I had heard that Biden planned to increase taxes on those making in excess of $400,000 a year in order to begin cleaning up – once again – after the Republicans’ financial mismanagement, as well as cover the costs, both necessary and the fruits of mismanagement, of the pandemic, but rather than run over to Biden’s website, I can conveniently point at Kevin Drum, who confirms it using the analysis American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank:
In 2021, everyone under $400,000 pays lower taxes, while the top 1 percent pays about $100,000 more in taxes. By 2030, every income group pays slightly higher taxes (about $50 per year at the median) while the top 1 percent pays $134,000 more.
The effect of all this on economic growth is essentially zero. AEI estimates that Biden’s plan would produce a minuscule reduction in GDP over its first decade and a minuscule increase in GDP during its second decade.
In other words, Biden has told the truth about his tax plan. How refreshing and unusual in the Trump era.
Sounds fine and dandy, doesn’t it?
But I’m actually a little unsettled. No, I don’t have an odd sympathy for the plight of the top 1%. My thought isn’t financial, it’s moral:
Elections should have consequences.
Now, I’ll also argue against myself and suggest that the imminent confirmation of Barrett to SCOTUS is a reproach to this group, the ongoing tragedy of the mismanaged Covid-19 pandemic a lesson for that group, etc etc.
But the truth of the matter is this:
We are all responsible for the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency.
For the outraged Clinton-supporting reader – such as myself – let me explain. We can partition the US population by their actions in the 2016, and how that makes them culpable for the ongoing disaster of the Trump Administration:
- Voted for Trump: You actively voted for someone who had already revealed themselves as a business failure, an inveterate liar, and a worse than average reality-show actor (or performer, if I am to take my Theater Arts professor’s definition of acting vs performing to heart, for Trump has only one role he can perform). You should have known better. If you embraced some single issue to justify that vote, you should be heartily morally embarrassed.
- I never vote. You, sir or madam, are a shirker of your civic responsibilities. It’s time to dump the Me-me-me attitude and participate. Remember, the right to participate in the selection of our leaders, even as illiberally implemented as it was initially (i.e., white landowners only), was one of the most important points of the Revolutionary War. And, by not voting, you enabled Donald Trump’s election.
- I couldn’t stand Hillary, so xyz. I hear this from time to time, as if it’s necessary that your candidate is someone with whom you could sit down and have tea & crumpets. It’s great if you do, but when it comes to national leadership, competency is far, far more important than your need for personal admiration of your chosen candidate – and a little bit of research would have shown Clinton had that in spades, while Trump’s true competency is in lying. Just a wee bit of research. The only out I would give this group is that if they raised questions of corruption in the form of the Wasserman-Schultz scandal.
- I voted Clinton, why are you penalizing me? Because – and I include myself here – you didn’t do enough to persuade everyone else to vote for Clinton, the highly endorsed and highly competent candidate, over Trump, the already-evident chronic liar, cheat, incompetent, and mediocre actor. We didn’t pay attention to those who are discontented, fearful of a future that doesn’t seem to include them, and felt the Democrats had betrayed them. Granted, some problems are of herculean girth, such as single-issue voters who don’t understand they are the scourge of America, rather than its saviors. But more effort might have saved us from this giant blot on American honor.
- I couldn’t vote, yet, so why penalize me? Think of it as a salutary lesson about shirking serious research and participation. Or, too bad, life is unfair and not in your favor this time (to borrow from Calvin & Hobbes).
Given that Trump and his enabling Republicans have left the nation with some monumental debts, and while acknowledging the top 1% have a lot of ways to avoid paying taxes, I think it’s necessary that all the tax-paying citizens of the United States should see an increase in their tax bill, and its source should be labeled. Sure, the Republicans would scream, but, by screaming This isn’t fair!, the Democrats can point out exactly how it IS true and fair.
We could call it the Trump Redemption Surtax, just to make it clear that this is a consequence of the 2016 election. And it would help pay off the mountainous Republican-sourced debt we are now carrying a little bit faster.
