Petition for Higher Taxes

(Berlin, Germany) On Wednesday of last week, a small group of wealthy Germans held a rally in the Tiergarten Park in Berlin to gather support for a wealth tax to aid the nation in the recession. Concurrently, a web petition campaign was launched and heralded to gather supporters.



Rich Germans throw fake banknotes during pro-tax rally
The apparent leader of the group, 66-year-old retired doctor Dieter Lehmkuhl, wants the government to put a five percent surtax on individuals worth more than €500,000 ($750,000). Supporter and fellow rich person Peter Vollmer, 69, is all gung-ho for the idea, remarking that he has a lot of money he doesn't need.

In summary, a small group of leftist elitists assume that people with a lot of money are amenable to giving it to the government under the auspices that "it's more than I need." Consequently, they have launched a program to raise taxes on the rich (hardly a new idea). Hopes for the horse-loaf idea, however, have been diminished. There was little excitement at the rally.

"It's really strange that so few people came," Vollmer said.

I count six per the photograph and they all look like organizers, not new supporters.

Frankly, I suggest these folks are a bunch of idiots. If they have "too much money," they should just liquidate their assets and send a check to the German Treasury. If it's anything like the U.S. Treasury, they'll keep it. Then Lehmkuhl and Vollmer can scrape to maintain their lifestyles just like everyone else in society and maybe they won't come up with grand tax schemes to fleece other people.

On a different note, I believe that Lehmkuhl, Vollmer and their ilk actually convince themselves that other people desire to pay more taxes. The same psychological quirk was demonstrated a few years ago in Massachusetts when the leftist elite were sure that people would opt to pay more taxes if only the tax form had a box to check which increased the tax rate. However, just like the Germans now, the Massachusetts liberals were wrong. The total number of people willing to pay more taxes was insignificant.

Bottom line -- people who beguile themselves into thinking that other people want to pay more taxes are delusional and in need of serious therapy.