I swear to you, I feel like we are living in the middle of an Ayn Rand novel. Listen to James Talarico, a Democrat state representative from Texas:
So the part of Henry Reardon will be played by Elon Musk. Somehow, the left thinks that people over a certain wealth level are somehow stealing from the poor. So they are going to reward his success by stealing the money that he has earned.
They are complaining about him becoming a trillionaire. Think about what he has done to hit that amount. My house is powered by his products in the form of Tesla Powerwalls. Millions in rural areas now have Internet service who otherwise wouldn’t because of SpaceX. He was the founder of PayPal. The left is incensed that his new pay package from Tesla will be $1 trillion, but the devil is in the details.
The $1 trillion payday will be spread over a decade. They aren’t talking about his income- they want to tax him to cap net worth. He isn’t receiving $1 trillion in cash- he will get that in stock in Tesla, and only if he hits certain targets to include Tesla becoming an $8.5 trillion company by delivering millions of EVs, robotaxis, and Optimus robots. So what happens when they tell him he can’t make that much money in the USA without it being confiscated? What would YOU do if you were worth $1 trillion, and the country wanted to confiscate it all?
That is the key question: what happens when they pass a law to cap income? Where will it be capped? I promise you that it won’t be a trillion. I have seen proposals that vary quite a bit. For example, Bernie Sanders says that a 100% tax should apply to income over $999 million. What happens when you make no money beyond a given point?
Some proposals go as low as an 85% tax at $500,000 or more. But exactly WHAT is income? Is the threshold for wages only, or all income (capital gains, dividends, business income, etc.)? Many high-income people get much of their money from capital/business income, so a 100% tax on wages alone wouldn’t affect them much.
There are numerous ways to circumvent such a scheme. I could pay myself $1 less than the limit, then pay my wife, and then each of my kids $1 less than the limit. Close that loophole, and I will simply stop working as soon as I hit that limit. So imagine what happens when people hit that cap:
The really rich will simply leave the country. Imagine if Japan or some other nation became the home to SpaceX, Microsoft, and Apple.
Those who are at the low end of liberal seizures of wealth will simply go Galt each year. Imagine your doctor, lawyer, or other professional when the simply stop working in September and take the rest of the year off. Oh, you are going to pass a law saying they have to work all year? Ok, they have accountants and a calculator- they will simply work three days a week, or perhaps three weeks per month.
Why would anyone continue to work or invest if they had to assume all risk, but could get no profit. Once you hit this limit, you would simply stop taking risks.
This is a stupid idea, but that’s how communism works.
24 Comments
ErisSummer · December 9, 2025 at 6:30 am
My SF novel has Musk becoming president of Tejas y Coahuila when interference in Space X by USG & cartels becomes too parasitic.
Michael · December 9, 2025 at 8:26 am
Atlas shrugs indeed.
In the smaller field of the middle class is crushed between taxes and inflation aka Marx here is that basis of the earlier article about 130K is poor:
https://www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-life-is-a-lie?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Expanded well by John Gault
https://johngaltfla.com/economics/fort-building-in-a-muddy-creek-or-how-i-learned-to-live-with-and-love-the-cpi-u/
While Ole Grump was correct about certifications and owning land-homes-tools and such is real wealth, the flattening of the mud castle economy is going to create a LOT of trouble, suffering and death of even the “prepared”.
Or as they said in the collapsed ex-Soviet Union, they pretend to pay us, we pretend to work.
And everything spirals down to decay unless a strong leader (gee sounds like history does rhyme) comes along to do the hard stuff to get things fixed.
Got your lifeboat friend? The Titanic is going down sooner or later.
Unless a major WAR like the cure for the great depression occurs.
J J · December 9, 2025 at 8:37 am
I swear, the stupidity of my fellow Texans who fall for this tripe is equal to the stupidity of Californians and New Yorkers.
Talarico is a false Christian, wearing the sheep’s clothing while being a ravenous wolf.
Himself · December 10, 2025 at 10:07 am
I listened to him on Rogan. Listening to him vandalizing scripture was infuriating. For a ‘seminary’ student, he sure is illiterate on the bible.
J J · December 10, 2025 at 12:03 pm
Well, it is a Presbyterian USA seminary so they pretty much ignore alot of scripture anyway.
SmileyFtW · December 10, 2025 at 11:20 am
One word: Austin.
Ken Morgan · December 9, 2025 at 9:01 am
So annoying that people always try to dictate how much money someone else is allowed to earn. Always worth noting exactly 1oo% of US and state congressmen earn more than I ever have month to month, yet I am completely debt free. If I could do it with my own income, why can’t they?
Steve S6 · December 9, 2025 at 9:28 am
We need a trillionaire to make up for all the non producing leeches like him.
Vlad the non-Impaler · December 9, 2025 at 9:48 am
“There are numerous ways to circumvent such a scheme.”
And it’s a dead solid lock that congress will have every single carve out reserved just for themselves and their donors.
You can take that to what used to be your bank…now called “The .gov Repository of all your Earthly Possessions.”
TJ · December 9, 2025 at 10:05 am
We lived in a Communist country for a few years. My conclusion? The only cure for the lure of communism is the experience of communism.
Modern Day Jeremiah · December 9, 2025 at 10:58 am
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
TRX · December 9, 2025 at 11:04 am
> What would YOU do if you were worth $1 trillion, and the country wanted to confiscate it all?
—
With that kind of money: buy out the leaders of some country, crown myself Elon I, set up my own government, and buy one of the big security outfits to act as military, intelligence, and police. After securing my power base, I would start making trade deals, building factories, and moving my production to that country.
And then I would burn everything left behind in America to the ground.
Phil B · December 9, 2025 at 4:09 pm
“The really rich will simply leave the country. ”
See the UK where millionaires (and it isn’t too difficult to be a Millionaire with assets and income totaling up to that amount) are doing just that.
As for those with an assessed wealth of more than that, then they have left a while ago, taking their wealth and the money that they would have paid in tax with them.
lynn · December 9, 2025 at 4:25 pm
If people like this come into power in the USA, we are done for. The Civil War that will result from people like this will rip the USA into many pieces.
ML Thomas · December 9, 2025 at 5:29 pm
The only way we are going to convince voters that communism is bad is to have President Donald J. Trump endorse it and speak about how great and beautiful it is.
Iwoots · December 9, 2025 at 10:40 pm
“Where will it be capped?”
Way back in the ’90s, fresh out of the Navy, I worked a temp job inspecting Chrysler bumpers.
The company guy overseeing us told a story about their plant in Canada, where the best employee came in 4 days a week, and most only 3 days. He said those guys had figured out at what point that their pay went completely for taxes; so why work any more hours beyond that point?
Divemedic · December 10, 2025 at 6:22 am
Does Canada have a tax that caps income? That’s news to me.
Iwoots · December 10, 2025 at 11:29 pm
Guess I wasn’t clear enough (plus it was 2nd hand information).
I think the situation was similar to when my brother made E4 in the Air Force. His gross pay increased, bumping him in to the next tax bracket; which somehow caused his net pay to be the same or less than when he was an E3. (I don’t recall which – same or less>)
Let’s say the hourly wage is $20. With the same number of exemptions, etc., the worker notices that the weeks he works 32 hours, his net pay is $480 ($15/hour net), but the weeks that he works a full 40 hours, his net pay is $520 ($13/hour net) due to the additional taxes under a socialist system.
Why work the extra 8 hours a week for what ends up being $5 an hour?
Not a cap on income, but certainly a disincentive to work more hours than what one needs to just get by.
Divemedic · December 11, 2025 at 6:06 am
When you increase in tax brackets, the higher tax only applies to the amount in the bracket. For example, you pay 12% on the taxable income you make $11,600 and $47,150, then you pay 22% on income between $47,151 and $100,525. That’s for the year. The reason that it appears as though you make less per hour when you make more is the exact reason why progressive taxation is unfair. The statement that rich people don’t pay taxes is pure bullshit.
Look at a person making $58,000 a year. See the huge jump? Your marginal tax rate doubles when you hit $47,151.The person making $58,000 pays $7,813 in taxes, 13.5% effective rate.
Still, it’s rather shortsighted to deliberately make less money to avoid taxes.
Elrod · December 10, 2025 at 7:29 am
RE: Bernie Sanders: “Forget it, Jake, it’s Vermont.”
As for his Fellow Travelers, there’s a relevant Heinlein quote that begins “Throughout history, poverty is the natural condition of man…..”
I’d support TRX’s idea, except that “burning everything to the ground” would, probably, not be necessary – given who would be left (because not only would Musk leave, but also everyone like him) whomever remained would be unable to operate much of what the top 3-4% created, at least not with any great amount of success (look at the U.S. Congress if you doubt that….). I’ve heard there are no African dialect words for “maintenance,” I suspect Engish words for it would rapidly fall into disuse as well.
The real challenge would be “survival of the rapid decline” because that’s a necessity if anyone plans on rebuilding afterward (very small and exclusive group, that, but there might be some who could…)
Divemedic · December 10, 2025 at 7:35 am
That’s because maintenance is a white man’s construct and is a tool used to subjugate people of color. It’s racist.
Skyler the Weird · December 10, 2025 at 9:55 pm
I’m all for a 90% Tax on income over $250000 for Congressmen, Senators, members of the Federal Judiciary and the Executive Branch, and their families.
Jester · December 10, 2025 at 10:12 pm
@DM,
Working in the medical field you have already seen the amount of medical companies that headquarter out of say Ireland, or other places. Big, big players who own a whole lot of smaller divisions that used to be their own entities. This stuff is hardly new for what we see daily. The thing that is comical is the drivel brained idiots that think some how magically these companies or indivduals who have values approaching or well in to the post 7 figures would not have at least people smart enough to tell them (assuming they are mush headed morons that just got the money though rich parents) they should offshore all the assets they can. This is quite honestly what happens to a bulk of those figures in that tax brackets. They offshore every cycle this happens. Or in the case of General Electric employ a fleet of folks that just play the financal and tax scheme. Sure pay that division a few million in salary, but save hundereds of millions in not paying taxes though the various “loopholes”
I’m not sure what the difference is however in the political critters that espouse to this. How many of them are honestly that stupid to believe what they are saying or if they are just counting on those that would vote for it to be that stupid.
Fake People · December 14, 2025 at 2:19 pm
I simply cannot believe that anyone truly thinks that the “Elon Musk” we are presented with is actually a real person. FFS!
This dude supposedly immigrated to the USA, and now runs Tesla, X/Twitter, SpaceX, NeuralLink, Boring Co.,, and ran DOGE. Give me a break. Any single one of those endeavors would require a life-time sacrifice from an extremely gifted and dedicated genius. This creation also had a hand in PayPal, and who knows what else.
Elon Musk is the poster child for the fake and gay world we live in. Anyone who actually believes this dude is even involved in this crap, let alone on top of it all, is a cretin.
Just wake up, please.
*EDITED BY BLOG ADMIN TO ADD: This post looked legitimate, but linked to a commercial website that looked like marketing. For that reason, I decided to allow the post, but edited out all references to that site. END EDIT***
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