Tax the rich...until they vanish
When the rich are sick of getting taxed, they leave. Always have, always will.
Kevin Finn | March 17, 2026
There is another certainty that pairs nicely with the old line about death and taxes: The political left is usually wrong, and very confident about it. Nowhere is this more obvious than in economic policy. We’re once again being served a fresh batch of “innovative” ideas — chief among them the fantasy that jacking up taxes on the wealthy to extreme levels will effortlessly bankroll endless government spending, all without consequences. The left thinks millionaires and billionaires are stationary ATMs who will never relocate.
Spoiler: They can, they do, they have, and they will. And every time they leave, the bill lands squarely on the middle class.
Take New York. State leaders are pushing a dramatic overhaul of the estate tax — slashing the exemption from over $7 million to just $750,000, a 90% reduction, while raising the top rate from 16% to 50%. This is meant to plug a $5.4-billion budget deficit. (A fun question: How did that deficit appear in the first place?) In New York City, $750,000 doesn’t buy a mansion; it buys a cramped one-bedroom with hefty monthly maintenance fees. So much for “taxing only the rich.” This is middle-class wealth transfer dressed up as social justice.
Critics are already warning that real estate will crater as families rush to sell before the government claims half their assets upon death. And it’s not hard to predict what comes next: a migration to Tennessee, Florida, Texas, and other states that aren’t trying to tax residents into oblivion. As the productive class leaves, property values fall, revenue collapses, and suddenly the city is in crisis. Who could have guessed that punishing success makes people want to leave?
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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/03/tax_the_rich_until_they_vanish.html
