Some Thoughts on Romney’s Income

Why are people surprised by Romney’s tax returns? By dint of birth, education, and hard work, he has been in the perfect position to benefit from the liberalization of finance that has transformed our economy over the last 35 years.

Rich people do not keep their money under a giant mattress; they invest it so that it makes its own money, and they have so much money that the money their money makes is enough to live on. It’s the same thing middle-class people do with bonds or dividends, just on a much greater scale. The issue shouldn’t be whether or not Romney is too rich, it should be whether or not capital gains should be taxed at their current low rate of 15%. I’ve never understood why capital gains is taxed differently than income: it’s money that I get that lets me live, just like money I get from my employer. The double taxation distinction is completely off base; unless you want to get rid of all taxes in an economy, you cannot castigate one form of taxation. Given the false double taxation distinction, I’ve never understood why it’s not taxed at the same rate as income. That way Romney would pay way more on his millions of dividend income than I do on $15 of annual GE dividends. I don’t think the two of us should have the same tax rate.