Anyone…want to comment on Ben Stein’s interesting plea for raising taxes on the wealthy in yesterday’s New York Times. I have to say, I’m not horrified by the idea of raising taxes on the richest 1% or, better, the richest .0001% since it’s folks like Warren Buffett who say they should be taxed more (see the Stein piece). But I have a bunch of practical problems with the idea. Ben Stein seems to think the money will go where it should go. Also, soaking the hyper-rich won’t raise that much money. You’d have to raise taxes on the (upper) middle class, including small businessmen. Putting these and other objections aside, what I would like to see is a Reagan style tax reform that closes silly loopholes, credits and gimmicks. The net result would be a tax increase on the wealthiest, but it would also get the government, albeit temporarily and modestly, out of the business of distorting the economy.

Update: From a reader:

Excellent header. We also would have accepted, “Tax Ben Stein’s Money.”