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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumssometimes Democracy really sucks
Voters in my city just voted by 62-38% to increase taxes on the poor so they could cut taxes on the rich.
Voters approved a 1 cent increase in the regressive sales tax, with the money being used to reduce local property taxes.
That's practically the whole Brownback/Republican platform right there - increase taxes on the poor, and cut taxes for the rich.
Clearly those with more expensive property are going to gain more from the property tax reduction, but it's possible that those with more expensive property also have higher incomes and thus spend more and will pay more of the extra sales taxes.
To be fair, too, some of the extra sales taxes will be paid by out of towners shopping at our Wal-mart and our grocery stores and gas stations. Many of the local voters too, will be able to avoid the extra sales taxes - because they are retired military and can shop on the post.
But the only clear winners - landlords. And the more property the landlord owns, the more they will gain.
And the clear losers - renters. They will pay the extra sales tax and see none of the property tax cuts, which will go instead, to their landlord.
Our "own" city government, of course, used its resources to push for a yes vote, and all they talked about was "how much you will save from the lower property taxes". You see your property tax bill once a year. It's hard to figure out how much you are paying in sales taxes. I certainly don't keep track of it.
Depressing to me that so many voters can be buffaloed, or don't care if the poor pay more to subsidize the rich, as long as they get their little $30 cut too.
Maybe it is just time to embrace our landlord overlords.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Last edited Sun Feb 16, 2014, 12:18 PM - Edit history (1)
Where do you live?
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)of course
Where we even pay sales taxes on our food.
Which used to be cool when we had a sales tax rebate. Then Brownback and company sorta phased that out.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)I guess it'd be tough to move to a blue state. My state, Massachusetts, seems to be moving in the right direction in terms of equalizing income via legislation.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)but are not much different than Kansas was when I moved here.
they tax the poorest at 10% compared to 10.3% for Kansas
and tax the richest 1% at 4.9% compared to 3.9% for Kansas
and 7.3% compared to 6.2% for the next richest 4%
http://www.itep.org/pdf/ma.pdf
http://www.itep.org/pdf/ks.pdf
Even the 4th quintile (or 2nd poorest) is taxed at 8.7% in Kansas and 9.8% in Mass. Trouble is your income tax has a flat rate instead of having progressive brackets.
Of course, Kansas, having made Brownback Governor, is moving in the wrong direction - slashing the income tax on the rich and raising the sales tax on the poor.
Unfortunately, the voters, even in this CITY, seem to approve, and these are Democratic voters (in spite of being in Kansas).
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)or created it, actually.
The vote total was
yes- 3,172
no - 1,929
for a total of 5,101 votes
yet election returns for 2012 for the city were
Obama - 4,579
Romney - 5,148
other - 363
total of 10,090 votes (I had to check that because I though Obama may have won the city. Close, but not quite.)
So less than 51% of 2012 voters, voted in this election, and, of course, 2012 voters are NOT 100% of all possible voters.
That's not atypical of municipal elections, but this was a mail-in election. They mailed out ballots which people filled out and mailed back in.
I may try to find out how many ballots got mailed out, how many came back, and how many were mailed in and rejected.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)and then use it in their own interest to spread false information in order to deceive and manipulate the populace into doing their will at the ballot box.
Of course, it can't happen here.
dawg
(10,624 posts)They hate property taxes because they have to pay them all at one time. A property tax cut, paid for by a regressive 1% sales tax, sounds like a good idea to them. If they did the math, most of them would realize they get the raw end of the deal.
But there is a large organization that exists solely due to the fact that the average working citizen is bad at math. It's called the Republican Party. And it is very effective.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)even for me, to figure out how much sales tax I pay on a yearly basis. I just don't keep track of it. Nor do I budget.
edit - and it is not at all hard for renters to figure out that they don't gain from this measure. I thought they would carry the day. I hoped they would.