(The Department of Homeland Security. Really impressive, and just what we needed to keep the TSA under control. Hahaha. Image credit: Perkins+Will).

Well, I can’t sort it out, and that is making Plan B harder to figure out. The dust is starting to settle on the election; the triumphant rhetoric and recriminations are well in progress. The President held an infrequent press opportunity while my Colleague and I were screaming back and forth from the Agency on the wrong side of the Anacostia River.

The weather was cool but nice, and I have no idea why people were driving the way they were. The looming majesty of the new Headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security broods on the bluff above 270, where traffic was alternately crawling and spurting off in wild lane changes. I don’t know which is the greater threat.

I have come to accept the fact that I have to identify the jurisdiction of origin on the plate of the car ahead of me to know when I have to be ready for something stupid to happen.

I feel that way about a lot of the country these days. There are petitions to secede from the Union from several of the Red States, and I am inclined to let them go.

Anyway, the President seemed to indicate that the big solution to everything is to raise taxes, which comes as no surprise, though the math doesn’t seem to add up to that “Millionaires and Billionaires making more than $250,000 a year” thing.

I should say “meme,” since that is a cool word all the talking heads are using that none of the rest of us understands. I thought it was Marvel Marceau?

Anyway, I saw this analysis, and thought I would pass it along as part of the Plan B planning I am doing in case the Recession comes to Arlington.

“In case.” Hahaha. Talking to the bureaucrats at the Agency yesterday, we ain’t seen nothing in this industry yet. Oh well, it was a good run. Hence the “Plan B” drill for me. You can fact check it if you want- but it seems close enough for Government work:

“Q: Will increasing income taxes on families with incomes over $250,000 get the nation’s fiscal crisis under control?

A: Currently, the national debt exceeds $16 trillion. In fiscal year 2012, the administration added another $1.1 trillion to that debt. Most people who hear that raising taxes back to their Clinton-era levels would eliminate a good part, if not all, of the deficit. So what would happen if we returned the top marginal income tax rate from 35% to 39.6%, and the second marginal rate from 33% to 36%, as proposed?

Let’s note first that the top rate kicks in at a taxable income of $388,350 for a married couple, and the 33% rate at $178,650, so we are actually reaching deeper than the $250,000 level we have heard so much about.

The Joint Committee on Taxation claims raising the top two rates as proposed would increase revenue by $22.35 billion in FY 2013,assuming that no economic activity is deterred by the higher rates.

The higher taxes on the rich would cover around 2% of the current federal budget deficit, and would make no contribution at all toward dealing with our $16 trillion debt.”

I don’t know about that, since all the Keynesians keep telling us we will just grow out of it, like the Japanese thought 33 years ago. But let’s just say that it a popular approach to get even with those 1% bastards, even if it doesn’t actually fix much. It makes people feel better, and this is all about feeling good. Or better. Or something.

One of the important aspects of higher taxes is that there are internal feedback loops that go along with them. For example, a higher tax rate does not necessarily produce higher revenues to the government, since it stimulates tax avoidance.

I would never do anything like that. But I might quit working, if the recession comes to Arlington.

But that means looking at Plan B. I will leave you with this, just in case you are planning, too. Plan B might need a little work.

Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com