Everyone has an opinion on taxes — and usually it’s a negative one. So a recent blog post by University of Chicago law professor Todd Henderson shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. But the resulting firestorm prompted such a negative reaction that Henderson pulled the post and abandoned blogging altogether.
What was his offense? Henderson is one of the people whom President Obama wants to pay more in taxes — way more than the $100,000 he’s already forking over to the federal government each year. When he wrote a blog post suggesting his family couldn’t afford Obama’s forthcoming tax hikes, the critics came after him.
The corporate law professor, who lives near Obama’s million-dollar Chicago home, committed one sin: He makes too much money to complain. Or so say his critics. One of them wrote, “die yuppie scum.”
“The consequences are devastating for me personally, but my family has to come first, and my blogging has caused them incalculable damage,” he wrote.
Henderson and his wife, a doctor, each earn a six-figure salary. As a result, the government takes a sizable amount of it. Henderson put the figure at $100,000 in federal and state taxes, plus $15,000 in property taxes. The family has a mortgage and $250,000 in student loans.
The Obama tax hikes will cost his family more money to fund a growing government bureaucracy. Using a model of the U.S. economy, The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis projected the devastating effects of raising taxes. The country can expect slower economic growth, fewer jobs and more unemployed Americans. Everyone will be impacted to some degree.
What makes Henderson’s perspective so unique is his willingness to share his personal financial situation as an upper-income taxpayer. That’s not something you’d normally find on talking-head TV shows or among the chattering class in Washington. It’s a unique value that blogs offer to ordinary individuals. In this case, it’s too bad Henderson was pushed to the point of silence.
Read more about the story on FoxNews.com. Reporter Ed Barnes explores what Henderson’s opinion means about one of the most significant tax debates we’ve had in the last half-century.
