President Obama, who won in 2008 by promising to unite people, now seems intent at dividing us as he seeks re-election. The 2012 Obama message is that the system is rigged against the average individual, that people who’ve achieved the American dream are somehow keeping everyone else down.
In his recent speeches in Kansas and Ohio, the president referred to a “gaping inequality that gives lie to the promise that America is a place where you can make it if you try.” He described an “inequality that distorts our democracy” and an unfair tax system where millionaires get tax cuts at the “expense of the middle class.”
He asked, “Do we want to keep in place the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans” or invest in education and infrastructure — “because we can’t afford to do both. That is not politics.” He added, “That’s just math.”
I’m still relatively new to politics, but as a businessman my math is pretty good. And Obama’s math just doesn’t add up.
The president’s “math” implies that the roadblock to prosperity is wealthy Americans who don’t pay “their fair share of taxes.” The biggest flaw here is that there simply aren’t enough wealthy people to tax in order to make up for all the overspending.
Last year alone, the US government spent $1.5 trillion more than we had. Yet all the combined income of all the nation’s millionaires was $721 billion in 2009 (the latest available figure). The government could tax them at 100 percent, taking every dime they made, and it wouldn’t cover half the current annual deficit.
In fact, the wealthiest 1 percent are the investors and risk takers who help fund new ideas, start new businesses and create new jobs. And they pay the lion’s share of taxes: nearly 40 percent of all federal income taxes in 2009, according to the IRS. This same group of earners also contributes nearly half of all charitable donations each year.
Of course the president’s right that “millionaires should not be paying lower tax rates than their secretaries,” but the real IRS data show that this mantra is politics, not math. In 2009, the average person making under $100,000 paid only 7.2 percent of gross income in federal income taxes; those making $1 million or more paid an average of 24.6 percent — well over three times the rate.
When half of Americans pay no income taxes at all, and a third get government assistance, we are already depending on so few people for so much government funding. Overtaxing the wealthy only prevents future investments and limits job creation for all Americans.
Simply put, a shortage of prosperous individuals results in fewer jobs, fewer taxpayers and less opportunity for everyone.
As a businessman, I entered politics out of concern for this country’s economic future. I don’t want to see my grandchildren stuck with an insurmountable burden of debt. It’s time for the people of this nation to see the problem for what it is. Our government is now borrowing 40 cents for every dollar it spends and our debt has reached a staggering $15 trillion.
Anyone who manages a household budget or a small business knows that this kind of math is unsustainable. If this reckless overspending isn’t stopped, America will face bankruptcy.
The only way out of debt and back to prosperity is through growth in the private sector. Government stimulus only increased our debt. Since the taxpayers fund all government jobs, real economic growth can only come from private investment in small businesses. As a business owner myself, I know that people are less likely to invest and hire when they fear the government is only going to tax them more.
It’s time for President Obama to stop the divisive political rhetoric that is working against our nation’s economic future. I agree with his assessment that “this is a make or break moment” for the entire country — but the president seems more interested in a socialistic concept of fairness than in achieving real prosperity. This type of math will never add up.
Do we as a people want to put our economic fate in the hands of an overspending and out-of-control government, or will we continue to trust in the free-enterprise system, driven by the creativity and innovation of American entrepreneurs?
Rep. Bob Turner (R-B’klyn-Queens) is a former CEO in television and currently a small-business owner.
