wealthy. …Sanders, the Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont senator, has legislation to expand and extend the solvency of the retirement program that would subject all income above $250,000 to the Social Security payroll tax. Sanders’s bill is co-sponsored in the Senate by two fellow presidential candidates, Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

These ideas would do considerable harm to the economy and reduce American competitiveness.
But let’s focus on whether the left’s tax agenda is capable of financing their spending wish lists.
Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute just released his Book of Charts. There are dozens of sobering visuals, but here’s the one that’s relevant for today.

The bottom line is that our friends on the left have an enormous list of goodies they want to dispense, yet their proposed tax hikes (even assuming no Laffer Curve) would only pay for a fraction of their agenda.

Which is why lower-income and middle-class taxpayers need to realize that they’re the ones with bulls-eyes on their back.

Just like we’ve seen on the other side of the Atlantic, there’s no way to finance a European-sized welfare state without pillaging ordinary people. Especially since upper-income taxpayers can change their behavior to avoid most tax hikes.

So brace yourselves for a value-added tax, a carbon tax, a financial transactions tax, and higher payroll taxes.