I was involved in a lengthy discussion with one of our customers this morning about the state of the nation, particularly when it came to the economy, the national budget, and taxes. To say that we did not see eye to eye would be accurate.
What set off the discussion was the customer's claim that the rich should “pay their fair share” of taxes. So I had to ask “What's their fair share?” The answer was, predictably, “More than they pay now.”
From there it was the usual litany of liberal talking points, including the claim the Bush tax cuts only helped the rich. Never mind that those same tax cuts removed a number of those with middle and lower end incomes from the tax rolls. Never mind that the rich already pay a majority of the taxes. It wasn't enough for her.
A little further along in our discussion I had to ask how much money the higher taxes on the rich would collect. “It would erase the budget deficit!”
The answer merely proved she hadn't really thought it out and was merely parroting what she'd heard elsewhere. When I replied that even if the tax rate on the rich was raised to 100%, the theoretical income derived would cover about a fourth of the deficit, she didn't believe me. This is something easily verifiable and I even made a few suggestions of some websites where she could run the numbers herself. She wasn't interested.
That's when I realized I was wasting my time and, as politely as possible, ended the discussion.
As she was leaving she stopped at the door and said, “You sound like one of those f*****g Tea Party wackos!”
So much for polite political discourse.