The proof is in the pudding

If you raise taxes government revenue will go down. It's just common sense. If you raise the cost of something people will go else where. So if you raise the taxes on the rich they will just move.

Montgomery County officials are wondering where all the millionaires have gone, as the shrinking pool of wealthy taxpayers is wreaking havoc on the county's finances.

County officials recently pegged the budget deficit for the next fiscal year at $761.5 million. Much of the gap is caused by a drop in income tax revenue, and much of that drop is tied to a small number of wealthy county residents who lost money in a poor economy, died or fled the state's new millionaire tax.

Montgomery lost $4.6 billion in taxable income from tax years 2007 to 2008. More than 82 percent of that drop comes from taxpayers with incomes of $1 million or more, county records show. During that period, the number of income tax returns above $1 million fell from 3,172 to 2,321, a 27 percent decrease.

A weak economy that ate away at capital gains and slowed the growth of small businesses can account for much of the drop. But there's been a fierce debate since the state raised taxes for millionaires to 6.25 percent from 5.5 percent in 2008 whether millionaires are fleeing en masse for states with lower tax burdens.

Same principles go for businesses. If you lower taxes and make it easier for companies to do business they will produce more. Because of that the government revenue will go up.

If states want more millionaires and businesses to come to them they should lower taxes. It is an extremely easy and quick fix. But the Democrats never learn. They'd rather raise taxes and regulations to harm the rich. It is typical class warfare. They want to make everyone equally miserable instead of trying to make every happy.