The Scratching Post Challenge

Don Surber has issued The Surber Challenge suggesting a way to make a debating point with those who want to raise taxes.

Why don’t we skinflint conservatives with our miserly ways and narrow minds write a check to the Treasury and show that even though we oppose higher taxes, we are willing to — as patriotic and loyal Americans — voluntarily bail out our national government?

Sure.

While liberals talk, conservatives act.

So I wrote a check for a hundred bucks today to United States Treasury and mailed it to:

Gifts to the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Credit Accounting Branch
3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D
Hyattsville, MD 20782

That is a $100 donation that is not tax-deductible.

This is my protest against being required to pay higher taxes.

Readers can do the same. Write a check for $10 because this is not a contest to top one another, but rather an odd protest against the self-righteous hypocrisy of Warren Buffett and Fareed Zakaria and all the others who complain they are not taxed “enough” but do nothing — absolutely nothing — to increase their taxes voluntarily.

I think I've got a better one. Almost all of the people suggesting that the rich should pay more taxes are not rich. They know not of what they speak. Hence, this proposal:

Participants should first get rich and then pay more taxes.

What's the point of sending $10 in to the Treasury? Even if we all did it, that would only be $3.5B. We'd blow through that in a matter of hours. No, what we need is the rich to pay their fair share.

You first.

Mr. William H. Weideman is the Chief Financial Officer of Dow Chemicals. He makes $920K a year. You go get his job, or an equivalent, and then pay more in taxes. Start a blog and let us know how it goes. Provide the leadership in financial sacrifice that America so desperately needs.

$10? Bah! If you're going to set an example, make it a meaningful one.