Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns: How Much is a Fair Share?

Conservatism 101: D.I.Y. Political Education

Progressives are always braying about “paying your fair share.” But what exactly is a “fair share?” When do we know? Da Tool Guy not only tackles these question, he uses Mitt Romney as an example. “How much is fair?” is the topic of this week’s Conservatism 101.

CIVICS FOR THE MASSES

There’s been much talk of late about people paying their “Fair Share.”

Now for those who are unaware, Mitt Romney recently released his tax return from last year.
He pays a rate of about 15 percent.

Sounds like not much, especially for a guy who made about $20 million last year from his investments.

Here’s the thing, that’s capital gains taxes — which is what you pay on investments — not income tax based on earned income. Those rates are lower for a reason — to incentivize investment.

Moreover, that’s money made on dividends — read profits — which have already been taxed at the corporate tax rate of 35 percent.

Should you be one of those evil investors, who also have a day job, and you invest from your day job earnings you’ll be taxed about 25 to 35 percent on those as well.

So that dollar you got from your investments may have been taxed three times before it got to you — how is this fair?

Of course it isn’t, but in the Orwellian world of liberalism, unfair is fair, intolerance is tolerance and the stupid is just day to day business.

Obama loves to prattle on about “fairness” and “justice” but he makes sure never to really define what those mean.
I’ve been researching this for a while, and I think I have an idea or two.

“Fair” means “if you make more money than I do, have something I want or have a cuter girlfriend I can take any or all of the above because you’re obviously a member of the Bourgeoisie and I’m a member of the proletariat and you therefore stole it from me.”

“Justice” is the same thing, only on a far grander scale. Justice is what you use when one group is doing better than another, or you simply want to destroy whatever the evil industry du jour is.

Here’s the reality. Fairness means everyone has the same chance to succeed. Some may have a better chance than others through accident of birth. But everyone has the same basic opportunity in the country. Work hard, play by the rules (well used to be, the deck is getting more and more stacked) and you can end up being Mitt Romney. Whom it must be pointed out, gave his entire inheritance to charity, took no salary for fixing the Salt Lake City Olympics nor for being governor of Massachusetts and donated $3 million to charity in the last year alone.

Fairness does NOT mean “everyone gets what they want.”

Nor does justice mean “we’re going to destroy industries and livelihoods out of some misplaced idea that x or y industry is evil, or the great spotted snot-snail is more important than growing food.”

Fairness and justice mean that everyone gets an even start. It means that before the law — in theory at least — we are all equal.

Equality of opportunity, not outcomes.

Equality of opportunity means you at least have a chance to be successful. Equality of outcomes, “fairness and justice” in the left’s terms, means equality of mediocrity, equality of poverty and the justice of enforced hopelessness.

by DaToolGuy
images: dbkp file; hubpages

DaToolGuy is a small town journalist with big time dreams. He’s spent his entire adult life laboring in the obscurity he actually deserves. But he’ll take the opportunity to show off when it comes.

DaToolGuy writes regularly at View from Flyover Country.

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