PLAN wants to raise mining taxes ... Winston Churchill responds
The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada recently announced that it is seeking a constitutional amendment to raise taxes on the mining industry, because mining is doing well right now.
Bob Fulkerson, executive director of PLAN, said the group decided to go after mining because "that's where the money is."
Now this isn't really surprising since PLAN wants to raise taxes on everyone, but it is a good opportunity to share my favorite Winston Churchill anecdote.
The conservative Winston Churchill was often at odds with Clement Attlee, leader of the Labor Party, which advocated a greater role for government in economic policy. Churchill once entered a men's room to find Attlee standing at the urinal. Churchill took a position at the other end of the trough.PLAN and other liberals won't be satisfied with just increasing the taxes on mining. (See Nevada Vision Stakeholder Group) Every time liberals (or conservatives) in government start picking winners and losers, the government becomes more convinced that it needs more money to run things, and that leads to more tax increases and less economic growth in the long run.
"Feeling standoffish today, are we, Winston?" Attlee asked.
"That's right," Churchill responded. "Every time you see something big, you want to nationalize it."
And after working for years to saddle other businesses with tax increases, the mining industry is now learning this lesson first hand.
