Tax Absurdity

And if you knew how much I need you
Oh and I need you like the air
If someone should take you from me
I would run, run, run, runaway
--Jefferson Starship

Amusing post by Dan Mitchell on two absurd statements about taxes made by political officials. One comes from the governor of Illinois who claims that higher income taxes are needed to keep people from leaving the state (!). Theory and data show the opposite of course. As Illinois has raised its taxes, people are voting with their feet--as they are doing in other high tax regimes like New York and California.

The other statement comes from a German bureaucrat. He claims that, while he respects the sovereign rights of states to set their own tax rates, sovereignty of some states depends on being able to impose taxes on the people of other states. Mitchell suggests this is like having the right to own a house while neighbors have the right to set it on fire.

In fact, the situation is more akin to what we actually have. People 'own' houses, but other people can vote to tax that property. If people can forcibly take your property by law, then do you really own it?

The scary thing is that people actually believe these statements of tax absurdity.