Sen. Robin Hood’s Strategy

How do you create more jobs if you’re going to tax the businesses that create the jobs? The answer…you can’t, or at least not many jobs.

When Barack Obama came down the street of one Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher a.k.a. Joe the Plumber, Joe had this to say, “I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes about $250,000 … $270-$280,000 a year. Your new tax plan's gonna tax me more, isn't it?” Now if Joe, who has been working for fifteen years, buys another truck and adds something else to it and builds the company, he’ll be getting taxed more and more while “fulfilling the American Dream”.

Said Sen. Obama in response, “So, over the last 15 years, when you weren't making $250,000, you would have been getting a tax cut from me. So you'd actually have more money, which means you would have saved more, which means that you would have gotten to the point where you could build your small business quicker than under the current tax code. So there are two ways of looking at it. I mean, one way of looking at it is, now that you've become more successful through hard work, you don't want to be taxed as much.”

And…

“…I'm going to cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need, and for the 5 percent of the folks who are doing very well, even though they've been working hard … and I understand that; I appreciate that … I just want to make sure that they're paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts. Now, I respect your disagreement, but I just want you to be clear. It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance at success, too.”

So he’s going to tax the well off, or the rich, so that everyone has a chance at success. But what happens if Joe gets beyond the $250,000 mark? He may not be able to provide healthcare to his employees, or hire; he may have to lay some if his workers off. Odds are he’d have to charge more, but what if his customers aren’t willing to pay more? Say good-bye to Joe’s plumbing business. But on the bright side, someone was getting the money from Joe’s taxes, and they get the chance to succeed, assuming they even start a business. And if they do, what are the odds they’ll end up like Joe?

This is what Obama calls “spreading the wealth around”. Says Obama, “…my attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. If you've got a plumbing business, you're gonna be better off if you've got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you.” But like I said, what if they can’t afford to hire Joe because Joe has to charge more because of higher taxes? And we’re not just talking small business but major corporations. When taxes are low, businesses can afford to take on more workers, you know, provide jobs – help the middle class. But hey, the media is more concerned about non-licensed Joe asking Obama a question and going Big Brother on him. Heaven forbid we really question Sen. Robin Hood’s strategy.