Raising Taxes On The Rich Is Not Sound Economic Policy, It's Liberal Theology

Most economists will tell you that raising taxes on the people who create jobs will not even dent the deficit and certainly won't stimulate the economy, but to the left it's an article of faith.  Bernard Goldberg offers this:

Liberal Democrats think raising taxes on people who make a lot of money is a matter of social justice. If you have more money “than you need,” they figure – spread it around to those who don’t have as much, as candidate Obama told Joe the Plumber. Liberals — even those who don’t take religion all that seriously — see higher taxes on the wealthy as a moral issue. (That is, when they’re not cynically calculating how many of those Pauls they can get to vote for them with their “tax the rich” message. As far as they’re concerned, Peter can go to hell.)


I have no problem with this philosophy – in church. Give all you want to the less fortunate. But people who have taken risks, who have marketable talents, who work hard for their money, have no obligation to share it with everyone who isn’t doing as well – and that includes the kind of people who never took education seriously and who as adults may lead dysfunctional lives. Helping the working poor is one thing. Helping losers is something else all together. That may not sound terribly “Christian” but that’s not my concern.

Now, here's where Goldberg goes off the rails a bit:

So as the campaign heats up, Republicans might want to consider a brand new strategy: Give President Obama everything he wants in his latest stimulus plan – the one he keeps telling us that Congress must pass “right now.” And when the economy tanks, hang the mess around Barack Obama’s neck, because that’s just where it belongs. Then pray that the American people have enough sense to elect a Republican House, Senate and president who will undo the damage that Mr. Obama and his liberal pals in Congress have done.

Wrong, and I'll tell you why. If the GOP signs on to ANY of Obama's tax hikes or other economy-destroying policies, they'll be just as responsible for the mess that ensues as will Obama. The American people will not have enough sense to separate Obama's policies from GOP votes because the president will never be blamed by the media for the mess. His contribution to all this will be hidden from view.

Better to oppose him strongly now and keep the mess from happening in the first place.