Gov: Think Tank Says Blackwell's Flat Tax Proposal "Falls Flat"
I love it when policy experts do their homework and come up with an authoritative takedown of a proposal that sounded awfully fishy in the first place. In this case it's the flat income tax idea advanced by Ken Blackwell (R-Cincinnati), and the experts are at the outstanding Ohio think tank Policy Matters:
Tax proposal falls flat: Forty-five percent of Ohioans would end up paying higher taxes while only 30 percent would see taxes lowered, based on an updated analysis of the details available on Ohio gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell's plan for a flat 3.25 percent income tax. Meanwhile, the richest Ohioans would each eventually reap thousands of dollars on average in annual tax savings, and the state would lose more than $800 million a year in revenue. Thanks to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, we were able to analyze the evolving proposal, as new details emerged. All iterations of the policy turned out to be flat-out misguided.
posted by Jeff @ 4:54 PM
DIGG THIS STORY!
2 Comments:
Does anyone else think that DeWine is a goner? His chief strategy of attacking Brown on intelligence is backfiring on him. Because DeWine's lack of activity on the intelligence committee will beexploited by Brown--in addition to the NIE, Foley scandal, and deterioration in Iraq--I think this race is over.
Unfortunately, I think a race that was maybe "over" in the late summer is back in play. This race is far from "over" now, thanks to Brown's vote for the Military Commissions Act. He's got to win back the enthusiastic support of bumming progressives who say they'll still vote for him but won't work as hard. Brown should have stuck to his guns because DeWine was just hurting himself with his inept, unfocused campaign.
But as for the "flat tax," anyone with a brain can see this is a bad idea. If you are going to lower taxes in the higher tax brackets (all the wealthiest taxpayers), then it has to be made up somewhere just to stay even, let alone not see a drop in income. To even get marginal acceptance and make it not incredibly punitive, you have to have a big exemption for those in the lowest brackets. So you completely slam and crush middle-income taxpayers. The only taxpayers to benefit from a "flat tax" are extremely wealthy ones.
Post a Comment
<< Home