"President Barack Obama's new health-care legislation aims to raise $210 billion over 10 years to pay for the extensive new entitlements. How? By slapping a 3.8% "Medicare tax" on interest and rental income, dividends and capital gains of couples earning more than $250,000, or singles with more than $200,000.
The president also hopes to raise $364 billion over 10 years from the same taxpayers by raising the top two tax rates to 36%-39.6% from 33%-35%, plus another $105 billion by raising the tax on dividends and capital gains to 20% from 15%, and another $500 billion by capping and phasing out exemptions and deductions.
Add it up and the government is counting on squeezing an extra $1.2 trillion over 10 years from a tiny sliver of taxpayers who already pay more than half of all individual taxes.
It won't work. It never works. Punitive tax rates on high-income individuals do not increase revenue. Successful people are not docile sheep just waiting to be shorn."
~Cato's Alan Reynolds in today's WSJ
Here are some reports on how tax increases on millionaires worked out in Maryland:
1. Wall Street Journal -- "Maryland's Mobile Millionaires: Income tax rates go up, rich taxpayers vanish."
2. Washingont Post -- "The number of self-reported million-dollar earners in Maryland has dropped by roughly a third compared with this time last year, renewing debate yesterday about whether the state's year-old "millionaires' tax" is driving rich people beyond its borders."
3. Baltimore Sun -- Top Payers Fade Away; Maryland Was Depending On Taxing Millionaires, But They're Disappearing.
4. Wall Street Journal -- Millionaires Go Missing; Maryland's fleeced taxpayers fight back.
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