► Is it fair to raise the income tax on Millionaires? Print

Is it fair to raise the income tax on Millionaires?

 
Obama proposes allowing the tax break for millionaires put in place by Bush to expire next year. Republican legislators (aka, enablers/apologists for the rich) like Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. John Boehner falsely opine that this would be unfair.
 
Millionaires are taxed at 35% under the Bush tax cut. Obama proposes to let its previous level of 39%. To fully understand the alleged impact on a millionaire, let’s take a moment and do some basic arithmetic based on someone earning $2 million a year, which would go something like this.
  • $700,000 = 35% income tax on $2 million ($1.3 million disposable income)
  • $780,000 = 39% income tax on $2 million ($1.2 million disposable income)
I guess maybe Sen. McConnell is right; after all it must be quite difficult to get by on a measly $1.2 million a year, right? Its enough to make ya wanna cry, ain’t it?
 
Of course someone earning $2 million is able to utilize many write-offs to reduce his/tax liability, meaning it would be unusual for such a person to actually pay the amounts aforementioned. Unfortunately, lesser beings (that’d be someone earning $75,000 a year or less) is unable to do the same.
 
Sen. McConnell claims that raising the tax by 4% would unduly impact on a millionaire’s ability to create jobs in this down economy.
 
However, to assuage McConnell’s fears, maybe Obama should consider offsetting the 4% tax increase on millionaires by imposing an additional income tax on individuals earning $60,000 a year or less like nurses, cops, fireman, truck drivers, auto workers, low-level public servants and those of their ilk.
 
If Obama did so, the extra taxes could be set aside and reimbursed to millionaires to offset the 4% increase, thereby eliminating McConnell’s fear of job losses because millionaires will have less disposable income for job creation.
 
And that Boys and Girls is just how easy it is to assure that millionaires are treated just as fairly as you are so that you don’t loose your jobs.