Just do it already!

According to Karl Marx, “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” Religion provides assurance, security, answers and direction, in areas of life where nothing can be proven; all is founded on faith.

I have found a corollary regarding the Liberal attitude towards government finance: “Tax-the-Rich is the opiate of the Left.”

I was talking to a Liberal last week. We hit upon the topic of Wisconsin’s current tax-revenue shortfall, currently sitting at $3.6B for the next biennium. The first words out of this Liberal’s mouth were, “Well, if this Governor weren’t cutting all those sweet deals with those corporations...."

One can safely assume that the implication of this statement is, “If the governor would impose the right tax policy on businesses and rich people, then we wouldn’t have a tax revenue short-fall.” Hmm.

So, there it is: Tax-the-Rich. In fact, if you listen closely, Tax-the-Rich appears to be the universal panacea... the answer to all our fiscal woes. It shows up everywhere.

Q: How do we get our state budget under control?
A: Our governor needs to quit making sweetheart deals with the rich.

Q: Shouldn’t we cut spending?
A: No, we just need to make those rich people pay their fair share.

Q: Should we make some hard and unpopular decisions now to reduce our debt?
A: Why did he eliminate capital gains tax?

Q: How can we afford this new program, when we're $3.6 billion in the hole?
A: Corporations need to stop standing on the backs of the needy.

Indeed, Tax-the-Rich is the opiate of the Left. And the notion is built entirely on faith.

When the Left is confronted with the hard questions of the present reality, they simply take another toke on the Tax-the-Rich bong.

The Left needs to accept at least one very stubborn fact: There is no such thing as a Perfect Tax Cocktail on rich people.

I say this with confidence by observing recent history.

Here in Wisconsin, we had a Liberal governor for eight years (2003 – 2010). During the last four years, he enjoyed a Democrat majority in the State Senate, and for the last two years, a Democrat majority in the State Legislature, as well. The Democrats had complete control, and could have passed all the taxes they wanted.

But, they didn't.

Similarly, on the national level, President Obama and the Dems had control of the White House and the Legislature for two years. They could have passed all the taxes they wanted.

But, they didn't.

And, before that, there was Bill Clinton, with similar control of the US legislature for two years. Again, the Left was in control. They could have...

But, they didn't.

Setting aside, for the moment, the very legitimate and complicated argument about whether this Tax-the-Rich policy is wise, the fact remains: None of these Dems-in-Power scenarios produced the perfect combination-platter of tax legislation.

If Tax-the-Rich is such an obvious answer to our national and state fiscal problems... what happened? Why didn’t these Democrat mega-majorities get it done!?

Many Liberal apologists will insist that the blame for this failure lay not with the Democrat politicians, but with the Big Money interests that sway and pull on the entire political landscape. Or, maybe, the blame lay with the political process whereby politicians can undercut each others' tax proposals.

My response: So what!?

Whatever the reason for the failure to pass the requisite taxes... whether it be the evil influence of Big Money players, or corrupt politicians, or inept politicians, or conflict between competing political philosophies, or the fact that maybe macro-economics is just a little more complicated than is implied by the Tax-the-Rich meme... whatever the reason, the fact remains. Even when the Tax-the-Rich Party is in power, they still cannot seem to actually Tax the Rich!

Here in the state of Wisconsin, after decades of bickering about getting the rich to pay their share, we are still looking at $3.6 billion shortfall. Every day we fail act on that knowledge, is another day we go further into debt. And, with the current downturn in the economy, that slide into debt is becoming increasingly steep.

So, I put a challenge to the Left (and, to a disappointingly large percentage of those on the Right): Put up, or shut up.

If you can enact the Perfect Tax Cocktail, do it! For cryin' out loud, stop talking about it AND DO IT, already!! You've been talking about it for 40 years! Shut your pie-hole, and Tax the Rich!

However, may I propose a counter-offer? Until such a time... until you find the right politicians, and the right political climate, and the right alignment of heavenly bodies... until the perfect tax code has been put in place, and is raking in vast treasures of as-yet-unseen tax-revenue wealth... until this time, we need to put down the opium pipe.

The Tax-the-Rich delusion has played out, and is now see as the a false religion that it is.