The "Buffett Rule" for Dummies!

So... How did we get here.   Pitting one race against another?  Fine.  Playing one social class against another?  Of course.  Fabricating a war on women, crying out against a ludicrous position that no conservative has taken.  Sounds familiar.  Frightening the elderly with scare tactics designed to obfuscate the obvious and ensure their allegiance to the status quo in the face unquestionable economic collapse?  We would expect nothing less.  These are the core tenets of the Democratic platform, and they comprise the bulk of the arsenal with which they and their main stream media minions routinely assault the American public.  And unfortunately, they find success with this formula more often than not.

So, is the Progressive Left to blame for the mire in which America finds itself after generations of submission to their agenda?  While many conservatives would obviously say "yes", it's unfortunately not that simple.  Blaming Progressives for our slow (albeit accelerating at a frightening pace) decline into socialist decay is easy.  And for the part they've played, it is obviously blame well-placed.  But to say they drove us to this point alone would be myopic and more than hypocritical.  The truth is, anyone with a shred of critical reasoning skills can see through the asinine premise of most Progressive philosophies.  The fact that they've been allowed to get this far is a testament to one of two inherent flaws in the modern American people as a whole... laziness, ignorance, or both. 

For generations, Americans have slowly surrendered their liberty in exchange for one hollow promise after another.  While I’m the first to appreciate the value of a good deal, it takes a special brand of moron to enter into an agreement without fully understanding the cost.  And while it’s one thing to fall victim to a well-crafted lie, it’s quite another to allow yourself to be fooled by an argument so ridiculous that the only explanation for your error is either clinical mental retardation, or a willing suspension of disbelief.  That’s right... it’s easier to allow yourself to be lied to and believe you’ll be taken care of by some benevolent Sugar Daddy than to admit there are hard choices to be made, life isn’t always fair, and the only true secret to success is hard work, sacrifice and personal responsibility.  While this deal with the Devil has been made 1,000 times throughout the history of this country, it’s not enough to claim ignorance any longer.  We no longer have the luxury of looking the other way and simply choosing to believe everything will be OK.  This country, with $16 trillion in debt and untold multiples of that figure looming in long-term obligations that will never be met, is on the edge of a very deep, very dark chasm, and happy thoughts and pixie dust aren’t going to help us fly when we finally step off the ledge.

Fortunately, we have a phenomenal opportunity for an awakening in America.  The lies have never been so audacious, and the plausibility of the progressive argument so unbelievably frail.  If the American public can’t see through the Piper’s, er... Obama’s latest attempt at class warfare, then it’s time to fold up the tent and call it a day.  It will mean that the public has finally either become so dependent on Government crack that it can’t be saved, or that it’s so stupid that the notions of self reliance and personal responsibility are officially extinct. So what is this opportunity?  Why, the Buffett Rule of course.  The banner that Obama has proudly decided to wave at the forward guard of his Progressive march toward reelection.  Obama and the left hide behind the subtle distinction between tax rates and taxes paid and assume Americans are too stupid to realize the difference.  And they assume that if they can keep the 99% crowd whining loudly enough, no one will actually realize how ludicrous his argument truly is.  But unfortunately for Obama and the left, there are some arguments so simple that a single picture can undo months of chest-thumping propaganda and lies.  All of the Come to Jesus speeches in the world can't refute what a couple of simple images can illustrate so clearly that even the most numbed of American minds is capable of understanding.  So let's take a look at all that needs to be said.

Myth Number 1:  The rich aren't paying their fair share! 

Assuming his secretary pays the maximum taxes for her income bracket with absolutely NO deductions whatsoever (which isn't possible, but what the hell... willing suspension of disbelief, right?), he paid a minimum of 66 times what she did in taxes last year.  Keep in mind that this does not include whatever he paid in state taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, taxes on autos, boats or anything else.  I want Obama to look at this picture and tell the American people that the rich aren't paying their fair share.  And as you look at this figure, keep one thing in mind.  Warren's poor mistreated secretary?  At $300K - $500K in annual income, she's part of the freakin' 1% herself.  And STILL he paid 66 times what she did.  And if you assume she paid the typical effective tax rate of the average person with the average deductions, he'd have paid approximately 112 times as much as she did.  

Myth Number 2:  The way to control our deficit and debt is by taking more from the rich!

If we continue with our trend of accepting assumptions dictated by the left without challenge, the graphic to the right represents the increase in annual income anticipated as a result of Obama's Buffett rule, as compared to the annual deficit as it sits today.  

 



If in fact we instead choose to rely on the non-partisan US Congress Joint Committee on Taxation, then the graphic to the left represents the increase in annual income anticipated as a result of Obama's Buffett Rule, as compared to the annual deficit as it sits today.  

So, under the circumstances, I'd imagine Mitt Romney might have a few questions for Mr. Obama when those debates roll around.  A couple that come to mind right now might be:

Yeah, Barry, we got it.  You don't like rich people.  You think it's their duty as Americans to turn over their wealth to you and your minions because you can spend it much more effectively than they can.  Parents have no right to pass their savings on to their children, as that wealth belongs to you.  Got it.  So Warren pays somewhere between 66 and 112 times what his wealthy "1% secretary" pays, and half of this country pays nothing at all.  Given those facts, could you please define "fair" for us?

Mr. President.  We understand that your response to the question of what to do about the Federal deficit is to tax the rich.  Got it.  So let's say we do that.  Once we've effectively punished the wealthy for the audacity to actually succeed, done our best to throw a wet blanket on the fire that powers the engine of innovation... investment capital that is... and brought in the revenue you project, we're left with just one critical question.  What do we do about the Federal deficit?  


And there you have it my fellow Americans.  The rich aren't paying their fair share?  The way to fix our deficit problem and get the economy on track is to tax the rich?  If you can can make those statements out loud, while looking at the graphics above without laughing, vomiting, putting your fist through a wall, or doing all three simultaneously, then you deserve the America that is waiting for you just beyond that ledge.  And on the way down, don't blame Obama, Pelosi, or any of the other Progressive Pied Pipers.  If you can't see through this pathetic crap, then they're not pushing you over the edge.  Ignorance is now off the table, and willing suspension of disbelief is all that is left (sorry, in spite of California's best efforts to prove me wrong, we just can't have that many clinically retarded folks out there).  If you allow them to lie to your face and still you do nothing, then you're joined hand in hand and taking the leap together, and you deserve the fate that awaits you at the bottom of that chasm.