Fascinating data out of Rasmussen Reports today. The majority of likely voters say people get rich because they work hard. 

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just over half (52%) of Likely U.S. Voters believe hard work is the path most follow to riches. Twenty-eight percent (28%) think most get rich by inheriting money, and nine percent (9%) see luck as the key factor.

And yet, the federal tax policies liberals want to impose are designed to take more and more of the reward for hard work. The rich are prolific voluntary givers to society in multiple ways. Taking, and then redistributing, more of their money is misguided.

 

Here in North Carolina, there is an opportunity for much more sensible tax policy, leading to job creation and economic growth.

Replacing North Carolina’s existing income, corporate, sales, and estate taxes with a new consumed-income tax dubbed the USA Tax could generate 80,500 new jobs in the first year, while boosting the state’s economy by $11.76 billion.

Those numbers are based on an outside analysis of tax reform proposals included in the John Locke Foundation‘s new book, First in Freedom: Transforming Ideas Into Consequences for North Carolina. JLF is releasing the book as new North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and a Republican-led General Assembly turn their attention to potential tax reforms.

Even a scaled-back version of the USA Tax, combined with a slight lowering of the sales tax rate and elimination of income, corporate, and estate taxes, would lead to a $4 billion economic impact and 10,000 new jobs in the first year, according to the analysis from the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston.

“It is our belief, backed up by economic theory and quantitative analysis, that the proposals made here to transform North Carolina’s income tax into a consumption-based USA Tax, while abolishing the state’s corporate and estate taxes, has the potential to generate strong incentives for businesses in the state to expand while attracting and stimulating new investment, economic growth, and job creation,” said Dr. Roy Cordato, JLF Vice President for Research and Resident Scholar.