OPINION:
A constitutional republic and free‑enterprise system survive only when they reward the people who build, hire and innovate.
Yet the fashionable chant to “Tax the rich” ignores the most basic economic reality: The so‑called “rich” are overwhelmingly the individuals who create the jobs everyone else depends on. Their capital isn’t lounging in offshore accounts; it’s tied directly to payrolls, equipment, expansion and the livelihoods of entire communities.
When government policy drifts into heavy, redistribution‑driven taxation, it doesn’t punish wealth — it punishes workers. Employers respond by cutting staff, freezing wages or simply leaving for states that respect economic freedom.
High‑tax jurisdictions like New York City have already watched their tax base flee to Florida and Texas. That’s not ideology. That’s what happens when you treat job‑creators like a revenue pinata.
A constitutional republic cannot function if it kneecaps the very people who generate opportunity. Overtaxing the productive class isn’t “fairness”; it’s economic self‑harm.
If we want upward mobility to remain more than a slogan, we must stop sabotaging the engines that make it possible.
GARY N. DARBY
Mesa, Arizona
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