莫名堂觀察：盯著富人的錢包……就解決問題了？

加拿大安大略省筆譯口譯協會（atio）認證翻譯、加拿大認證esl老師、留學申請顧問。

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加拿大英文教練（原溫哥華英文教練），致力于地道英文表達

本杰明 富蘭克林說過這樣一句流傳頗廣的話，The only sure things in life are death, taxes and campaign.（生命中只有三件事情是確定的，即死亡、稅收和戰斗），起頭和收尾這兩個，大家都知道它們的厲害，而中間這位，你要開始和它打交道之后，才會知道它的厲害。最近，美國那位年事已高，但是仍然孜孜不倦于政治活動的左翼大佬、參議員伯尼 桑德斯又出來刷存在感了，這次他號召要向富人征稅。Senator Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna, a representative, on Monday introduced legislation that would impose a 5% annual wealth tax on America’s billionaires. The proposal, titled the make billionaires pay their fair share act, would apply to individuals in the US with a net worth of $1bn or more, of which Sanders’s office estimates there are 938 people who meet that threshold.

這份提案，是針對美國億萬富翁的，大概有938名大富豪夠得上；如果你的凈值沒高到10億美金，你都不好意思上名單。一看到這兒，許多人會說，普通民眾咸吃蘿卜淡操心，干卿底事？更有人甚至會拍手稱快，收丫的錢，劫富濟貧。這里慢道公平、正義、轉移支付這些大道理，只問一句：收得到嗎？

Senator Bernie Sanders, rehashing a bad idea from his 2020 presidential bid, has proposed an annual 5 percent tax on billionaires’ wealth. Sanders claims that his wealth tax would raise $4.4 trillion over ten years, or around half of U.S. billionaires’ total wealth.

《國家評論》

National Review

轉移支付是稅收的一大調節功能，這方面的文章汗牛充棟，這里就不拾人牙慧了。收到的錢，據說會用于一長串的救濟活動(handout)、中產階級的激勵支票、醫療補助的擴大、補貼房屋和幼兒等等。目前的美國，這類的一攬子補助早就有，這樣的entitlement (補助、補貼制度)，已經讓美國難以承受。Sanders wants to spend all the revenue squeezed from billionaires on a long list of handouts, including stimulus checks for the middle class, a Medicare expansion, and subsidized housing and childcare. Never mind that the nation cannot afford the entitlement state it already has. Besides, as an unconstitutional direct tax, Sanders’s proposal would be struck down by the courts and raise zero revenue.

《國家評論》最后點題：這種赤裸裸的再分配和階級戰，已經到了最懶的時候了，言外之意，坐著收錢還不過癮，躺贏才好。It represents naked redistribution and class warfare at its laziest. 至于桑德斯此案的前景，那就是被各級法院給拍死，一分錢都收不到，Sanders’s proposal would be struck down by the courts and raise zero revenue.

也別把話說死，騎驢看唱本吧。