Maryland Shrugs

A practical lesson in the senselessness of Progressive economic theory.

Those miserable rich motherfuckers. How dare they move away from Maryland in order to shirk their patriotic duty.

How unAmerican.

Interesting and all but, currently, largely speculative opinion rather than actual evidence of anything.

I predict "severance tax." Move out of the state for tax-friendlier pastures? The state you left will turn the shortfall, calculated as between 1 and 5 projected years worth of "their cut", over to the IRS for collection.

I never quite understood how working hard and earning more money than most people made one evil, and required one to be the target of extra taxation, and how that extra taxation was somehow "justice" to people who made less money.

The article does say that a good bit of the downturn in collections could be attributed to economic difficulties within the state. However, this proposal and enactment of policy was supposed to be the fix for that very problem. After all, wasn't the presumption that the rich weren't going to be as badly affected by the economy as everyone else?

What? Do you want the "rich" here to be required to turn over their returns and all accompanying documentation? It's surprising that the the same level of proof isn't required from, say, welfare recipients to show they're not spending their assistance on drugs or from the state itself in showing that it's putting all its highway toll receipts back into paying for upkeep on those same roads, for instance. (I know that was kind of rambling but I was thinking of a news story where a state was collecting all this higway money and still going hat in hand to the feds for highway money.)

After all, what you're getting at is requiring a level of financial accountability of a certain class of people you wouldn't dream of requiring of someone else.

Wish that were a more laughable comment.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"

Words fail me.

It's wealth envy. What corrupt politicians use to keep themselves in power for years. And the thing that's destroyed civilizations for centuries.

what's the national average of taxation on incomes that level?

Speaking of the number of millionaires... totally unrelated, but intriguing: From 2008 to 2010, the number of millionaires in Germany rose by 8.4% to 779.300. While pretty much everyone else was told how inevitable sacrifices were, in the light of this crisis.

Forgive me for not feeling to bad for millionaires.

It vill soon be 100%, comrade.

It appears not to be destroying many other countries which have much higher taxes.

It happens all the time. Taxing districts lure businesses in with promises of low tax rates that last a certain number of years, after that period - usually 10 or 15 years - taxes revert back into the regular tax rolls - more often than not, it coincides when the city is raising their tax rates anyway.

Maryland has been a haven for corporations for ... 20 or 30 years.

Some businesses will stay and I'm sure Maryland will recover as will the rest of the US. Whereever they're flocking to now will increase the taxes in 10 or 15 years and then those businesses will move again.

I'm still in favor of a "tax tax." You vote to raise taxes by 2%, for example? You give up 2% of your salary. Vote for another 2% hike within the same year? You're now out 4% of your salary. Every percentage point of every tax you vote for takes another percentage point out of your income. That's my idea. I like it. Politicians would hate it. And that's an excellent reason for it in and of itself.

err, wouldn't that already happen on their salaries anyway?

I mean, I follow that you're talking about those legislating the increases, just pretty sure they too pay income tax already.

I'm talking about percentage docking above and beyond the taxes they're supposed to pay.

They end up doing this Henry.

No, they don't. Greece's problems are not because of the tax burden.

It's problems are due to overspending on entitlements it couldnt afford to meet. They could learn from Canada and Peurto Rico. So could the US. But the US and other governments are too corrupt to change.

Greece's problem is that it is locked into a currency union with other countries which have much stronger economies, and does not therefore have control over its interest rates or valuation. It also has a huge black economy, and had the misjudgement to rely on Goldman Sachs to help it lie about the true extent of its borrowings.
Not being able to meet spending requirements are a symptom of those things. A comparison with the United States is stupid.

Not really. they resort to austerity measures that cause violent riots, states like Wyoming and New Jersey are trying something similar, leading to protest by government employee unions (which FDR was against BTW).
Other states are broke and cant pay their obligations so they too will end up using austerity measure which will result in riots.
The results are the same in the end. Violence and destruction.
And all the "it wont happen" from your ilk wont change that.

"Taxes they're supposed to pay" - WFSpeak du jour.

Yes, a good contingent of us do aim for accuracy.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2009/mar/georgia-lawmakers-evade-taxes

So yes, I'm speaking of taxes that lawmakers are supposed to pay.

How does the fact that they've resorted to austerity measures, or that these have caused riots, have anything to do with the reasons I supplied being "not really" the case?

Wealth envy does.

Pitting the sucessfull against those who arent never ends well. You end up with millions dead and a facist dictator like Mao and Stalin in the end.

Appeal to emotion. With no idea how much real wealth the average member of the upper 1% possesses, the only recourse is to play the pity card atop the "someday I'll be a millionaire, too, and I have to protect my future assets!" card.

Taxing the rich to redistribut the wealth is nothing more than robbing Peter to pay Paul to get Pauls vote. Soon you end up with more Pauls and less Peters. The Peters move and the Pauls cry for more money from the few Peters that remain.
Then you'll have noone to be like Peter and try to be sucessfull and provide jobs in a hostile business environment.
It doesnt take rocket science to figure that out.

That's exactly what the wealth envy crowd does. That get's the class warfare warriors votes.

I have no idea nor do I care. There will always be those who are rich and I do not envy them. Nor do I ever plan to be one of them.

Right. Because you know what life would be like in those countries if the tax rates were lower?