Recently our soon to be former Speaker of the House made the following statement:
“Giving $700 billion to the wealthiest people in America does add $700 billion dollars to the deficit. And the record and history shows and does not create jobs.” Putting aside for the moment that most third graders have better English skills, let’s examine this absolutely ridiculous statement. Mrs. Pelosi wants us to believe that extending the current tax rates for all Americans is GIVING them money. Since you can’t give something that isn’t yours, she is in effect making the case that the money belongs to the government in the first place.
I would like to take this opportunity to enlighten and educate Nancy Pelosi on this matter. I will use short words and easy analogies in the hope that she can grasp the concepts presented. The first thing that needs to be understood is that if I earn $100.00 it is MY $100.00, not yours Nancy. You didn’t drag yourself out of bed at 4:00 A.M. and earn it. I did. It is mine not yours. If my tax rates go down, you are not giving me anything, you are simply taking less of my hard earned money.
Now, let’s go on to our next lesson. The deficit. A deficit is the difference between what you take in and what you spend. Deficits are caused by OVER-SPENDING not under-taxing. To illustrate, let us assume that you owe $10,000 on your mortgage, $5,000 on your car and $1,000 on your credit card. Remember we are using small round numbers to keep this simple. It’s hard to think in trillions! These numbers add up to a total of $16,000. We will call this $16,000 your deficit. It is money that you owe. Now let’s assume that your salary is tax money being taken in. This should be simple for you to understand since your salary IS tax money being taken in. Now let’s further assume that your constituents suddenly buy a clue and vote you out of office at which point your salary stops and you are no longer taking in “tax money.” Does your deficit get larger? No, it does not. You still owe the same amounts on your house, car and credit card. Now let’s assume you use your credit card to buy Botox and you spend $1,000. You will now owe $10,000 on your mortgage, $5,000 on your car and $2,000 on your credit card for a total of $17,000. Did this additional spending make your deficit get larger? Yes, it did. Your $16,000 deficit is now $17,000. See how that worked? It looks like spending causes deficits. Unless you add to them by spending, they stay the same. Simply amazing.
Now, let’s move on to the subject of class warfare. This might have worked in 1917 Russia but it doesn’t fly here in America. Most of us do not begrudge the “rich” what they have. We assume that in most cases they earned what they have and have a right to it. These high achievers add value to our society and economy. Most Americans in lesser circumstances consider themselves to be “pre-rich.” That is to say that they fully expect to be well off someday themselves. That’s the beauty of America. We were raised with the notion that we can have anything we want if we work hard and persevere. Class warfare coming from a multi-millionaire who owns a vineyard is just a bit unseemly. We’re not buying it as to do so would create an IQ deficit.