"Start with the damage it would do to Washington's business climate, and how smacking a narrow band of successful people with a new tax of 5 to 9 percent would take almost $2 billion a year out of the private sector. An income tax would fall like a ton of bricks on some of those involved with the most innovative, job-producing businesses and companies in Southwest Washington and the rest of the state."
- WA State Senator Joseph Zarelli
Voting day looms...but Washingtonians need to pay attention to Initiative 1098. It could change your life...not all at once, but it will...and not in a good way.
Washington State is in financial trouble and this is the solution: Create a state income tax.
They will start with the highest wage earners (those making over $200k)...these people don't need that money anyway. Who the heck gets to decide who doesn't need their hard-earned cash-o-la?
I hate this idea of pitting lower wage earners against higher wage earners. I don't fall into the "rich" category, but I am still freaked out of 1098. Here's why: I don't trust the government. 1098 paves the way for a full-fledged state income tax in two years for ALL income earners and you better believe they will move in that direction.
This new state income tax structure will eventually include lower wage earners and the promised tax "eliminations" with 1098 are not permanent and will most likely be re-instated within a few years.
From defeat1098.com, here are 5 points to consider:
1) We can’t trust the politicians in Olympia with an income tax. If this state income tax on “the rich” is passed, a simple majority of the legislature can extend an income tax to everyone in just two years.
2) The 1098 income tax initiative includes no protections on how high the tax rates can go. 1098 is a new tax on income of more than $2 billion in the first year alone.
3) The supporters of Initiative 1098 say that the revenues from a state income tax would be used for education and health programs, but the truth is that the legislature can spend the funds however it wants.
4) While the income tax would be permanent, the promised relief on property and business taxes is not guaranteed to be permanent and could be eliminated by the legislature in just two years.
5) Job creation will be harmed by the 1098 income tax. As The Seattle Times wrote, “I-1098 also takes away the most important tax-based advantage Washington has in attracting businesses and jobs here: our lack of a state income tax. This state needs that advantage.” - -
This last one is very scary to me. The health of our state depends on the health of the private sector, which is the ONLY area of the economy that actually creates a single job. Lack of a state income tax is a huge windfall for companies that move here...but we will soon lose that advantage if 1098 is passed.
And what I find very interesting is the Bill Gates, Sr. television ad tnever actually mentions the words "Income Tax"...it just talks about lowering your tax bill.
If you knew Steve Ballmer (CEO of Microsoft) and Steve Bezos (CEO of Amazon.com) have come out against I-1098 you would realize what this bill will do to attract businesses to this state. Businesses large and small are worried. I am too.
It's a job killer, my friends. Wake up and smell the Starbucks...it may not be here much longer.
More Reading:
Wall Street Journal: The Gates of Confiscation
No on I-1098 - Imposing Income Tax Would Kill the State's Advantage
Very interesting. I've never been in favor of an unbalanced tax system. It never ceases to amaze me how left-wing politicians believe that taking from the rich promotes economic growth, Or that giving to the poor gives them incentive to become valuable (economically producing) members of society. I may have shared this quote here previously but I think the topic merits it again:
ReplyDelete"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." - Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 - 2005.
My feeling is that we need to change our tax system all together. We are no longer a commodities-based economy, we are a service-based economy and our tax system should reflect that change.