Monday, March 2, 2015

Gov. Wolf's tax proposals

Things are not bad enough.  In his first term as Governor of California, Jerry Brown had an expression “Let the crisis heat up.”  When the government is in true crisis, an opportunity may arise for real reform.

Let’s look at the current state of affairs in Pennsylvania.  (I’ll try to be brief.)
The property tax, used to fund schools, means that poor districts like Panther Valley will have a problem paying for their schools no matter how high they raise property tax, while rich districts, like Parkland, spend huge amounts per pupil with fairly low tax rates.

The income tax in Pennsylvania is flat, which means that no matter how rich you are, you pay the same percentage as a Wal-Mart worker.

The sales tax is regressive.  Although it seems to be a flat tax, it actually takes a greater percentage of money from lower income taxpayers than from wealthy taxpayers.

So what is Wolf’s solution?  He wants to raise the sales tax (regressive), increase the income tax (a flat tax), and decrease property tax, a worthy goal that fails to prevent educational inequalities.

What we need is complete reform.  And we won’t get it.  The Pennsylvania legislature is filled with goofballs, the Pennsylvania Constitution is a straightjacket, we do not have the initiative process available to us, and the average Pennsylvania voter is dumb as a box of hair.  


Maybe if the crisis heated up, maybe if the state actually went bankrupt, maybe if the poor school districts had riots in the streets, our tax system would be reformed.  But don’t bet on it.

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