Taxes Too Low?

To everyone out there that thinks that taxes are too low: pay more.

I love how so many celebrities whine about the unfairness of the tax code, and how Bush's tax cuts raise the tax burden on the poor (sigh...). Their brilliant solution to nearly every problem ends with taxing the rich. After all, they've plenty to spare, so let's just take more from them, right? Wrong.

To anyone thinking like this, just remember that there's an effect you see, specifically the increased tax revenues steming from such a policy, and an effect you're blind to. If that money hadn't been taxed away, it would have been spent. That means that whoever the money would have gone to is now worse off. The rich guy down the street would have bought a yacht? Too bad for the boat builders and craftsment, the shipping company, etc. You can't pay Paul without robbing Peter first. And Mary just doesn't like it when that happens.

So if you've a problem with tax rates, feel free to pay more. The government isn't going to complain, I'm sure. They might even send a nice little sticker or badge to thank you, but don't count on it. There's not a law on the books that I'm aware of that prevents you from charitably giving all of your wealth beyond that which you require to survive to Uncle Sam - and after all, he knows how to dispose of it so much better than we do, right?