Counters Carley

Editor,
In his Sept. 12 commentary about the evils of wealthy people contributing to political campaigns, Michael Carley attacked only Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire who supported first Newt Gingrich and now Mitt Romney for president. It’s more than a little curious that Carley forgot to mention George Soros, one of the richest people in the world who contributed countless millions to Democratic candidates and other liberal political causes. He also made no mention of David Geffen, the billionaire music and media investor, Haim Saban, the part-owner of Univision Communications, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, or any of the many other “limousine liberals” notorious for their support of Democrats and extreme left-wing politics.

I guess in Carley’s world, it’s only bad for  successful and wealthy people to be involved in politics if they support Republicans, conservative ideas or the traditional American values that made this country great.

Carley then segued into a discussion of the so-called “Buffett Rule,” although not passed into law, the rule would have increased the overall tax rate on people earning over $1 million to at least 30 percent. Sounds great in theory (especially if you’re a politician trying to get re-elected by fanning the flames of class hatred), but in practice it would be disastrous for everyone — rich and poor alike. This is because the rule would dramatically increase the capital gains taxes paid by the wealthy. Of course, cranking up the taxes paid on income generated by investments would simply force the wealthy to find other things to do with their money. Even Pres. Obama recognized that this would cripple the economy and he quietly omitted the Buffett Rule from his proposed 2013 budget.

What’s more, taking investment money out of the economy by way of more taxes and giving it to the already bloated government to squander away is madness. Consider that Pres.

Obama spent close to $1 trillion in his 2009 Stimulus Plan with little to show for it now. The unemployment is high and the recovery is teetering at just above recession levels. It is beyond serious dispute that the way to grow the economy is through private investment, and one of the best ways to do that is to reduce the amount of taxes paid by all Americans.

Steve Silver
Porterville