Get the funk out ma face
Get the funk out ma face
Get the funk out ma face
Get the funk out ma face

You don't like my music
You don't have to use it
Funkin' is a thing that all of us release
You don't have to get it
All you do is let it
Then you'll know exactly how to groove
Brothers Johnson

It turns out Mitt Romney paid $6.2 million in taxes in the latest year between federal and local taxes and I say bravo for him that sounds fair as hell to me. Really, just think for a moment and ask yourself does anyone get $6.2 million a year in services from the government? This past weekend is a perfect example. A nature preserve sits right behind my house, which is great because it's like having a giant backyard with deer, foxes, and occasional eagles. I worry about those giant trees that lean toward the house in such an ominous way it's only a matter of time before I'll need major roof repair work. But it's a good deal for me.

This past Saturday we got the first snow storm of the season and my snow-blower is packed behind all kinds of stuff like bicycles in the garage, so I broke out the shovel. The corner house is cool most of the time except when you have to remove snow. Not only is it a long haul but those giant plows often push mountains of snow down the hill and back into my driveway. Be that as it may, I began shoveling and felt great as I worked up a healthy sweat. I get around the corner and come to the end of the sidewalk where it is snow-free. That was the invisible line that indicated where the nature preserve ended and my property began.

I paused and wonder why the hell they couldn't take that machine used to remove the snow and simply keep going down to the end. It would have been easy as pie and saved me some time. Our taxes in New Jersey are among the highest in the country (see table), and my town layers it on pretty good as well. Still, I send my son to a school outside the town and wonder where the money goes. I also wonder how many people in my town are unemployed, and if that social contract Elizabeth Warren is always talking about means they should help taxpayers shovel on a Saturday afternoon.

Tonight we are going to hear how people paying the overwhelming majority of taxes are bad people while those overwhelmingly sucking up the benefits are good, would-be hard workers that are victims of the successful.

I think Mitt should stand up and say if you didn't pay $6.2 million in taxes then get the funk out my face! If you dropped out of high school and sit around passing a joint with a bunch of buddies, but think somehow America let you down, then get the funk out my face. If you paid no federal income taxes, then get the funk out my face!

Higher Taxes Don't Work

There's an old adage that says "it's not how much you make; it's how much you keep." As a rich nation that's run up its national credit card to unsustainable levels, we must consider that at some point the answer will be to cut spending for a while to achieve some kind of fiscal equilibrium. Nations in Europe are grappling with austerity measures and higher taxes to get back to a point where they can grow their economies. In America, where the welfare state rages on, there will not be talk of sacrifice across the board but instead making the rich pay more. This is a huge mistake since the central issue of runaway spending and skyrocketing debt would continue, maybe even speed up, under the illusion the rich could pick up the tab.

The state of Illinois decided last year to fix its problems by hiking taxes. The hike carried the state into the top ten highest taxed based on 2009 data from the Tax Foundation. Last week marked the one year anniversary of those tax hikes.

Personal hiked to 5% from flat 3%
Corporate hiked to 7% from 4.8%

Small businesses were caught in the personal tax hike, and businesses in general took a serious hit. The state's deficit is still $8.5 billion and unemployment 11.0%. The state, which is a forced union state, had already seen a withering exodus due to the extreme tax and regulation culture. The Illinois policy Institute revealed the state lost one resident every 10 minutes over the past fifteen years. Since last year's tax hike 60,000 residents have moved out. Polls reflect major disappointment and distrust. 78% say the state economy isn't better off than a year ago, and 68% doubt the state was using the extra revenue responsibly.

The major problem for Illinois is government workers that have become a favored class. The top ten states with higher tax burdens all have in common that they are states with forced union policies. In Illinois 14,866 teachers made over $100,000 last year, including a gym teacher that pocketed $203,154. This morning it was revealed that Illinois has gotten the green light from the federal government to tax nursing home beds in order to raise $100.0 million for Medicaid which is woefully underfunded in most states already but will be drowned when the new healthcare law kicks in.

SOTU

Here's what President Obama is going to try to get across tonight. Somehow a person that pays $6.2 million is a villain while people that pay no federal taxes are victims. But this is deeper than that and those that take the income inequality bait should understand your pain and envy is being used as a shield for government to get larger and more dominant in public life. When President Obama talks about "collective" it will be suggested that someone making $1.0 million a year is making too much and should be taxed so that the person making $40,000 can be lifted higher. It matters not how the monies are earned. It matters not the sacrifices made by the former. It matters not if the latter dropped out of school or simply made a choice not to work hard enough to climb the ladder.

The era of making "good" money from low-skilled jobs is over. Tonight President Obama will try to bring it back through social-economic engineering. It means taking money from corporation bottom lines and redistributing it to workers with the lowest skill-set and that ultimately means taking from more important employees. In order to do this and bypass the Constitution we are going to hear the tag line "we can't wait" which is code for help me usurp Congress and states' rights more while we can. Help me by grabbing pitchforks (heck my unemployed neighbors didn't even pick up a damn shovel to help me) and torches while I push through czars and programs that bypass traditional rules of engagement.

The big mistake is telling the American public we don't have to engage in tougher curriculums and focus on areas that will drive innovation and power in the new world. Playing up the role of government as some kind of make-it-fair machine that punishes those that go the extra mile(s) while rewarding those that do not sets the nation on a course for mediocrity, substantially more debt and true second-class citizenry at some point in the near future. There is only one way to grow into the next level of greatness and that's to promote real greatness, allow risk-takers to cash in just as they are allowed to fail, and stop making excuses for those not up to snuff.

By the way I say we hear "fair" in various forms more than 15 times tonight.

The Market

Three months ago the market came to life in what I called the "Dirty Finger Nails Rally" that represented the core of this nation. Overnight we are reminded that while the core of this nation and global growth mean moving earth, the future means moving information over the Internet. Overnight tech earnings blew them away including results from WDC, VMW, TXN, and PLCM.

Comments

Charles, I just don't get it, Romney follows all tax laws, why is this even a discussion point? The continued battering of successful people is out of control. Change the tax code if you like, but it is ridiculous to continue to assume all people of wealth are hurting the 99%. Your comments as always are spot on. Micahel Arena on 1/24/2012 9:41:35 AM

THIS IS ONE OF YOUR BEST POSTINGS YET. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. DIANE Gorin on 1/24/2012 9:42:46 AM

Gingrich bashes Romney. That is rich. This is why we are headed downward in this country. Gingrich - a Republican for God's sake - is bashing wealth building. I pay $250K a year in taxes. It would be cheaper and better for all the welfare people if we cut out the middle man and I simply adopted a few families and paid them directly. Kevin Kehoe on 1/24/2012 9:57:46 AM

There is no way we get any services equal to what I pay in taxes. I live in the country were the town is full of hopeless people with companies moving out or closing down. Schools are closing and there is no money for basic services. Plus, being outside we get nothing but tax increases. Vern Carlsen on 1/24/2012 10:03:00 AM

I think spending needs to be cut a lot right now, and we need a short term tax increase to get the deficit under control. Also I think you should should show the same information on the 10 lowest taxed states. Is there a correlation between taxes and unemployement? Jim Webb on 1/24/2012 10:03:32 AM

No, taxpayer get little it any services from the government - state or fed. We make too much money to qualify!!!!! I don't mind helping the truly needy and I don't mid helping some one find their "boot strap" but this is ridiculous. A nations of gimmes from those who work. Theres your question of "what is fair!" cathy forrestc on 1/24/2012 10:09:19 AM

No. The majority of the taxes we pay are used to pay the salaries and benefits of a monstorous, bloated, and very inproductive government work force (sans the Military). Bill Bahlburg on 1/24/2012 10:25:19 AM

No! I do not get services comensurate with the level of Federal taxation. Our infrastructure is rotting all around us and lowering quality of life and expectations for the future. Too much of our Federal taxes are already used to transfer wealth instead of making construction jobs for those willing to work to make the USA a better and stronger country. Tim Tougas on 1/24/2012 10:40:41 AM

I don't think the goverment (local and federal)should raise tax rates. They should be made to balance the budget and allow the free market work. The direction of this administration is very dangerous to the people of the US in the short term and long term. Don Briggs on 1/24/2012 11:41:42 AM

Charles keep up the good work! I'm 76 years old and have never used any government services: what are "government services"? I was taxed all during my working years and now that I'm retired are taxing my Social Security check. It's sickening. What ever happened to self responsibility, one of the main concepts our great country was founded on. Our Founding Fathers, knowing what human nature is, set up a limited Constitutional Republic so that the central government could not plunder the income of working Americans: look where we are now. It seems that half the country's population wants what the other half earns through hard work and, career politicians, who want to keep getting re-elected to a very fat and cushy job, prostitute themselves, break their oath of office and steal from working Americans to gain votes. It's tragic what has happened to The United States. Jim on 1/24/2012 11:52:46 AM

He__ no we don't get services for our tax dollars. Here in California neither Fed., State, and now local services. Gov. unions are killing us, stealing from us. All the while, slapping us with the "F" word, "fair", one of Obama's and other socialists favorite words. Thanks for the great commentaries Charles. Cliff on 1/24/2012 12:43:08 PM

Gee, all of the States with the highest tax burdens look blue to me. Bill on 1/24/2012 1:21:51 PM

Keep on with fighting words, Charles. The 99% aren't listening to FOX Biz news--with earphones on to "music sounds" like what hurt our ears Sunday from Steven Tyler! Incredible!! The candidates need to push for tax code out, flat tax in! Stop the fighting among our citizens about what's fair. Doris on 1/24/2012 1:53:48 PM

Gingrich's recent ascendency with everybody boarding his bandwagon creates the frightening prospect of for more years of Obama...Don't these republicans understand that with all his negatives Gingrich cannot beat Obama paul meyehroff on 1/24/2012 4:49:11 PM

We need to restore the balance between the government and the citizenry. The only way to do that is to shrink the size and the scope of the gov.. BRUCE EMERY on 1/24/2012 4:50:05 PM

Personally, I would say a resounding "NO". But I'm not a member of a public union, on welfare, or on Medicare. I always thought of myself as the middle class (approx. $200,000 yearly income) but with the current climate and financial pinch I don't know where I'm at. What I do know is that the governments over me (federal and CA. state) are not doing me any favors. Rich Powell on 1/24/2012 8:35:46 PM

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