WSJ showcases Dilbert's Bad Ideas On How to Tax the Rich

Over the weekend, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, Scott Adams, graced us troglodytes with his condescending wit in the Wall Street Journal with a piece entitled “How To Tax the Rich.”

Extolling the creative virtues employed by comedy writers to stimulate new story lines, Adams blithely suggested a myriad of “bad ideas” to tax the rich so that We The Lowly might come up with even more novel and “better” ways to soak those who already fund the public coffers to an inordinate degree (Adams has been pondering this for months, having written what amounts to an earlier draft on his blog).

He’ll reprise his WSJ gig next weekend to discuss those lucky few whose ideas amuse him. Instead, Mr. Adams should retire from comedic political musing, return to his drawing board and stay there.

The problem is Adams’ entire premise that the solution to reckless spending is higher taxes. This is the “one last drink” mentality for an alcoholic. It relies on the preposterous notion that, with enough tax revenue, government will eventually reach a point where it decides it has enough money to satisfy its spending needs. In chemistry terms, a gas will always expand to fill its allotted volume. In government terms, spending will always expand to fill (and exceed) its allotted revenue. It is delusional at best, deceitful at worst, to expect otherwise.

So then, why should Americans, rich or poor, contribute ever-increasing amounts of their hard earned income to a government that has no intention of “saying when” it has collected enough taxes? A government whose spending already far exceeds its intake, a government that has proven itself incapable of self-regulation, of living within its means? Simple: they shouldn’t. That’s what the 2010 shellacking of the liberals was all about.

Adams’ idea that government should imbue the tax code with clever tax gimmicks to confiscate even more money from the rich just enables the ongoing out-of-control spending. And more nefariously, Adams’ happy-faced suggestion on how to tax the rich plays into the growing class warfare diatribe embraced by Obama and the liberals: “We” are deprived of government goodies and services because those selfish rich bastards won’t pay “their fair share.”

Mr. Adams, true free market capitalism already does a great job of encouraging the rich to part voluntarily with more of their money all the while providing many more Americans with jobs and pay increases as they produce more and more goods to keep up with demand. Their income is taxed as are the goods and services, filling government coffers.

The American experiment in a free market system has already been tried and has proven track record. It even has a name. It is called Reagonomics. And unlike the federal tax code, it works.