tax reform

Robbing the poor to give to the rich:

The current proposals at the General Assembly would reduce or eliminate the personal income tax (a huge tax cut for the wealthy) and would make up some of the lost revenue by increasing the sales tax. The net result—the wealthy would pay much less in taxes while middle- and low-income families would pay more. That’s the Great Tax Shift. Lawmakers want to shift the tax load from wealthy North Carolinians onto working families.

The average people of this state have been betrayed. Betrayed by those who promised tax cuts for all, but only ever intended for those at the top to benefit. One need only take a closer look at AFP's chosen cheerleader to see the truth of that:

Activists eagerly listening to #NCGA #taxreform discussion in Greensboro. #ncpol #consnc #BackInTheGameNC twitter.com/AFPNC/status/3…

— AFP-NC (@AFPNC) May 16, 2013

Don't expect the honorables in Raleigh to back off of their ill-conceived plan to drop income taxes in favor of consumption (sales) taxes. It's hard enough collecting the former, and quite nearly impossible to collect the latter. And it's not just my opinion.

That's why I want to see more reliance on a progressive, graduated income tax that covers salaries, bonuses, capital gains, and dividends equally. This is one of the central planks in my platform.

Be sure to read the article. It's a good one.

It looks like the Regressives in Raleigh will be pressing forward to redistribute even more wealth by cutting taxes on the the ultra-rich and increasing taxes on lower income households. They know what they're doing ... they just don't care.

Cutting to the chase.

• Sixty percent of North Carolina taxpayers would receive a tax increase under the Pope tax reform proposal. Those taxpayers all represent low income and middle class households.
• Twenty percent of North Carolina taxpayers would receive a tax cut under the Pope tax reform proposal ... the wealthiest 20 percent.

Skin cancer sucks, even in its mildest early stages. Between doctor visits, ointments, creams and cutting, there's nothing to like about it except for the fact that it's not brain or liver cancer. But you know what would suck even more? Skin cancer with no insurance.

I've been lucky. I was able to see a doctor early and often, staying ahead of the disease. Without insurance, I might be well my way to dead right now.

More than 1.5 million adults in North Carolina have no health insurance. With an incidence rate of 30% for skin cancer, that means more than 450,000 uninsured citizens would be diagnosed if they somehow managed to see a doctor. But they won't see a doctor. They can't afford to.

In case you missed it.

Deputy Assistant Governor McCrory is having second thoughts about his short leash, resulting in a bizarre kabuki dance that looks more and more like a good-old-fashioned shell game.

As you'll recall from last week, Governor Pope gave Phil Berger permission to say the General Assembly would put an end to income and corporate taxes in favor of raising sales taxes, including a tax on food. Right on cue this week, Pope told reporters in Chapel Hill that he didn't think that was a good idea. Then yesterday, Deputy Assistant Governor McCrory told reporters that he didn't really agree with Governor Pope, and that he'd continue to push the ALEC agenda of drowning government in Grover Nordquist's bathtub.

In case you're having trouble following this, here's the real story. Governor Pope and his Deputy are embarrassed that so many people have seen through their charade. Despite the fact that Pope is not a controversial figure, he needs to find a way out of the spotlight and let Deputy Assistant Governor McCrory look like he's in charge. What better way to do that than to have a public spat, let McCrory win, and then slide back into running his slum-retailing empire, leaving a gang of Lockers behind to do his absentee bidding.

What's even more remarkable is the fact that these guys know North Carolina voters will fall for their smoke-and-mirrors scam, and that all this tap-dancing will distract people from seeing the harsh reality of their regressive agenda.

In 2011, my two-income family was very fortunate. We worked hard, got lucky, and earned a great deal of money. As a result, we paid $62,204 in state income taxes. Next year, thanks to Governor Pope, we'll pay no income taxes whatsoever! And even though the state sales tax rate will go up to 8%, including a new tax on food, the most we'll have to pay is about $6,500, or approximately ten times less.

How is that kind of deficit going to be closed? It's not. That's because Governor Pope's real motive is to execute the Grover Norquist Strategy of making government so small he can drown it in a bathtub.

What does that mean for North Carolina? It means a race to the bottom. If you are a public-sector employee and don't happen to be a Friend of Art, it's a safe bet you are going to either (1) lose your job, (2) get a pay cut, or (3) see your income frozen. If you are unemployed or poor, you will be paying more in taxes next year than you did last year, filling the gap resulting from "tax reform." And if you are a middle class family scrambling to get by in these tough times, you're in for a world of hurt. Your children will end up in more crowded classrooms. The roads your drive on will not be maintained. The parks you visit will fall into disrepair. The air you breathe will be more polluted. The water you drink will be more expensive and toxic. And the state you love will become another subsidiary in Art Pope's slum retailing empire, full of cheap crap from China.