Taxes

Veronique de Rugy | 1.1.2026 11:14 AM

There is something emotionally satisfying about watching a wealthy person call for higher taxes on people like himself. It feels civic-minded, even noble. A recent commentary by former Utah Sen., Massachusetts Gov., and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney fits squarely into this tradition. Faced with a looming fiscal cliff, Romney concludes that entitlement reform is unavoidable and that higher taxes on affluent Americans must be part of the solution.

Don't be fooled, though. Yes, the status quo is unsustainable, and pretending otherwise is reckless. But taxing the rich can't meaningfully solve our underlying fiscal problems. Worse, pursuing that illusion risks making those problems harder to fix while foreclosing opportunities for the next generation.

Start with a basic arithmetic problem that never goes away: High-income households already shoulder a disproportionate share of the federal income-tax burden. The top 1 percent pay roughly 40 percent of income-tax revenues; the top 10 percent pay well over........

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