{"id":83818,"date":"2009-12-15T17:58:11","date_gmt":"2009-12-15T22:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2010515861_statesenrosafranklinonregressivetaxes.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2009-12-15T17:58:11","modified_gmt":"2009-12-15T22:58:11","slug":"state-sen-rosa-franklin-on-regressive-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/83818","title":{"rendered":"State Sen. Rosa Franklin on regressive taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do so many oppose a state income tax?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Editor, The Times:<\/p>\n

State Sen. Rosa Franklin\u2019s support of a progressive state income tax [\u201cWashington state\u2019s regressive tax system needs an overhaul,\u201d Opinion, guest commentary, Dec. 14] helpfully notes that it could save us from having to choose between cutting vital services and increasing taxes on those already struggling with tax burdens.<\/p>\n

Despite its persuasiveness, Franklin\u2019s proposal will no doubt call forth the endless theoretical arguments opposing a state income tax.<\/p>\n

One wonders how many would so strenuously object to an income tax if the scheme would not raise their own taxes now or in the future. Viewed from this perspective, much opposition to an income tax owes less to theoretical arguments than it does to a simple effort to preserve a personal advantage.<\/p>\n

There is nothing wrong with preserving a personal advantage. But this principle \u2014 like all principles \u2014 must have limits. Franklin\u2019s bill, based on the 2003 Gates Commission recommendations and countless other reports, is sensible, tested and fair. It reflects considerations broader than mere personal advantage.<\/p>\n

It is long past time to bring these more-inclusive principles into our debates over tax policy. We are, after all, passengers on the same train.<\/p>\n

\u2014 William R. Andersen, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

Time to repeal current system<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sen. Rosa Franklin reiterates what we all know to be true. The time is now for Washington state to repeal our regressive tax system.<\/p>\n

What if the people who earn less than $20,000 annually and are forced to pay 17.3 percent of their family income in taxes rise up and demand that our governor and legislators do the right thing and revise our regressive and outdated tax system without further delay?<\/p>\n

In fact, why don\u2019t those who earn between $99,000 and $198,000 join in and together form a majority to demand a fairer and more-just tax system in our state.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kristin Distelhorst, Seattle<\/em><\/p>\n

People who make more, spend more<\/strong><\/p>\n

With all respect to Sen. Rosa Franklin, she skewed her numbers to fit her proposal of a state income tax. Percentages are one number, the actual dollar amount is another, much higher number in actual money.<\/p>\n

People who make more money, spend more money in housing, cars, entertainment, etc., which all relate into tax for all the state, not just that proposed by the people in Olympia. More than an income tax, we need Olympia to live within the means we vote to give them and stop growing the state spending to six times the CPI rate for the Seattle area.<\/p>\n

I totally disagreed with Franklin when she said, \u201cIn fact, if we\u2019d adopted the commission\u2019s recommendation years ago, we\u2019d be in much less of a recession in our state today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hogwash, if Olympia spent less than every dollar they took in, provided a larger rainy-day fund, hadn\u2019t given extremely high raises, etc., we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jerry Oaksmith, Edmonds<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do so many oppose a state income tax? Editor, The Times: State Sen. Rosa Franklin\u2019s support of a progressive state income tax [\u201cWashington state\u2019s regressive tax system needs an overhaul,\u201d Opinion, guest commentary, Dec. 14] helpfully notes that it could save us from having to choose between cutting vital services and increasing taxes on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}