Taxing the Successful, A Plan For Failure

Chris Mulhall, Contributor

When my family left Ireland for America, my ancestors were not able to claim any sort of wealth or advantage to better their future.  All they had were their hopes, dreams and the promise that hard work will let you better your life.  My Grandparents are the first generation of Americans in my family and they tell the grandkids stories about what life was like growing up for them.  Born just before the Roaring Twenties, they vividly remember the hardships their parents went through to support them during the Great Depression.  And if you look at them right after one of those stories when they think no one is looking, you’ll see a tear stream down their face for their siblings who did not survive those years.

My Great-Grandparents worked past anti-Irish discrimination and were able to earn enough money to provide for their kids.  My Grandparents worked hard to earn enough money to put themselves through college and to provide a life with less hardships for their kids than they went through.  My parents, both second generation Americans, continue to work incredibly hard to earn enough to put their four children through college and to eliminate as many hardships as they can from our lives.

There has been nothing in my life that I truly needed.  Sure, I have wanted  a lot of things, and as I got older, my preferences have become more expensive. But everything that I have needed has been provided for me.  My family has never been rich, but we are well enough off.

Today, the one material item that has transformed my family since we left Ireland for America is under attack.  That item is the Dollar.  The US government is currently debating a bill that would increase the income tax of those making over $100,000 a year to pay for the “Obamacare Health Plan” for the nation.  These workers generally went through higher levels of education for longer periods of time and put forth a tremendous amount of work each day to better themselves.

So for their hard work, the US government wishes to punish them to provide for those less fortunate.  I guess the saying “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need” is still alive and well.

The United States of America became one of the greatest nations on this earth through the hard work of individuals striving to better themselves.  Is it selfish to work to better yourself?  Should you be punished for earning more money a year than the average?

“Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue.” – Fransico d’Anconia.