Actually, the result of stupid politician tricks....Here's a two-minute drill in soak-the-rich economics:
Howzabout 2 seconds: It. Don't. Work.
Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy
Just like our beloved "I Won"....
declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were "willing and able to pay their fair share." The Baltimore Sun predicted the rich would "grin and bear it."
Of course, neither bothered to actually ask any of the fleecees what they thought of it.
One year later, nobody's grinning. One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000, which the state comptroller's office concedes is a "substantial decline." On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates.
Gee, guys - how's that "fleece the rich" thing working out for ya' so far? Are you ready to try something radical - like CUTTING SPENDING? Naaahhhh, I didn't think so.
No doubt the majority of that loss in millionaire filings results from the recession. However, this is one reason that depending on the rich to finance government is so ill-advised: Progressive tax rates create mountains of cash during good times that vanish during recessions.
Now there's a shocker. Hooda thunk it?
For evidence, consult California, New York and New Jersey.
The Maryland state revenue office says
All of this means that the burden of paying for bloated government in Annapolis will fall on the middle class. Thanks to the futility of soaking the rich, these working families will now pay Mr. O'Malley's "fair share."
While Mr. O'Malley and his cronies don't.