Yes, you read that headline right. The Seattle Times editorial board has endorsed a state income tax. You know… back in 1969….
A single-rate income tax, adequate safeguards against rocketing property tax and appropriate reductions in other taxes must be devised if the state is to meet its budgetary needs and solve the school support dilemma.
And in 1970….
Property, sales, business and other excise-taxing sources are bearing too heavy a share of the public-expenditure load. Yet vast amounts of fluid wealth in the form of income escape state taxation. This should begin to bear a fair share of the burden. If H.J.R. 42 is defeated, the additional burden on property and excise tax will become unbearable. For these reasons we recommend approval of No. 42.
And in 1972…
Events now on the horizon leave no doubt but that the state administration and the Legislature will be negligent if they do not permit the voters another opportunity to make a judgment on a state income tax and interrelated fiscal policies.
Fiscally, the state is drifting toward shoals; time is running out for it to continue to fund basic responsibilities in public services with its jerry-built tax structure; nor can the state’s businesses and industries develop the immense number of new jobs needed to accommodate the present jobless as well as the younger generation now phasing into the employment market.
And in 1973…
The Times has been a strong advocate of the principle that a state income tax should be instituted as a means (1) to distribute the tax burden more equitably, (2) to gear public revenues more responsibly to economic growth, (3) to reduce pressures on present tax sources, and (4) to provide education with more dependable revenues.
You can read all these editorials and more in Andrew Villeneuve’s extensively researched and well argued historical retrospective on the Times’ tragic descent into editorial dotage over at the NPI Advocate. Really… read the whole thing.
So what’s changed between 1969 and 2010? Not the fundamental laws of economics or our state’s long term structural revenue deficit. No, what I’d argue has changed is the Seattle Times.
What changed is the Reagan ‘revolution’ which proclaimed that ‘greed is good’, and “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Obviously the Blethens didn’t need much prodding to step over that threshold.
The charter of the Reagan revolution included “government is the enemy.” That’s also when, no suprise, Republicans started doing government so badly, trying to prove their point. Make government look bad in the eyes of the voters, so they’ll elect more Republicans.
Truly perverse, and the country still suffers.
Gee, rhp, why would you even think of tampering with a winning formula? Checking your facts before throwing your feces in public? Checking your facts after all these years? Why start now?
For so long it’s been so easy for you to drop a quarter in your digestive tract and then to go public, at almost interminable length, with the emissions being emitted from the tail-end of the tract.
We’ve had some good ugly fun over the years with Brother Steve and Brother YLB, but even if they often come to dubious conclusions we can usually count of them to at least care about making sense. YLB, at important moments, even wins an argument.
You? Not so much. Maybe not at all. Too bad, since you claim to be socially conservative & fiscally conservative, but you probably need to check your facts about those vapid claims too.
count on them
Oy @ 3: I’ll willingly take my lumps for that one, my error was in addressing an issue of current politics in California, a state I hadn’t really been following very closely for the past year, without bringing myself up to speed.
But why do you post this on this thread? I doubt many readers will even know what you are talking about.
I’m willing to admit when I make a mistake. Fortunately, I don’t have to do so very often.
How often do you admit your errors on this forum?
Perhaps it is a difference of fahzah and son?
@1
Read much, aside from the comics?
What Reagan actually said was, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'”
Whats changed is the F’d up economy, what makes you think taxing the crap out of people to further fund guvment employees outrageous benefit packages and wages compared to the private sector, is going to help bring employment to this state. Ask Bartells what a 9% income tax will do to their business and hiring prospects. Ask any S corp, or partnership, or privately owned company how many extra people they can hire when 9% of their profit gets ripped off.
We’re in the middle of a near depression and everyone, including government needs to cut their expenses.
Please, no income tax for Washington, folks. If you vote for it, you’ll live to regret it and regret it very soon.
Wrong Perfect Voter… It was BIG GOVERNMENT is the enemy! We see that right now with Odumba. If you remember Reagan was trying to get rid of the Great Society. What was the Great Society? The Great Society promised people something for doing nothing. Typical so typical of DUMMOCRAPTS!
This is the problem with libtardo revisionist history. The real story is polluted! Moronic memory moonbat! malady.
“No American is ever made better off by pulling a fellow American down, and every American is made better off whenever any one of us is made better off. A rising tide raises all boats.” – JFK
Unfortunately this is lost on the progressive libtardo of today! Class warfare is their every day cause de jour.
“Life’s tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”
– John Wayne
Applies to HA Libtardos.
@8 Id (iot)
Umm, Bartells can become a regular corporation like all the others – they are using the S corporation filing to avoid federal taxes. So they are basically cheating and mooching of us regular people and make plenty of bucks.
If George Bartell has to pay a bit more in income tax…wel, he deserves to pay more the cheat. Sorry, I know George makes plenty of bucks (I know him personally and he is NOT hurting) and state government is cut to the bone – including the only thing that makes us competitive – education.
Your priorities are supporting the ultra rich who don’t need the tax breaks and cutting education in this state. Pretty screwed up I think.