Mark Cuban writes: "We live in a time where the government plays a big role in an effort to help lead us out this Great Recession. That's reality. So I will repeat my point. Get out there and make a boatload of money. Enjoy the shit out your money. Pay your taxes. It's the most patriotic thing you can do."

Internet broadcasting magnate and owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban. (photo: David Zalubowski/AP)

Get Rich, Pay Taxes: It's a Patriotic Duty

By Mark Cuban, Guardian UK

26 September 11

Sure, we want entrepreneurs to create jobs, but in a recession corporations cut back, so we need the government to step in.

ust your ass and get rich.

Make a boatload of money. Pay your taxes. Lots of taxes. Hire people. Train people. Pay people. Spend money on rent, equipment, services. Pay more taxes.

When you make a shitload of money. Do something positive with it. If you are smart enough to make it, you will be smart enough to know where to put it to work.

I don't care what anyone says. Being rich is a good thing. Not just in the obvious sense of benefitting you and your family, but in the broader sense. Profits are not a zero sum game. The more you make, the more of a financial impact you can have.

I'm not against government involvement in times of need. I am for recognising that big public companies will continue to cut jobs in an effort to prop up stock prices, which in turn stimulates the need for more government involvement. Every cut job by the big companies extracts a cost on the American people in one way or another.

Entrepreneurs are needed to create and grow companies to absorb those people in new jobs. If entrepreneurs don't create those jobs, the government ends up having to spend more money to help them one way or another.

So be patriotic. Go out there and get rich. Get so obnoxiously rich that when that tax bill comes, your first thought will be to choke on how big a check you have to write. Your second thought will be "what a great problem to hav," and your third should be a recognition that in paying your taxes you are helping to support millions of Americans that are not as fortunate as you.

In these times of the "Great Recession," we shouldn't be trying to shift the benefits of wealth behind some curtain. We should be celebrating and encouraging people to make as much money as they can. Profits equal tax money. While some people might find it distasteful to pay taxes, I don't. I find it patriotic.

I'm not saying that the government's use of tax money is the most efficient use of our hard-earned capital. It obviously is not. In a perfect world, there would be a better option. We don't live in a perfect world. We don't live in a perfect time. We live in a time where the government plays a big role in an effort to help lead us out this Great Recession. That's reality.

So I will repeat my point. Get out there and make a boatload of money. Enjoy the shit out your money. Pay your taxes.

It's the most patriotic thing you can do.

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-3 # R U Kidding Me? 2011-09-27 00:01

Mark Cuban said to email him and maybe he'll answer, so I did. I asked him if he would go out for a $200. dinner with his wife and leave a $5.00 tip trying to draw a parallel with owning 3 jets and being against the private jet tax. I swear to God, if I owned one jet (like the 40 million dollar Gulf stream he purchased)I would be willing to pay additional taxes, which he is against. Still waiting for that answer, Mark.

+21 # Exotikat 2011-09-27 03:31

My mother and my husband both taught me something valuable about taxes. When I first met the man who would become my husband, he was a struggling young attorney. I had never known any lawyers, so I really had no idea what my future held. It turned out to be a cliche - my husband is brilliant and has done very well. I mentioned to my mother once that we paid so much in taxes. She stared at me coldly for a few seconds and then said "We should all be so lucky". I was humbled and never forgot that. I have never once heard my husband complain about paying taxes. He is sometimes bitter about HOW his taxes are spent, but he considers it his patriotic duty to support the country which has supported him. My husband and Mark Cuban think a lot alike. I wish there were more Americans like them.

0 # RLF 2011-09-27 03:42

For the not rich...if there is no representation...there will be no respect for law. Don't pay? Don't share leadership with the masses? You risk losing the rule of law...also known as high crime...once established...hard to eradicate.

+18 # lightsout 2011-09-27 04:20

Why can't Mark Cuban's mindset extend to the likes of the Koch brothers and other mega rich men?

+14 # feloneouscat 2011-09-27 04:22

Sounds reasonable. Far more reasonable than incorporating in Bermuda and taking advantage of American services without paying a dime for them.

+10 # TrueAmericanPatriot 2011-09-27 04:25

WELL SAID, MARK CUBAN! You are right when you say being rich is a GOOD THING! However, the vermin who are trying to take this nation down while hurting the less fortunate, are NEITHER RICH NOR WEALTHY; JUST PLAIN GREEDY, EVIL, AND OPPRESSIVE! Mark, YOU represent what the REAL American Dream is about! You ARE RICH & WEALTHY, not because of the money, because you have CLASS, CHARACTER, AND HUMANITY! Many of the one-percenters LOST their humanity a LONG TIME AGO!!! I doubt that any of them even want it back. They are HAPPY to be HOARDERS of money, resources, and anything else their soul-less minds can think of. They have, what I call the "Daffy Duck Syndrome"; MINE, MINE, MINE! IT'S ALL MINE! THIS ARTICLE has REALLY MADE MY DAY:):):)!!!!!! BTW, having been a former server myself, that was quite a bar-tab and TIP you gave! I say THANK YOU on their behalf! CONTINUE to do your patriotic duty, and NEVER, EVER, LOSE YOUR HUMANITY! GOD BLESS!!!

+4 # Beaula2010 2011-09-27 05:08

Way to go, Mark Cuban!

+5 # reiverpacific 2011-09-27 06:47

I know naught of the author of this article but The Guardian has always been an excellent and openly left-oriented newspaper (and the one who broke the abuse of tax money for personal use by all shades of members of the UK parliament but heavily disposed towards the Tories).
A good example of a wealthy person stateside is Bill "Jeep" Daniels, who was the first to broker cable television starting in the 50's and latterly told me that he'd become disappointed that it had become so trivialized and trashy, as it was envisioned for education, sports and under-represented communities.
He really cared for his employees, built the Denver University Business College WITH THE CONDITION THEY THEY TAUGHT ETHICS, and left the bulk of his 1.7 Bil' estate to a fund for putting poor kids through college.
He wasn't perfect but I always remember him saying towards the end of his life "It was a lot of fun making all that money but it was even more fun sharing it".
Yes, he had a Lear jet (we still hear from his former pilot occasionally) and was a comrade of my wife's late father who flew fighters off the carriers in the Pacific Theater. He was one of the old-fashioned Republicans you could have a real productive debate with and learn something.
I could go on but he is the only billionaire I ever met personally and I wish there were more like him.

+3 # DPM 2011-09-27 06:48

A $5.00 tip on a $200.00? Are you folks being sarcastic? Am I missing it? That's an insult, if you're not kidding. Perhaps it is a misprint. It should have been $50.00. That would have been a nice 25% tip. Having waited on some pretty wealthy people, having to get everything just so, 25% is justified.

0 # AndreM5 2011-09-27 08:52

Read the post again. R U Kidding Me was making an analogy to the extremely low private jet tax.

+1 # Nippot 2011-09-27 07:22

If you agree that paying taxes is the patriotic action, then add a bumper sticker to your car to spread the good word or at least invite discussion. They can be found on the internet. Google "bumper stickers, Raise my taxes." They're there. Spread the word.

+1 # David Starr 2011-09-27 11:53

O.K., so he is doing his duty paying taxes. And, there are wealthy individuals who have charitable foundations, who give. Yes, it isn't just B/W; there are gray areas. But, isn't the simple overglorificati on of GETTING RICH still prioritizing the dogma of GREED IS GOOD, a la Oliver Stone's movie Wall Street? But what about entreprenuers who have vision & provide jobs? While thier skills are to be credited, isn't it still w/in the confines of an ideological rule where few have too much & many struggle w/ too little, especially worldwide? (where does a peoples' democracy come into play?) While it's unrealistic to acheive 100% equality (at least now, anyway), aren't the priorities of greed is good & "natural" selfiness part of the essential problem? Besides being a simplistic view on something as complex as human nature? Shouldn't the positive be prioritized over the negative? What if the wealthy didn't exist? Would that mean total chaos, despair & an inevitable end to humankind? To a major degree, & potentially, we have that now. Whatever the case, I'm sure that humankind will continue to evolve & preservere, if it doesn't blow itself up first.

+5 # lvpapa 2011-09-27 13:46

For the super-rich to weasel their way out of paying a fair share of taxes is just as counterproducti ve to them as to the failing middle class because without a strong middle class they would not have become rich and will not remain rich. This is a fundamental fact and I cannot understand how the greedy fail to recognize it.

0 # DPM 2011-09-27 15:44

Sorry. Didn't catch it.

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