Lighting the Fuse...

Well, looks like Michael Moore got to write his column for USA Today. Guess he wasn't fired like Ann Coulter. And he's really done it this time.

He's bleating "tax cuts for the rich".

I warned him. I warned all of you. Now it's on.

Let's take a look at this handy chart and accompanying article courtesy of our good friends at the Detroit News, and the Congressional Budget Office.

Looking at the chart, it appears that the tax burden has not, in fact, shifted toward the lower and middle class. In fact, despite the tax cuts, the bottom 60% of American households seem to be paying proportionately less of the total tax burden than they were pre-tax cut. The 20% above that seems unchanged in their relative burden, and the top 20% are actually paying proportionately more, making up the difference for the bottom 60%. And the top 20% of Americans seem to be paying, on average, 16% of their income in taxes. (Down from 19.4%).

What excites me is the possibility that the top earners will find ways in a growing economy to earn even more money. And what happens then? More taxes. Remember, it's not a zero sum game. If someone makes 1 million dollars and we get 20% of that, we get $200k. If taxes get cut and we take only 15%, and that person finds a way to make 1.5 million? Now we get $225 thousand. A net gain on a tax cut? Only in America, baby!

The top 1% of Americans (again, just going off the chart), saw a dramatic drop in taxes - almost 5% - from 24.5 to 19.6. Back to Ben Affleck, who complained about saving over a million in taxes last year, which just didn't seem right to him. Let's call it an even million to make the math easier on me, and let's pretend he's in the top 1% of American earners. If he saved 1 million dollars, he must have made about $20m, paying 3.9 million dollars. Pre tax cut, he would have paid 4.9 million dollars. So, if Ben really, really feels bad about the drop in federal revenue, he can get someone to pick him some good scripts, and he can bust his butt, and make an extra 5 million. Not only will Ben have saved the universe (in whatever movie he was in), not only will he have saved the federal budget (hooray!) not only would he have saved his own personal conscience (lousy guilt), he will have earned himself about an extra 5 million dollars to do with as he pleases. He can use that money to feed and clothe the poor, to buy a couple of new cars (I'll take that one AND that one...), or to buy Big Macs. He'll be incentivized to make more, because he can keep proportionately more of what he makes. Enough people get incentivized like that, and we'll make the money to take care of the deficit. Enough people get incentivized like that, and we'll have people with enough money that they won't have to rely on social security. Enough people get incentivized like that, and we'll continue to have an economy that is the envy of the world.

So, Michael Moore, with all due respect, take your whining about tax cuts for the rich, and deep fat fry that bad boy with your next peanut butter/banana sandwich. Or I might have to come back and explain it all again.

And I'm sure nobody wants that.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that Bill O'Reilley reported tonight (as his most ridiculous item of the day) that Michael Moore has had enough, and will not be attending the remainder of the RNC. Coulter fired, Moore quits, I guess we'll call that one even. Maybe Moore just wanted footage of himself being booed for his next movie, and now it's mission accomplished.