GOP Objects To 'Millionaires Surtax'; Millionaires We Found? Not So Much

NPR has a fun piece GOP Objects To 'Millionaires Surtax'; Millionaires We Found? Not So Much.

"For the second week in a row, the Senate on Thursday voted down proposals to extend the payroll tax holiday through next year. In the case of the Democrats' proposal, Republicans objected to the "millionaires surtax" that would be used to pay for it...The argument is that many small-business owners report company profits on their individual taxes because of the way their businesses are structured. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., says the surtax would hurt their ability to hire."

"We wanted to talk to business owners who would be affected. So, NPR requested help from numerous Republican congressional offices, including House and Senate leadership. They were unable to produce a single millionaire job creator for us to interview.


So we went to the business groups that have been lobbying against the surtax. Again, three days after putting in a request, none of them was able to find someone for us to talk to. A group called the Tax Relief Coalition said the problem was finding someone willing to talk about their personal taxes on national radio.

So next we put a query on Facebook. And several business owners who said they would be affected by the "millionaires surtax" responded."

And each of them said the marginal tax rate had no bearing on their decision to hire more people or not. Shocker. And which businesses are these that aren't incorporated in some way for limited liability protection? This is just like the myth of all those farmers who would lose the family farm because of the estate tax.