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“The rich put cream on their berries; the rich drive shiny black cars. – (from the Broadway musical “Carnival!”)
The Pandora Papers, “an exposition of the financial secrets and offshore transactions of dozens of heads of state, officials and politicians,” writes CNN, could not have come at a better time for the “progressives” in Congress who Seek To Earn Enough Democrats must pass the massive $ 3.5 trillion Biden-Pelosi infrastructure bill, which is chock-full of enough pork to infect the nation with financial trichinosis.
The Pandora Papers, released on Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), are not equivalent to the Pentagon Papers, which revealed how the US government lied to the public about the Vietnam War, but it could serve the political ends of the left.
Newspapers reveal – wait – that the rich have managed to avoid paying taxes by hiding their wealth in foreign countries, like the Cayman Islands. Who knew?
What I love most about this “revelation” is the double standard it reveals once again about wealthy politicians who have criticized tax evaders, while avoiding taxes themselves.
One of the many examples is former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, a critic of tax evaders. Pandora Papers reporters discovered that Blair and his wife, Cherie, who is a lawyer, were avoiding paying taxes on a high-priced London office they bought. Cherie Blair was quoted in the UK Daily Mail as saying the transaction and tax evasion were perfectly legal.
To paraphrase writer Michael Kinsley, the real scandal is not what is illegal, but what is legal.
“The rich go here, the rich go there
It is close to the truth but far from being fair ”
In these lyrics is the left’s basic argument for fairness. Politicians have a vested interest in demonizing the rich, as the envy of those who are successful helps solidify their careers in Washington, where they can get rich as well. Ask yourself how many members of Congress come in as “thousands” with annual salaries of $ 174,000 (leadership gets a little more) and leave as millionaires. It is not because they know how to play on the stock market.
By focusing on “fairness” and other buzzwords like “fairness” and “equality”, these same politicians manage to distract public attention from the real issue. To put it succinctly, as Ronald Reagan often did, we are in debt, not because the American people are taxed too little, but because their government is spending too much.
“The rich stay cozy all winter
Stay cool in July ”
How does what other people make and how they choose to live affect your life? If you’d rather punish the rich with higher taxes, how does that improve your financial situation? It may make you feel better, but the urge doesn’t produce any positive results.
The best way to get money overseas from tax evaders would be for the US and Britain to lower their taxes. This is what Donald Trump did for American companies that had moved abroad to escape a higher tax burden. A few companies came back and started paying taxes at a rate lower than the US Treasury, most did not.
There remains the question of income versus expenditure. The US government receives a lot of money. The problem is that he refuses to live within the means given to him by the taxpayers.
As for the rich, there are several ways to define the word. For some, real wealth comes in the form of a loving spouse, successful children, good health, and a feeling that life has a purpose.
As the puppet and main character Lili in “Carnival!” to assess their own happiness in humble circumstances, they sing:
“But for everyone, we would not change, we are happy to be rich.”
Readers can email Cal Thomas at [email protected]. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “America’s Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires and Superpowers and the Future of the United States” (HarperCollins / Zondervan).
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