Supporters of the “Buffett Rule” aren’t being honest about U.S. Budget problems. No matter how much you tax the rich, the rich just don’t have the money to pay for all the spending the politicians are doing. Here is what an honest Buffett Rule fan would say:
Every nation in the world with the kind of welfare state we want for America pays for it by taxing a large majority of its citizens far more heavily than we do. To pretend we can do otherwise is to invite our countrymen to indulge a fantasy rather than call on them to make a serious commitment. Building the welfare state we need means most Americans are going to have to pay significantly higher taxes. No one likes such taxes, of course, but the reality is that they’ll fund an array of government programs that leave all of us better off than we will be with the rudimentary welfare state we’re forced to live with if we insist on a much lower tax burden.
Warren will never say anything of the sort, but that doesn’t change the math: either we spend less or everybody gets taxed more. The rich guy isn’t buying.
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