The late and great Margaret Thatcher had it right (as usual) when she said of Communists that sooner or later, they run out of other people’s money. What’s happening in many of the neo-socialist hellholes like New York lately is that the “other” (i.e. wealthy) people aren’t necessarily running out of money, they’re running out of patience with the filthy nest their government has created, and are running away.
It’s snapshot simple. The wealthy and the companies they work for pay most of the taxes. The poor consume most of the taxes through social programs. COVID is driving the wealthy and their offices out of the city. No one will be left to pay for the poor, who are stuck here, and the city will collapse in the transition.
Of course, that would be bad enough, because even if the wealthy folks came back to their Upper East- or West Side domiciles once the Chinkvirus had subsided, NYFC could continue to fleece them in the manner to which everyone has become accustomed. But if their toney little brownstone houses and chi-chi apartment buildings are surrounded by homeless, aggressive beggars and rioting assholes of the BLM / Pantifa persuasion, the millionaires and billionaires will say (and are saying) “The hell with this shit” and leave for more hospitable climes — and their companies will go along with them.
I have another post bubbling under about the death of the traditional office-work model, but that can wait for another time.
What’s really interesting, from a socio-political perspective, is how quickly this has happened. It might have happened at some point or another anyway, as the Blue Model metropolises collapsed under the weight of their underfunded pension plans and failing social services and infrastructure — but the Chinkvirus has been the Catalyst Supreme for our little domestic Lenins and Maos. What’s even more interesting is that, being economic illiterates, our socialist pols have looked to Europe, their favorite model, and said, “But France isn’t collapsing!”
Oh yes, it is. The difference is that rich Frogs can’t exactly load up U-Hauls and move to — where? Germany? Belgium? Britain? It’s the same situation in those countries. There are no prosperous and successful business-friendly, low tax states in Europe like Texas, Florida or Utah — they’re all soft socialist states; and the Chinkvirus is having the same effect on their economies and traditional business models as it is in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
So even in the best of times (booming Trump economy, no virus, no BLM / Pantifa riots), Illinois, California and New York — to name but three — would be sucking wind soon enough, and the writing has been on their walls for some time. But in the current environment? They’re screwed.
My only concern, as I’ve often said before, is that these fleeing rats don’t come to our happy little ships and infest them with their shitty ideas and political morality.
Ol’ smokin Joe has already said he would raise taxes on anyone making over 400K. Gotta make them millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. But if my failing memory serves me right (doubtful) the top 5-10% of earners already pay over 50% of the total personal income tax collected each year. And once the leeches get done sucking the life blood out of the 400K earners, then they will have to begin to lower the ceiling each year to keep paying for their pet projects. This happens anytime you let a Democrat close to the purse strings.
One commentator remarked that the sea change in working from home is that we are living AB, After Broadband. Online meetings were simply not possible previously.
The Socialists will just try to tax the wealthy wherever they are to bail out the “pore and starvin'” in the cities. NYFC is already looking for Federal money to fix what their policies broke.
Back during the Obama years, he floated the idea of a one-time, 20% “tax” on all 401K accounts, because it wasn’t fair that some people had retirement savings and others didn’t. Union pensions, of course, would be exempt. Not fair? You mean not fair that I put aside a percentage of my pay each paycheck so I have something to live on later in life, rather than spending every penny now? Not fair that I studied Computer Science instead of Ethnic Studies, so I have a job which allows me to have excess income to save? Not fair that I’ve spent nearly 35 years working full time, never having been unemployed once, and building a skill set and reputation as one of the better people in my field, so I can command, and get, decent pay?
I’m a firm believer that if you took every penny in the US from everyone who has it, divided it up equally among the entire population, and distributed that amount to everyone, in 5 years the people who are billionaires and millionaires now will be again, the people who don’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of will be THAT way again, and a large number of drug users will be dead because for the first time they can afford enough crap to kill themselves.
Drop on over to YouTube and check out Bill Whittle’s video called Eat the Rich. It was based on David Burge’s numbers. David Burge is Iowahawk.
CA is fixing to add a “wealth tax” to their tax rolls. That would be a tax on your bank account, property, stock holdings, etc. First group to go broke will be all the farmers, other than the very large corporate types, since they are typically land rich and cash poor. Idiots haven’t heard of the term “eating their seed corn” I guess.
They already chased most of the high income people out with their (at least) 13% surcharge on all income above $1mil. In 2000 there were 18 thousand in that category. Now, just a couple thousand, if that many, after they get done responding to the latest hit. This will certainly finish off that group.
Oh, and they are planning on a 10 year hit against your money if you bail out of the state in response to the new tax.
Oh, and they are planning on a 10 year hit against your money if you bail out of the state in response to the new tax.
How do they get to do that? Sure the gov can hit you while you’re there, or working there, but if you’re gone and establish residence somewhere else this year, seems to me if you’re paid up for this year, and if you leave this year, you’re legally beyond reach no matter what their silly-assed legislature says.
If I go to Kali for a one year business project, do they think they can tax me for the next ten years?
Bullshit. Molon Labe motherfuckers.
You misunderstand, this won’t be an income tax, but a wealth tax. They figure that you made that money due to special conditions inherent in their state, and therefore it is their money. Remember Obumer’s “you didn’t build that”? Same mindset.
They will go after that money just like the IRS would. A court order will go to your bank, and they will hand it right over. You’ll find out about it after the fact. I’ve heard that they will chase people’s money all over the world, and most banks will just cave to them. Banking is a tight club, and after the Swiss banks gave in to the IRS’s demands, virtually none of them have a spine anymore.