04/01/2015 - Financial Repression: Wealth Taxes on the Way
Charles Hugh Smith*: “As the global economy slides into recession and the U.S. economy catches a cold, the blueprint for raising taxes will be dusted off in every state .. Here’s the blueprint for raising taxes:
1. Declare the tax is an emergency measure.
2. Start the tax out at a low rate to minimize resistance.
3. Levy the tax only on the wealthy to play the “it’s only fair” card.
4. During some late-night session when the public isn’t looking, make the tax permanent by burying the provision deep inside some popular and/or complicated legislation.
5. Raise the tax rate in response to deficits, i.e. “we need more money.”
6. Gradually expand the base by reducing the qualification level from “wealthy” to “well-off” and eventually to everyone.
7. Gradually reduce deductions and exemptions to pittances.
8. Auction off exemptions for the super-wealthy via campaign contributions.
You can watch the blueprint in action in any number of locales–for example, Rhode Island, where the governor is proposing a first-ever statewide property tax on second-homes worth more than $1 million. The proposed levy has been dubbed the Taylor Swift Tax in honor of Swift’s $17 million mansion on the Rhode Island coast.”
