The Supreme Court and a Wealth Tax

You almost have to admire the big-government legal lobby. Sensing a threat to their designs for a wealth tax, they turned the runup to the Supreme Court’s Tuesday oral arguments in Moore v. U.S. into tax Armageddon.

“Supreme Court Will Hear Case That Could Upend The Current Tax System,” headlined Forbes. The Washington Post called it “the Supreme Court tax case that could blow a hole in the federal budget,” as if Congress hasn’t already done that. Even former House Speaker Paul Ryan pushed the panic button, but he’s been led astray.

The real danger is the Justices will blow up the Constitution’s limits on Congress’s taxing power. While the case involves a discrete provision of the 2017 tax reform, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar acknowledged Tuesday that a ruling for the government could open the door to a wealth tax.