Soak the Rich, Week 11

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) insists we can balance the 2011 federal budget’s $1.62 trillion deficit by raising taxes on America’s most successful employers, so I’ve been calculating the results of punishing evil corporations and their fat-cat CEOs. Starting with the ten largest companies in the S&P 500 index and moving to the least-Progressive villains after that, how far have twenty-two applications of Sherrod’s Sure-Fire Budget Oil brought us?

Though Sherrod – like President Obama – isn’t specific about his assuredly non-socialist methodology, my figures use the class-warrior’s dream scenario of doubled corporate income taxes and fully “reclaimed” CEO pay. If these extreme measures (view Excel summary) won’t work, Ohioans might want to start looking for a senator with more sense than Sherrod Brown!

Pictured above: the 2011 deficit bucket, and the 5.722% drop that would result from dramatically increasing taxes on twenty-two of America’s largest employers. That’s a reduction from $1,620,000,000,000 to $1,527,310,227,110. Even if soaking a few hundred more corporations could cover the remaining 94.278%, would it be worth it?

Of course it would! As any Progressive will tell you, raising taxes on The Rich has no negative effects. Among the things that won’t happen if Sherrod Brown and President Obama tax their way to the chart above:

• None of the corporations’ 4,951,660 employees will lose their jobs.
• None of the corporations’ products or services – health insurance, prescription drugs, medical devices, food at supermarkets & restaurants, gasoline, business & consumer lending, construction equipment, air travel, shipping, cell phone service, broadband access, fast food, the thousands of items available at Amazon.com & Wal-Mart, toothpaste, diapers, detergent, baby soap, Band-Aids, computer software, iPods, laptops, servers, networking equipment, etc. – will get more expensive.
• None of the funds or individuals holding the corporations’ 61,759,800,000 shares of stock will be ruined… unless they deserve it!
• None of the world’s entrepreneurs or executives will stop investing in American businesses.

It’s a good thing raising taxes is an all-around win; soaking The Rich is the only idea Senator Brown and President Obama have got, and we’re stuck with them until January 2013.

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Cross-posted at that hero.