$500,000.00 max for everybody that takes taxpayer money!

In my day job, among others, I run a payroll company. I have Google Alerts on a number of words and phrases including "Payroll". Baseball payroll articles and blog entries come up on a regular basis. They talk about 25 man MLB rosters in excess of 150 million dollars a year.

What if we would tax every player in the four major sports (MLB, NFL, NBA.NHL) 100% of everything they make over $500,000. They play in parks financed with public money. The games are broadcast over public airwaves. They drive to the games on city streets. They fly from city to city in from taxpayer financed airports. They are protected by police that the taxpayers pay for. They and their teams obviously benefit from taxpayer investing money in their business model. Why should they be different than executives of banks, automobile makers and insurance companies taking bailout money?

That would raise at least six billion dollars in taxes just from salaries, not counting endorsement money, personal appearances, signatures, memorabilia and the like. That also doesn’t count soccer, tennis, golf and other sports. Maybe another billion dollars or even much more. I mean 40 or 50 million dollars from Tiger Woods alone and 20 or 30 million dollars from David Beckham every year.

Now if they want to play in stadiums privately financed and broadcast over private non-public mechanisms with no taxpayer subsidies that is one thing. But if they take public money, and they do, President Obama said of bailout executives. "But what gets people upset — and rightfully so — are executives being rewarded" "especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers." The same rules should apply to athletes that use public financed parks, airways, security protection, airlines protected by government security and so on.

Oh, how about broadcasters that use the public airways. Katie Couric who makes $15 million a year. There is another 14.5 million for the Treasury, just run down the list. Hey, Rush Limbaugh how about your share.

How about doctors that practice in public hospitals? NASCAR drivers who on taxpayer funded tracks and contribute to Global Warming as well. TV actors that use public airways to have their shows broadcast. Cruise Lines that use public harbors. Airline companies that use the FAA air traffic controllers and taxpayer financed airports.

Lets limit anybody that uses publicly financed anything to the same limit the executives in bailout companies are getting, fair is fair. I figure there has to be at least 20 billion in taxes out there and maybe a whole lot more.

What about the consequences if we do all this? Maybe it is not even fair?

If Obama say its right for some, then it has to be right for everybody