July 15, 2009 11:09AM 

# Why Taxing the Rich Is Not Enough to Fund Big Government 

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Appearing on Fox News on Monday, Cato’s [Daniel J. Mitchell](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell) explained why taxing the rich to pay for big government programs may make for a good sound bite on the campaign trail, but when there aren’t enough wealthy people to tax, the middle class ends up footing the bill.

“When politicians are aiming at the rich, it’s the middle class that winds up getting hit in the crossfire,” Mitchell said. “They use ‘tax the rich’ as the rhetoric, but they always go after the ordinary people to get more money to fund their big government schemes.”

Watch the [whole thing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg216QZrnLY&feature=channel_page):

##### Related Tags 

[Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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