When I saw the idiotic headline that taxes are too low, I
immediately read the column without first looking who the author
was. My bad. Had I looked I would have expected the red herring and
bypassed it entirely.
Dear Editor,
When I saw the idiotic headline that taxes are too low, I immediately read the column without first looking who the author was. My bad. Had I looked I would have expected the red herring and bypassed it entirely.
The author, Lisa Pampuch, starts by whining about how former President Bush lowered federal taxes and then leads into the cuts that local public schools will have to make. She fails to mention that her president, Obama, deficit-spent more in 18 months than Bush did in 8 years and ignorantly insists that we have a revenue problem. (We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem!)
In other words, the government should have a blank check and any discrepancy (deficit) is to be readily shouldered by the taxpayers. This is called tax-and-spend economics, which is an even bigger failure than “trickle down.”
Back to the schools: They are a state entity; their financial problems are purely the fault of the state “leadership”” during the last 13 years. (Ironically, the CTA – the teachers union – wholeheartedly campaigned for the very people – Democrats – who caused and exacerbated the situation.)
According to the Tax Foundation (taxfoundation.org), in 2011, California ranks 49th (second worst) in business tax climate and it has the 6th highest overall tax rate in the country. So it is no coincidence that we also have the second highest unemployment (BLS, April, 2011). And with high unemployment, tax revenues fall. The tax hike which is about to expire (a cause for statewide celebration) was the largest in state history (AP, Feb. 2009); they still cried “broke” and their only solution is to keep raising taxes. I applaud the state GOP for forcing some reform!
Let’s look at a microcosm, the pimple known as the Department of Motor Vehicles: They charge you a small fortune annually just for owning a vehicle. Part of that funds the snails at DMV; the rest gets dumped into the waste known as the General Fund. To pay this, you write a check and mail it (a nearly extinct practice), which costs the state about $3 and you 44 cents. If you pay online, which should be cheaper for both sides, they charge you $5 “service fee”! Their refusal to even reform DMV shows clearly they have done nothing. Let the state collapse – i.e., go bankrupt.
Also, according to the Tax Foundation, “Americans will pay more in taxes in 2011 than they will spend on groceries, clothing and shelter combined.” So yes, Lisa, taxes are too high. If you disagree, move to France.
Alan Viarengo, Gilroy
