President Barack Obama is going to win the election this year, and when he does I want him to raise taxes on wealthy Americans by repealing the Bush Tax Cuts or introducing new tax legislation on the 1 percent as well as capital gains.

Proponents of tax cuts often ask, “Why punish success?” This question implies that raising taxes on wealthy Americans, commonly referred to as job creators or investors, will make these job creators stop creating jobs and investing or stimulating our economy. This is false because raising taxes will not affect the potential of an investment. A good investment will still be profitable and appealing, and allow wealthy Americans to create jobs and stimulate the economy even if they have to pay a little more money in taxes as a result. Taxes would not stunt the growth of an industry if the idea behind it has potential and if the investors see this potential.

The second implication of “Why punish success?” is that raising taxes on the rich is class warfare. Hyperbole aside, this is also not true. Raising taxes on the rich in any capitalistic society is simply logical. We have a massive debt to China, and one of the most feasible ways to pay them back and take regain our economy is to generate revenue by raising taxes. Raising taxes on rich people is the most sensible solution simply because they have more money. A member of the 1 percent will still be able to live the same lifestyle and will not have to make significant sacrifices if their taxes are raised while a tax increase for a poor American can mean the difference between sending a child to college or not. It is not class warfare, just math and the idea that shaving a piece off a loaf of bread is not so glaring if the loaf is as big as a refrigerator.

Another purpose of the “Why punish success?” question is to generate sympathy for wealthy Americans by creating the illusion that all rich people gained their wealth by working incredibly hard throughout their life. Proponents of tax cuts for the wealthy want people to think, “How could I possibly be so spiteful as to raise taxes on someone simply because they worked hard and earned every penny they have?” A lot of wealthy Americans — in this case I mean Americans that make more than $250,000 a year — are rich because their parents were rich and afforded them connections, opportunities and the financial support to go to a top-tier college. Thus, rich people with rich parents usually have their inheritance to thank more than hard work. There are also a lot of Americans who become rich because they are lucky with their investments and not necessarily skill in predicting the market.

The logic of believing rich people are necessarily rich because they worked hard is also dangerous because of its implications about other Americans. If rich people have a lot of money because they worked hard then are poor people inherently lazy, and are middle class Americans inherently not quite lazy, but not hard working either? Fortunately, some of the wisest and most influential of the 1 percent whose financial savvy and hard work earned them their fortunes, such as Warren Buffett and Irwin Jacobs, do not see taxes as punishment and have stated that their taxes should be raised. Jacobs said the economy was healthy during the Clinton years when taxes were high and Buffet argued it was unfair for him to pay fewer taxes than some of his staff. I hope these men act as shining examples and that Warren Buffet does not continue to be a pariah because of his statements.

If Obama raises taxes on the 1 percent the worst-case scenario is that they will be upset. However, if Obama wants to raise their taxes, he has to change his attitude a bit from what is was in his first term and be less willing to compromise. The word bipartisan has a nice ring to it but is generally a waste of political time and effort for both parties. The attitude that the formerly naive Obama should have in his second term if he wants to implement new tax legislature or repeal the Bush Tax Cuts.