I’ll be on KUOW’s The Conversation today at around 1:30PM, talking about the most underreported news stories of the year.
My contribution? Well, it’s an underreported aspect of a heavily reported story: the long term structural revenue deficit at the heart of our state’s current $5 billion-plus budget shortfall.
Good economies mask the problem while bad economies, like our current one, merely exacerbate it. But no matter how you futz the numbers, long term tax revenues simply cannot keep pace with economic growth or growth in demand for public services. That’s a fact.
So what we’re getting by default is an ever shrinking government by the only metric that really matters, and we’re getting it without any public debate.
One thing that has become absolutely clear over the decades since voters rejected a state income tax is that we can’t keep loading more taxes on the backs of those least able to pay so the lightly taxed freeloaders at the top of the income pyramid can continue to skate.
ESTABLISH THE REAL DEFICIT – DOES THIS INCL NEW PROGRAMS — CONTRIB TO PENSION FUNDS – PAY INCREASES
THE REAL POTENTIAL DEFICIT IS TH FIRST PROBLEMS FROM THESE LIARS AND MESSAGE MANIPULATORS
Income tax states are in just as bad a shape as WA right now.
It’s spending. Increased spending that outpaces growth, inflation, and revenues.
re 3: There’s been little growth because conservative politicians have, for the past 30 years, been sending this country down the road of outsourced jobs,illegal union busting, and footdragging policies on new energy technologies.
It’s all your fault, Right Stuff. You and your fellow travellers. When you think growth it’s always about more encroachment on Mother Earth and more heedless squandering of resources.
Go sit in the back of the classroom and spin your evil little web from there.
Maybe people should be taxed on how many acres of land it takes to support them and their lifestyle on a yearly basis. For the average American, it takes 24 acres.
Right Stuff @3,
Income tax states are in many ways worse off than WA right now, because income tax revenues are much more sensitive to fluctuations in the economic cycle.
The best, fairest and most stable tax system is one that taxes everything, but as little as possible. Thus the best solution for WA would be to throw an income tax into the mix while lowering the state sales, property tax and B&O tax. (The B&O should be replaced by a corporate income tax, but some of the burden should be absorbed by the personal income tax. It’s complicated, but there are good reasons to shift some burden from businesses.)
Wanna dent the deficit? Repeal the Casino Deal!
Above-headless lucy reminds me of the kooks in the 70’s-all Luddites but unwilling to give up their factory-made eyeglasses, medical advance,ments and state-of-the-art sound systems. Which squandered resources are you willing to give up, Lucy? Gold mining necessary for electronics? Plastics for eyeglasses and contacts? Transmission towers for electricity?
Goldy said:
“The best, fairest and most stable tax system is one that taxes everything, but as little as possible. Thus the best solution for WA would be to throw an income tax into the mix while lowering the state sales, property tax and B&O tax. (The B&O should be replaced by a corporate income tax, but some of the burden should be absorbed by the personal income tax. It’s complicated, but there are good reasons to shift some burden from businesses.)”
Goldy, you’re as fucking dumb as a box of rocks if you believe income tax is the solution to Washington’s problem. An income tax will simply add to the burden of a fat, bloated government strangling us all here in WA. Do you really, really believe that a state income tax will replace sales taxes, B&O taxes, etc.? No they won’t because government will simply initially lower sales taxes, B&O taxes, et. al., then gradually over time raise them again.
End result – income taxes, sales taxes, high other taxes, etc., etc.
Just ask the poor bastards living in California as to how well the state income tax “replaced” all those other taxes. The answer is they didn’t: income taxes simply added more to the burden.
The answer to the problem is to spend less. If it means people are hungry and have no medical care than that’s what it takes. If you feel bad about it, donate to a charitable group to ease you consicience.
In theory I would support the idea of a state income tax IF it meant that sales taxes and property taxes were dramatically reduced. I have ZERO confidence that WA politicians would make good on this. What would happen is, we would get a state income tax, and then sales and property taxes would go down some immaterial amount, if at all. So in effect, would would have the taxes we have now, PLUS a state income tax.
most undereported story? how about the type of people ripping americans off, bernie madoff, the guy who faked his death i think his name was israel, sandy weil, jaimie dimond, fuld, robert rubin, alan greenspan, and on and on. and only the dumbed down american people can keep letting this happen and not say a word.
@3 No, it’s recession — recession caused by the fools who argue that pirate capitalism creates economic stability.
Oh, and if you let cheap labor conservatives knock down the wages and outsource the jobs that support consumer spending, the consumer economy, um, collapses. [Lights flashing; sirens wailing.]
@9 The specific proposal is to eliminate the state portion of the sales tax (6.5%) and the entire B & O tax. Property taxes, which in Washington are lower than many other states, wouldn’t be affected one way or the other. The idea of an income tax is to make those folks who spend a relatively small share of their income bear a fairer share of the state tax burden.
manoflies @ 10
Bernie Madoff, con-man and ponzi schemer, only hurt DUMB, RICH PEOPLE.
The kind of people that DUMB WINGNUTS worship and believe can do no wrong.
Some STUPID WINGUTS actually believed people are rich because it’s GOD’S WILL!
So obviously to these wingnuts Madoff is an AGENT OF SATAN.
On the other hand, some other people got rich taking the other side of Madoff’s dumbass trades. Probably banks who then took that money and pissed it away on dumbass moves of their own.
A lot of stupid out there in money land.