Tuesday, January 14, 2003

(via Atrios)
Paul Krugman on the bold plan.
So here's a prediction: If the dividend tax exemption is put into effect, the rules that supposedly prevent abuse — that prevent wealthy individuals from avoiding any taxation at all — will be subject to extensive evasion. Will the I.R.S. get the resources it needs to police that evasion? Don't be silly. So both the true budget costs of the plan and its tilt toward the wealthy will be bigger than even the harshest critics now assert.

It's tempting to attribute this mess to sheer incompetence: George W. Bush liked what Charles Schwab said, and nobody dared tell the emperor the truth about his wardrobe. But maybe the mess is deliberate. Is this just another clever step on the way to a system in which only the little people pay taxes?

No comments: