Barack Obama tells us that he will boost U.S. revenue by raising taxes on the rich. But the only nations that will see an increase in revenue, due to the president's "Soak the Rich" agenda, will be other nations.
Obama's mantra, since before he was elected in 2008 has been, "Soak the Rich."
But let's look at where his demonizing of the wealthy and attempts to punish their success have led.
The above chart is based on a count of the names that appear in what has become widely known as the "Taxpatriate Lists." These lists are published quarterly in the Federal Register and contain the names of every U.S. citizen who renounced his U.S. citizenship during the prior quarter. You can find links to all of these lists at ActionAmerica.org.
Notice that in 2008, before Obama was elected, official renunciations of U.S. citizenship reached a record low – the second record low in three years. Expatriations were decreasing.
Then in January of 2009, Obama took office and formal renunciations of citizenship skyrocketed to a level almost eight times the level that he inherited and more than double any year prior to Obama taking office.
Consider too, that for every formal renunciation, it's estimated that thousands of informal expats will just quietly "drop out." According to a 2008 Zogby press release, "by a modest estimate," more than 3 million U.S. citizens relocate offshore every year.
Historically, just over half of those who move their home offshore will make that move permanent. That means that conservatively, we're losing 1.5 million mostly wealthy taxpayers every year and as the chart above indicates, it has become much worse since Obama began his "Soak the Rich" campaign.
Perhaps it's time for Obama and Congress to take a serious look at the FairTax, since it would reverse this trend and actually encourage the world's wealthiest people and businesses to relocate in the U.S., where their taxes would help us all.
"Soak the Rich," instead of swelling the U.S. Treasury with additional taxes from the rich, as Obama suggests, is instead, driving away those who pay the lion's share of our tax load. The only coffers that will be swelled by Obama's agenda will be those of the countries where our wealthy expats settle and it will be poor and middle class Americans who will be saddled with having to make up for all that lost tax base.
Comments