Tom Foley in his letter to the editor takes us through an example intended to show that the damaging effects of higher tax rates on people making $250,000 are minimal.
These are the small business owners who invested risk capital, or professionals who invested in expensive educations while foregoing years of earnings, or both, all while working long hours with great responsibilities, which is why they get paid more in the first place. Had Foley included the approximate 8 percent Maine tax rate and 8 percent (16 percent if self-employed) FICA/Medicare rate, you end up with less than $100,000 net out of $250,000 in gross earnings, or under 40 percent.
A small business owner could come to the conclusion that he is better off making only about $100,000 gross since he will probably end up with a net very close to that in the example, and will arrange his affairs (laying off employees, renting smaller space, buying less materials and supplies, etc.) accordingly, while enjoying a less stressed, better quality of life. It is not the $250,000 people who will suffer from higher taxes, it is the people who used to work for them.
Never forget that the government cannot give to anyone anything that it does not first take from someone else. Sir Winston Churchill said it very well: “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”