Taxing The Rich Is Taxing The Middle Class

From Part I of the excellent four part Forbes Commentary "The 'Tax The Rich' Con" by Charles W. Kadlec:

In reality, the call to "tax the rich" is a cover story for levying higher tax rates on the prosperous middle class.***In addition, the "tax the rich" mantra assumes that the same individuals make the same amount of money each and every year. The reality is that, in many cases, producing an annual income of $250,000 is achieved after years of hard work and career advancement. Those who report incomes of more than $250,000 in a single year in many cases are also individuals who have owned and operated a business, built it over a life-time as they earned a modest income, and sell the business in the current year.

Thus, the higher tax rates the Democrats say are aimed at the rich actually are targeted at the baby boomers as they hit their peak earning years. There are no precise data on the demographics of those who make more than $200,000 a year. But based on Census data for 2007, the latest year available, it is clear that incomes tend to peak between the ages of 45 and 64--that is currently for those who were born between 1947 and 1966. Of the 23.6 million households with incomes of $100,000 and more in 2007, 12 million, or 50%, were within this 20-year group of baby boomers.

But where is the justice in reducing these individuals' financial ability to pay for their children's college educations, save some extra money for retirement or take a nice family vacation?

The complete Part I is available here.

Part II is available here.

Part III is available here.

Part IV is available here.