Obama In 1998: "I Actually Believe in Redistribution"

Not that this is exactly new news, but it is worth reminding voters from time to time. 

Seriously, Can We Just Call Him A Socialist Now?

At a fundraiser in Chicago this weekend, Obama offers, "A new vision of an America in which prosperity is shared." 

By contrast, Paul Ryan:  "We promise equal opportunity, not equal outcomes."

These Hands

The Mask Has Come Off

I have been swamped by work/life the last few days, which means I have not had an opportunity to address Obama's revealing "If you've got a business, you didn't build that," speech.  I still don't have the time deserved to address it, but, fortunately, Romney knocked it out of the park in a speech yesterday.

Plus, Legal Insurrection has gotten straight to the heart of the matter: Obama views the state as master, not as servant.

A Friendly Reminder

The wealthy already pay more than their fair share.  Indeed, the United States has the most progressive tax system in the world.

Is the Country Unraveling?

Victor Davis Hanson:  Obama took a budding recovery in June 2009, and through massive borrowing, the federal takeover of health care, new expansions of food stamps and unemployment insurance, the curtailing of oil and gas leasing on public lands, new regulations, and non-stop demagoguery of the private sector slowed the economy to a crawl. His goal seems not to restore economic growth per se but to seek an equality of result, even if that means higher unemployment and less net wealth for the poor and middle classes. Obama hinted at that in 2008 when he said he would raise capital gains taxes even if it meant less revenue, given the need for “fairness.” Indeed, equality is best achieved by bringing the top down rather than the bottom up. Nowhere is the Obama model of massive borrowing, vast increases in the size of the state, more regulations, and class warfare successful — not in California or Illinois, not in Greece, Spain, or Italy, not anywhere.

That reminds me of this video:

Margaret Thatcher on Income Inequality

The Obama White House Pays Women Considerably Less Than Men.

Obama likes to present himself as a champion a female equality while, absurdly, claiming that Republicans are waging a "war against women."  Nevertheless, "[a]ccording to the 2011 annual report on White House staff, female employees earned a median annual salary of $60,000, which was about 18 percent less than the median salary for male employees ($71,000)."

It's Official

The United States now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world.

Even Russia, at 20 percent, and China, at 25 percent, have lower rates than America does. The difference in tax rates means American companies are trying to compete with one hand tied behind their backs.

…High taxes also leave less money for businesses to expand, innovate and create jobs. The prospect of saving millions of dollars in taxes has caused some U.S. businesses to move overseas, taking their jobs with them.

In contrast, researchers at the Heritage Foundation have calculated that if Washington were to cut our corporate rate to 25 percent, the benefits to Americans would be dramatic. After-tax income for a typical family would rise by almost $2,500. The U.S. economy would create 581,000 jobs a year over the next decade.

 If the President were truly serious about jobs, lowering the corporate tax rate would be near the top of his agenda.  After all, it's about fairness.  Isn't it?

U.K.'s 25% Tax Hike on the 'Rich' Produces Less Revenue

What a surprise!  The Tax Professor has a roundup on this news and reactions, including the following from the Wall Street Journal:

Speaking of higher taxes (and President Obama always does), there's news from once fair Britannia.

Preliminary figures out this week show that Britain's 50% top marginal income-tax rate may have reduced tax revenue from top earners by as much as 5%, compared to the old 40% top rate. Tax revenue from those filing self-assessments due January 31 was down some £500 million versus last year. ...

What this week's numbers teach, however, is that Britain's richest taxpayers are simply shifting their incomes, or themselves, offshore, or deferring income, or otherwise arranging their affairs to avoid the confiscatory new top tax rate. Maybe that's unfair, too—the rich are usually better at protecting their assets—but it's the predictable consequence of a tax rate whose animating purposes are envy and spite.

There's a lesson here for the Obama Administration, not that it is likely to heed it any more than Mr. Cameron.

 Via Instapundit.

Fair Question

Rand Paul to Barack Obama:  "Do you hate all rich people or just those that aren't campaign contributors?"

A Fairness Quiz for the President

Althouse: "Is it fair that some of Mr. Obama's largest campaign contributers received federal loan guarantees?: Stephen Moore, at the Wall Street Journal, noting that Obama likes to talk about economic fairness, has "A Fairness Quiz for the President."