Eat The Rich Flights Of Fancy

The late Senator Russell Long of Louisiana described the art of taxation as,

“Don’t tax you and don’t tax me. Tax that man behind the tree”.

This explains why Democrats are always demanding that the rich “pay their fair share”, without, of course, defining what % of income constitutes a “fair share”.

The overwhelming majority of Americans regard themselves as middle class, not rich.  But many might well be regarded as rich.  Fidelity Investments recently reported that more than 200,000 401(k) accounts are worth over $1 million.

But taxing income, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, isn’t enough, and a few Democrats are honest about that.  The honest ones have settled on an old idea: tax wealth, not just income.

That proposal has a few problems.  For one, it is flatly unconstitutional.  Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the “Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises”, provided they are uniform throughout the union.

But Article I, Section 9, says that “No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken”.