Income and Outgo

In order to pay for some of the necessary social programs being put in place the government will have to find the money somewhere.  Traditionally this is done by implementing a new tax or raising the rate on an old one.

Another way to raise the capital would be to cut or scale down other programs but that is rarer than the Holy Grail.  And having said that I am sure the IRS will target me for an audit.  So the taxes will have to provide for the greater good.

One of the areas the government always likes to target is the so-called 'unearned income.' This is generally money an investor makes when he risks his own cash in the hopes of getting into a higher tax bracket.  It is the carrot that is held in front of those of us on the outside looking in.

In the show and movie, "1776" John Dickinson, a Republican representative put it best when he quipped that, "most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor."  He used this as the reason why the people will follow his side.

On the face of it a tax on the money we make investing seems fair.  After all it is income of sorts and we tax all income, right?

But it is not right.  And I also have a bone to pick with the term 'unearned.'  When I am lucky enough to make some small amount of money in the stock market it is only after hours of research.  The amount of time spent and money risked versus the reward is usually not that impressive but always earned.

And the money I do risk has already been taxed!  But I am not complaining about that part as long as the tax is paid by everyone in the same boat.  In fact one of my lifelong dreams remains intact to this day; I want to owe a million dollars in taxes - Sweet!

If we wish to really use the term of unearned income properly we must start calling the salary paid to our Congress men and women unearned for surely they do very little real work for it!

With all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the passage of the 'do very little' health care reform bill one would think this law will save the world.  But a closer look will note all the blemishes on the new law that does far less than it should have.

This is because most of the time spent on ironing out an acceptable bill in Congress was not in committees but in the offices of the lobbyists who must make sure they maintain their obscene incomes.

Over the course of the next 3½ years the insurance industry will pay their sleaze bags, I mean lawyers inordinate amounts of cash to find the loopholes in the law.  They will continue to raise the premiums and lower the coverages before the law takes effect so that they can hold onto as much ill-gotten gains as possible.

You wish to talk about UNEARNED INCOME?

It is a simple fact that if the insurance industry had just given the cash spent to stop the bill in the past along with what they are about to spend in the next four years to their customers we'd all be better off.