Can We Trade Obama for Castro?

by Dan Mitchell

I’m not serious , of course, but it is rather ironic that Raul Castro is cutting the tax burden on small business at the same time that Obama is pushing for higher tax rates on small business.

Reuters reports on the latest in supply-side communism.

Cuba unveiled on Friday a new tax code it said was friendlier for small business, signaling authorities are serious about building a larger private sector within the state-dominated economy. The new system, outlined in the Communist Party daily Granma, greatly increases tax deductions… The tax redesign comes as the government has begun slashing 500,000 workers from state payrolls and preparing to issue 250,000 self-employment licenses to create new jobs in President Raul Castro’s biggest reform since taking office in 2008.

Unfortunately, Obama seems to views tax issues through the prism of class warfare. This video explains why class warfare tax policy is misguided, and it includes the footage from the 2008 campaign where Obama basically said that he didn’t care whether his proposed tax increase on capital gains led to lower revenue.

The politics of hate-and-envy may be emotionally satisfying to some on the left, but there is strong evidence that high tax rates damage small business. And even though Obama apparently doesn’t think this means much, there is also lots of evidence that the so-called rich won’t wind up paying much additional tax because they can easily adjust their behavior. I guess the real question is why so many statists are consumed by disdain and resentment that they are willing to harm the economy and even forego tax revenue.

Big Government