The Incoherence Of The Income Inequality Talking Point

Income inequality. Income inequality. Income inequality.

You hear the phrase uttered constantly as if it is some universal truth: Income inequality is bad. Rich people make a lot more money than poor people. Okay. Now what?

Let’s accept the Left’s formulation that income inequality is bad – for now. What do they propose we do about it? The only answer I’ve heard so far is “raise taxes on the 1%”. In fact, the only reason the talking point has become a topic of discussion is because Leftists are trying to convince the public that the solution to our government’s out of control spending is to simply tax “the rich” more. With a nearly one and a half trillion dollar deficit this year, taxing “the rich” will fund a couple of weeks of spending. That’s it. Democrats haven’t passed an official budget in nearly three years. They have no serious plan to tackle spending. All they care about is playing the populist game in order to remain in power. Their entire re-election strategy is based on the myth that raising taxes on the rich will bring the deficit under control – never mind the national debt – and somehow create jobs and economic growth.

It doesn’t make sense. It defies logic. And yet, here we are. The Democratic Party is engaging in full blown class warfare based on the idea that our major fiscal problem is the rich are too rich. Income inequality. Really.

Here’s a little experiment you can try: Whenever you hear someone whining about income inequality, ask them how to fix it. They’ll invariably tell you that we need to tax the rich to pay for programs that help the poor. Okay. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t those programs already being funded with borrowed money?

That’s right. Part of that nearly trillion and a half dollars that the government is spending right now is going to these programs the Left says will improve income inequality. Are you seeing the circular logic? The programs are already in place. We’re spending the money already and income inequality is still a “problem.” Doesn’t that mean the programs they want to keep funding are failing? They’re not going to spend more on the programs. They’re just going to get more money out of the private sector. There’s no upside. There’s no inherent benefit to taxing some people to pay for something that’s already funded (with borrowed money) when it comes to addressing the “problem” they’re allegedly trying to fix.

Their solution to “income inequality” doesn’t solve the problem. They are literally saying nothing. It’s just loud noises.