A ThinkProgress blogger seems to have had his mind blown by the fact that, whoa, tax policies have consequences:
The fight, Pacquiao’s fifth against rival Juan Manuel Marquez, would guarantee him a $25 million purse if it’s fought in Las Vegas. But American taxes would eat a significant chunk of that, while fighting it in either Singapore or Macau wouldn’t tax his earnings, the fight’s promoter said. That’s a major concern for Pacquaio, who needs to hoard as much money as he can before his career ends, his manager told Yahoo.
Lulz. Here's my favorite bit, however:
It’s hard to feel sympathy for Pacquiao, who would still clear $15 million — an amount that would take the average American household 284 years to equal — if the fight were held in the United States.
LULZ. One of my favorite liberal tics is their magical ability to determine who deserves how much of the government's money any given individual gets to keep. Because, make no mistake: they think it's the government's money, and they think the wealthy should be happy with whatever scraps they are allowed to keep. "How much should we allow the individual who earns his living by getting his face punched in to greedily hoard?" the liberal blogger who earns his living behind a keyboard queries. "Who is to say? But we should definitely point out that he is a greedy, mean old SOB because he doesn't feel like giving the government 40% of his purse while putting himself at risk of suffering permanent brain damage."
There is actually an interesting piece to be written here about the consequences of tax policy. What, exactly, is the economic impact on Las Vegas as a whole if Pacquiao takes his rolling sideshow elsewhere? How many fewer rooms will be rented and how much will rates for rooms that do get rented out dip? How many people who would have been otherwise employed to work the fight—ushers, security, merchandise sales people, beer-hawkers, etc.—will miss out on a day's pay because the federal government wants to confiscate 40 percent of Pacquiao's earnings? How many blackjack and poker dealers will see smaller tips because high rollers won't roll into Las Vegas casinos after the fight? The little guy will suffer most of all because of the government's urge to take Pacquiao's money.
But hey: FAIR SHARE!
Obligatory Pacquio-getting-KTFO-gif:
(Gee, I wonder why he'd want to hold on to his money.)