The Effect of Fairness on Tax Revenues

[Geee]

American Thinker:

 

 

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking in Iowa on October 4, 2012, said:

 

On top of the trillions of dollars of spending that we have already cut, we're gonna ask - yes - we're gonna ask the wealthy to pay more. My heart breaks, come on man. You know the phrase they always use? Obama and Biden want to raise taxes by a trillion dollars. Guess what? Yes we do in one regard. We want to let that trillion dollar tax cut expire so the middle class doesn't have to bear the burden of all that money going to the super wealthy. That's not a tax raise, that's called fairness where I come from.

 

So, now we have it officially: if Obama and Biden are re-elected, they are going to raise taxes by letting "that trillion dollar tax cut expire." The comment by Biden raises two questions. First, what is "fairness"? Second, how will a tax increase affect the economy?

 

Regarding "fairness," I can find no source where the term is specifically defined. There are plenty of sources where Obama, et al. refer to the term without defining it: here ("The president is confusing me. Every time he's on TV, he says that the rich should pay their fair share. ... Well, I don't know what fair share is. That's what's bothering me."), here ("I want an America where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules"), here ("All those things are designed to make sure that the American people, their genius, their grit, their determination, is -- is channeled and -- and they have an opportunity to succeed. And everybody's getting a fair shot. And everybody's getting a fair share."), here (Biden says the super-wealthy are not doing their fair share), and here ( "Democrats have been playing the 'fairness' card throughout the campaign[.]").