According to this transcript of this morning’s Glenn Beck Show, a Harvard vice president is speaking out against taxing the rich. Who would’ve thought you’d ever see that? The good news is that Glenn attempts to point out ‘the error’ in the VP’s thinking. Here’s the relevant portion of the transcript:

Well, now in Massachusetts they are looking to tax college endowments, university endowments that have more than a billion dollars in it. They say that by doing this, they can put more than a billion dollars a year into the state revenue. Legislators have asked state finance officials to study a plan that would impose a 2.5% annual assessment on colleges with endowments over a billion dollars. Now, the universities are very upset and here’s quite possibly, I want to frame this. I want to frame this. I want this on my wall of my office. When a nonprofit, when a nonprofit is making money, it’s mind-boggling. Why tax them?

Now, one guy who is head of the ways and means committee in Massachusetts says it’s mind-boggling that an entity wouldn’t be paying taxes that has $34 billion. How can you justify that when people can’t afford to live, how could you justify not taxing them? Ready? Here it is. This is what I want framed. Kevin Casey, Harvard’s associate vice president for government, community and public affairs said, “You can’t do that. You’d be taxing success.” No, it gets better. “And over time this would put us at a competitive disadvantage. It would hurt the state.” No, you’re kidding me. It’s like you’re taxing success by taxing people who are making money and who happen to be richer than others? You’re taxing success? Boy, Kevin, I never looked at it that way. You might be onto something there. “Over time this would put us at a real competitive disadvantage.” No, it would put Harvard at a disadvantage against those who didn’t get taxed? No. Who might pay a lower tax? It might put that company at a disadvantage? No, no, Kevin, you’re looking at it wrong. We’re just trying to help out Greater New Haven State Technical College. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re only trying, it’s affirmative action for Greater New Haven State Technical College. We’re trying to help them. We’re trying to level the playing field. It’s only out of fairness, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It might put them at a — no.

You can’t write stuff this bizarre. A Harvard vice president looking out for the…rich? That’s just too rich. I loved the line about “Kevin” not seeing this tax scheme as “affirmative action for Greater New Haven State Technical College.” When I read that line to King, he couldn’t stop laughing. The truth be told, I was laughing just as much.

There’s a couple of bigger points worth making in this, though. First, I don’t think it’s wise to tax endowment funds. Secondly, I think it’s worth keeping that quote handy when we want to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. Mr. Casey obviously thinks that it isn’t right to tax success when it involves his university. Conservatives should ask Mr. Casey if he thinks it’s unfair to tax success when it comes time for the university and fair to tax success if it’s an oil company.

Above all else, I’ll remember this moment because it isn’t likely to happen again in my lifetime.

Technorati Tags: Harvard, Endowments, Tax The Rich, Massachusetts, Affirmative Action

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog