In a little less than two months, the 2012 Presidential race will be over. We’ll have either decided to give President Obama four more years or give a GOP hopeful Mitt Romney a shot. While the choice revolves around a number of issues (such as health care, abortion, gay marriage and foreign policy), the economy is the factor looming large in the minds of most voters. Specifically, worries over taxes – and those will-they-or-won’t-they-tax-cuts – have escalated the economic discussions to a whole other level. This time, however, it’s not just about your pocketbook, it’s about your heart: in this election season, patriotism is hot. And how much of a patriot you are seems to be directly tied to your views on taxes.
Romney got the ball rolling in Florida by painting himself as the champion for small businesses and middle America by preserving tax cuts for all taxpayers – including those at the top. To do otherwise, he claimed, would be contrary to what our country is about. In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, he emphasized this point, saying, “[t]hese are American success stories… In America, we celebrate success, we don’t apologize for it.”
In response, Obama struck hard at his patriotic message in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, saying, “Over and over, we have been told by our opponents that bigger tax cuts and fewer regulations are the only way; that since government can’t do everything, it should do almost nothing. You know what? That’s not who we are. That’s not what this country’s about.”
And so the discussion has gone for several weeks. It’s the “you’re a patriot if…” debate. And the answer changes depending on who you are. Are you more of a patriot if you want to pay more taxes, like Warren Buffett? Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) says yes, blasting those who earn more and pay less, stressing the need to focus on “the basic fairness of our country’s tax system.” Are you less of a patriot if you want to pay less taxes by using tax breaks or moving abroad like Eduardo Saverin to lower your tax burden? Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) thinks so and has, as a result, introduced the “Ex-Patriot Act”.
But don’t be fooled into thinking that this is an American-only sentiment. In France, they’ve also pitched higher taxes as a matter of citizenship, with French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici saying, “It’s a strong, patriotic measure. Those that got very rich over the past period can help in a patriotic way to turn around the country.” That patriotic way is pretty steep: currently, Moscovici is pitching a 75% rate for France’s millionaires.
In the UK, the discussion is largely the same. Susan Kramer, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman in the House of Lords, similarly touted pushing tax rates up for the upper class saying, “If we’re going to be a coherent society, and that is absolutely fundamental to our success and our prosperity, everyone has to carry a share of it.” She noted that it was their duty of those with money to pay “particularly in a time of austerity like this.”
And in Russia, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin advised Russians to smoke and drink in order to boost the economy since those activities are subject to excise taxes. He went on to say, “People should understand: Those who drink, those who smoke are doing more to help the state.”
Across the globe, it appears more and more that what you pay in taxes is somehow equated with your level of patriotism. Interestingly, it seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon. I’d love to hear your take. What do you think: is paying more in taxes the patriotic thing to do?
