- The Tax Man Cometh

When I was in school I sold cars for a while. It was a fun job most of the time and helped me get over what was then an almost paralyzing shyness. But the best part of that job was all I learned about managing people.

In fact I was taught one tactic which never failed. When people would come in to pick up their car, there was almost always a financing contract to sign. We salesmen were paid a portion of the financing cost so the contract usually had little fees etc worked into it and the rate was usually a little higher than expected. Between that and the taxes, the buyer's monthly payments would usually be somewhere between 5% and 10% higher than they expected based on their negotiation.

The way I was taught to handle this was that I'd take the contract out and point quickly at the sales price (which was what always exactly what they thought it would be) and the registrations fee (which was also exactly what they would expect) and then I would point at the sales tax and tell them that it was their monthly payment. That number was usually anywhere from 3 to 5 times their actual monthly payment so they would always react with a combination of shock and horror.

"Its' WHAT?!!! What do you mean my payment is $1,237 dollars per month?! I was told it would be about $300"

Then I would look carefully at the contract, get a surprised or embarrassed look on my face and say say... "oops I'm so sorry... that's the sales tax... geez... I'm really sorry about that....the payment is this number right here... you were expecting it to be $300 per month and it is... it's $311.45 ... just about what you expected. I'm really sorry about that but it's all right here on the contract... please... look carefully at it before you sign it and make sure I'm not making some other mistake."

After a shock like that they would look at that extra $11.45 as if it were nothing but to me it represented about $400 bucks in commission. No one would ever even blink at the difference. No one... not ever.

This is how I know that all this talk about a maximum tax rate of 78% or 90% or whatever it is that Obama needs to pay for all his promises, is no more than that... just talk. They can raise the tax rate to anything they like on high earners but they aren't going to see a dime of it. Make it 100% if it makes you feel better because there won't be a penny of taxes ever generated from it. The wealthy will just relocate and Obama and the IRS can suck their Carbon Footprint.

the truth is, like my 'sales tax as monthly payment tactic', all of this is just a cover for the coming VAT tax. That little tiny .9% (or whatever) VAT tax will look like a real bargain to most people after the numbers that the Brookings Institution is throwing around. they'll say... "Do you want to see a .9 VAT tax or a 78% maximum income tax?" and the voters will shrug and choose the VAT.

As usual, the American public is being totally played. The media is helping, and there is no doubt in my mind that the voters will fall for it. They always do.