It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it. Someone’s got to beef up revenues when the Governor won’t ask the wealthy to contribute more.
That someone is usually the poor who can be depended upon to buy their guilty pleasures retail and fork over the “sin tax’ that the rich are so good at avoiding.
Am I talking about the Shumlin administration’s forays into sin-tax “social services,” like the proposed soda levy?
No, in this case, the Governor in question is Republican Sam Brownback of Kansas who made a hash of the state’s finances with massive tax cuts, and now seeks to remedy the problem; not with the obvious strategy of reversing the tax breaks that bought him support from his wealthiest constituents.
Instead, he proposes to exorbitantly tax the very things that poorer folks often depend upon for comfort, thanks to the combined efforts of the tobacco industry to foster addiction, and life on the margins, which has been known to drive the desperate to drink.
Apparently “tax” is only a dirty word when it threatens the growing nest egg of the privileged class.
The Kansas Governor’s quick fix is meeting with resistance in the Legislature, even from the occasional Republican:
“He’s proposed some revenue enhancements that I think the Legislature will have a great difficulty passing,” said Senator Susan Wagle, the chamber’s Republican president. “That’s [a] tax increase.
Well…yeah!
But that’s not the only way Brownback proposes to punish the working class of Kansas for his own folly:
That’s pretty uncomfortable company for Governor Shumlin, when we can draw a parallel in his policies to a Republican governor who is even too regressive for his own caucus!
No wonder Shumlin almost lost, he is a Republican and the electorate wanted a Democrat.
In Vermont’s case, it’s not so much Shumlin on the 1% an ounce soda/sweet drink tax, it’s this group called Vermont Health Care Advocacy, headed by a total YUPPIE PIG, Peter Sterling. The YUPPIE NAZI PIGS in Vermont believe poor people should pay for the likes of Sterling’s health care along with their own.
This is an EVIL CLASSIST bill sposored by PIGS to be voted on by WOLVES to fleece the SHEEP.
This is not about health or obesity. It is about an attack on the poor and working poor. The Vermont Low Income Advocacy Council should be ashamed of itself for supporting such YUPPIE PIGGERY. OINK! OINK! People like Peter Sterling who get YUPPIE WAGES heading up YUPPIE AGENCIES, and then use their insider YUPPIE NAZI NETWORK to attack and exploit the poor should be skinned alive. There should be a bill in the legislature to allow for criminal and civil charges to be brought against people like Sterling and his ilk.
Despicable and disgusting. Enough to make people truly ill.
I think this is a legitimate discussion to have, but I find the governor’s proposal encouraging in a couple of ways.
First, for years people have been calling on him to propose tax increases, and now he’s finally doing it. It’s been clear for a long time that we’ve needed to increase taxes, so he’s moved in the right direction.
Second, the more income you have the more likely you are to itemize deductions. Consequently, raising taxes on people who itemize is roughly, although not perfectly, progressive.
Third, the sugar sweetened beverage tax is not his baby, and it is supported by VLIAC, a group that actually includes and represents low-income Vermonters.
Nobody said that this is the final package, but I can tell you that it’s a lot better to be saying “Let’s tweak your tax plan to make it more progressive,” than to have to fight against, “I’m not raising taxes, period”. There’s work to be done, but we’re starting from a better place.
coming from the writer of the linked story:
– added emphasis
Fools-errand weasel-worded summary of author more pure folly gold:
Minor Miracle??? Actually, its the status-quo for these 1% club members who live to enrich themselves while serving their friends – the other 1% mini robber-barons – Shummy’s specialty.