AOC, Sanders, Warren, Robert Reich (and socialism) are nothing to joke about
Reagan Economist Art Laffer on Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential bid and the rising popularity of socialism recently.
The assault on capitalism continues.
"Anyone who has a billion dollars either exploited a monopoly that should have been broken up, got inside information unavailable to other investors, bribed some politicians, or inherited the money from their parents (who did one of the above)."
In other words: Do not dare make over $999,999,999.99, you immoral slug.
Guess who said this? Not Sen. Elizabeth Warren, not Sen. Bernie Sanders, not Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. This one came from Robert Reich, a professor at UC Berkeley and former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, as well as a member of President Obama's economic transition team.
This is not the first person to utter such words and will not be the last. It used to be these people were a little bit shy about showing their hate of capitalism and their love of socialism, but these days they believe they have the upper hand. At least their poll numbers say so.
Many are making fun of AOC, Sanders, Warren and people like Reich. We will not. We will take them seriously. We will take them dead seriously. You should, too. They really mean it.
What interests us is that out of this line of thinking come remarks that President Trump is a dictator. A dictator does not lower taxes and get rid of regulations. A dictator looks to do the opposite.
So how do you spot a dictator? Here are some guidelines.
Dictators try to take over big swaths of the economy.
Guess what the two largest parts of our economy are? Health care and energy. Create a crisis. Demand to take it over and tax the hell out of everyone to pay for the crisis.
Dictators want to confiscate wealth.
In order to do this, they must pit the "immoral" wealthy against the not wealthy. Here are the proposals from just the past few weeks:
- 90 percent tax rates
- 70 percent tax rates
- 77 percent estate tax
- Wealth confiscation (we refuse to call it a tax)
- VAT tax
- Trading tax
- Carbon tax
- Higher payroll tax
Dictators want to take away choice.
Air travel? Screw you! We'll tell you how many jets can fly and where.
You work in the airline industry? Screw you. Find something else to do. So what if U.S. passenger and cargo carriers employ more than 700,000 people worldwide and help drive more than 10 million American jobs … screw you.
Eat meat? Screw you. We will tell you what to eat because we know better.
You work or own any franchises at McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, In and Out? Screw you! Find something else to do. Better yet, sell tofu!
Drive cars and trucks? Screw you. We will tell you what you can drive.
Own a building, own a house, own a condo ... Screw you! Screw you and how much it would cost to retrofit the way we want you to.
Dictators promise the masses free everything.
Free education for life. Don't worry. We are taking the producers down a few pegs to pay for this.
Free money. Don't worry. Chicago, which is broke and can't cover their pensions, they still promise to pay you not to work. They will just run up more debt.
Free health care. Hey ... go to the emergency room as many times as you like. (Please do not read what is happening with the NHS in the U.K.!)
Here's a job. Will guarantee everyone a government job whether it is needed or not because who gives a crap about supply and demand.
You are unwilling to get a job. That's fine. Just vote for us and we will pay you to sit on your couch, watch Netflix (we will even pay for that) and eat cheetos.
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The problem is -- and we are not kidding -- if you confiscated every dime earned by every person in this country, it would not pay for these agendas. No ... not kidding.
Gary Kaltbaum is a registered investment adviser with more than 30 years of experience in the markets. He is owner and president of Kaltbaum Capital Management, a financial investment advisory firm headquartered in Orlando, Florida. He is a Fox News Channel Business Contributor regularly appearing on Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network. Gary is the author of the book “The Investors Edge” and is also the host of a nationally syndicated radio show with the same title “Investors Edge,” which is broadcast on numerous stations across the U.S.