February 07, 2008
Taxing corporations is a sign of economic illiteracy
Bill Katz was a talent coordinator on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show during it's heyday; now he's an occasional contributor at Powerline.
Today's piece uses Carson's rule that a guest has to have something to say as a springboard for politics and this year's presidential race.
Katz observes that the more articulate candidate usually loses the election, driving his point home with a number of examples from past races.
He does cite one instance where the more articulate candidate triumphed -- although he was derided by his opponents at the time -- and ever since -- as an amiable dunce. And in this excerpt from a speech he offers perhaps the best, most concise explanation why any politician who complains that corporations aren't paying their "fair share" of taxes is demonstrating an ignorance of basic economic theory bordering on encephalopathy .
“In the 34 years since the end of World War II, it has spent $448 billion more than it has collected in taxes -- $448 billion of printing-press money, which has made every dollar you earn worth less and less. At the same time, the federal government has cynically told us that high taxes on business will in some way "solve" the problem and allow the average taxpayer to pay less. Well, business is not a taxpayer; it is a tax collector. Business has to pass its tax burden on to the customer as part of the cost of doing business. You and I pay taxes imposed on business every time we go to the store. Only people pay taxes, and it is political demagoguery or economic illiteracy to try and tell us otherwise.”
That Pres. Reagan sure was a dope, huh?
Corporate taxes are the biggest scam in a system filled with Three-Card Monte grifts where the taxpayers are the marks -- and any candidate this election season who peddles this idiocy is depending on you watching the wrong card as she lifts your wallet.
Posted by Mike Lief at February 7, 2008 10:39 PM
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