Krugman's Social Contract and the Coming Class War

Coming to the defense of Elizabeth Warren, and foreshadowing the go for broke rhetoric that is to come in 2012, Paul Krugman become a class warfare denier.

The Social Contract

This week President Obama said the obvious: that wealthy Americans, many of whom pay remarkably little in taxes, should bear part of the cost of reducing the long-run budget deficit. And Republicans like Representative Paul Ryan responded with shrieks of “class warfare.”

OK. Stop right there. Could someone please first make the case that the rich do not pay their fair share? Could someone please tell me what that fair share is?

I guess not. Paul Krugman doesn't even make an attempt to answer either of these question. He does cite a meaningless statistic though.

Meanwhile, over the same period, the income of the very rich, the top 100th of 1 percent of the income distribution, rose by 480 percent. No, that isn’t a misprint. In 2005 dollars, the average annual income of that group rose from $4.2 million to $24.3 million.

So what? That means such an individual's share or tax burden increased by 480 percent. Right? Good for everybody!

From the Wall Street Journal

Let's actually look at some hard data, and make the case that top earners pay more than their fair share.

If we were really talking about a fair share, then everybody would pay the same percentage. A flat tax. And as you made more money your contribution would rise proportionally. But, as you can see from the chart nearby, the data bears out that the more you make, the larger your piece of the pie becomes.

So we already have the system that Paul, Elizabeth and the other Marxists are haranguing for.

How much is enough?

There isn't enough. There will never be enough. Why? Because this is a class war.

Paul goes on to say:

Which brings us back to those cries of “class warfare.”

Republicans claim to be deeply worried by budget deficits. Indeed, Mr. Ryan has called the deficit an “existential threat” to America. Yet they are insisting that the wealthy — who presumably have as much of a stake as everyone else in the nation’s future — should not be called upon to play any role in warding off that existential threat.

I can't decide whether this is extraordinary hyperbole, or an out right lie. THEY DO CONTRIBUTE Paul!

I am so sick of the class warfare, whinny sanction of the victim crap that if it would actually solve everything, I would capitulate. Fine. Sorry rich people, I know it's unfair, but we have to shut these people up and fix all of our problems.

The fact of the matter is that it would not even come close. There just aren't enough rich people to pay for the prolific spending the government is doing. This turns out to be further evidence that this is class warfare. These people are un-serious about solving problems. It is class warfare, and if you think "so what? I'm not rich", guess what. They are coming for you next.

From the Wall Street Journal

Like I said. There just aren't enough rich people to pay for the prolific spending the government is doing. So where will they go next?

So to all of you 'tax the rich' cheer leaders, what are you going to say when the political class turns around and says 'OK, now it's your turn to pay your fair share'?

The Class Warriors won't be happy until we are all unhappy.