California is facing a budget shortfall, and one of its most powerful lawmakers thinks the state legislature can meet that shortfall by creating wealth. According to the Los Angeles Times:
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D‑Los Angeles) said lawmakers would have to consider raising a host of taxes, including those on Internet purchases and on foreign companies that do business in California.
“We’ve got to close those tax loopholes,” Nuñez told reporters at a news conference. “We can generate billions by doing that.”
According to Dictionary.com, the first three definitions of “generate” are:
- to bring into existence; cause to be; produce.
- to create by a vital or natural process.
- to create and distribute vitally and profusely.
No doubt the speaker wants to distribute those billions vitally and profusely. But raising taxes won’t create billions of dollars.
Taxes find wealth that others have already created and take it. As in pilfer. Lift. Ransack. Plunder. Loot. Steal. Jack. Nab. Grab. Purloin. Swipe. Snag. Extract. Nick. Confiscate. Seize. Pinch. Usurp. Arrogate. Dispossess. Expropriate. (Yoink.)
