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Ben Shapiro challenges Gov. Jay Inslee’s tax plan

Jan 29, 2015, 11:46 AM | Updated: 1:23 pm

770 KTTH host Ben Shapiro considers a guest editorial Washington Gov. Jay Inslee provided to &#8220...

770 KTTH host Ben Shapiro considers a guest editorial Washington Gov. Jay Inslee provided to "The Stranger." (AP file photo)

(AP file photo)

Taken from Wednesday’s edition of The Ben Shapiro Show on AM 770 KTTH.

Gov. Jay Inslee has seen fit to pen an op-ed for “The Stranger.” He is writing about how we need to become a state where everyone pays their fair share.

Here’s what Gov. Inslee had to say:

“On so many fronts, Washington leads the nation. Long before Obamacare, we worked hard at expanding health care access to low-income children and the working poor. We were one of the first states to embrace marriage equality. Our state is known worldwide as a center of innovation in areas such as aerospace, software, and global health.

Unfortunately, we are also No. 1 in another area.
Our tax system is the most unfair in the nation.”

We’ve talked about this nonsense before, the idea that we have a deeply unfair tax system. There is only one problem, Gov. Inslee’s office will not get back to us despite our repeated inquiries as to how much of the actual tax revenue in the state is paid for by the richest 1 percent.

Instead, they’ll just say that the 1 percent pay a lower percentage of their income than people at the bottom of the income pyramid. But that doesn’t answer the question. If someone who makes $1 million a year pays 10 percent of their income to the state of Washington, that is $100,000. If somebody who makes $10,000 a year pays 20 percent of their income to the state of Washington, that is $2,000 for the state of Washington. So where is the actual money coming from?

I promise you it isn’t coming from the poorest Americans, but the governor’s office has refused to return our phone calls on that. It’s a pretty simple stat, you’d figure they have it, but nope.

Gov. Inslee writes: “According to a report released this month by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy, Washington residents with the lowest incomes—less than $21,000—pay 16.8 percent of their incomes in taxes. Meanwhile those with the highest incomes — more than $507,000—pay 2.4 percent in taxes.

“In other words, our poorest residents pay seven times as much of their income in taxes as do the very wealthiest.”

OK that’s true. That does not answer the question as to what percentage of all revenue in the state is coming from the wealthiest. That is the fact that matters, folks. Because if it turns out that the rich are paying 50 percent of the revenue that the state takes in, they’re not paying a disproportionate share, are they?

Let’s do a little bit of a calculation. Let’s say you make $507,000 per year and you are paying a 2.4 percent tax on that. You paid $12,000 in taxes. So if you’re in the top 1 percent, you paid $12,000 in taxes.

Now if you are making $21,000 a year and you are paying 16.8 percent of your income in taxes, then you are paying $3,500 a year in taxes.

So in other words, the rich guy is paying four times more than the poor guy is in terms of absolute dollars in taxes. For all this talk about how the poor are paying so much more than the rich, the rich are paying four times more money than the poor. If you earn a lot of money, you’re paying a lot of money, even if you’re paying a lower percentage of income.

But Gov. Inslee says this is deeply unfair, this is deeply wrong. He writes: “What does this say about us as a state? How can we justify asking those with the fewest resources to pay such a disproportionately bigger share of their income in taxes, especially when income inequality has risen to its worst levels in more than 70 years?”

First of all, income inequality in the state of Washington has risen to record levels and guess who was governor during that time? His name is Jay Inslee.

He continues: “Besides the shameful distinction of being the most unfair, our antiquated, patchwork tax system no longer keeps pace with the growth of our economy or with growing demands for services.”

So what he really wants is more cash.

“We must act this year so we can build the education, mental health, and child protection systems that our citizens expect and our courts demand.”

That’s a bunch of hooey. He’s not going to spend the money on mental health. He’s not going to spend the money on education. The reality is it will all go into the great maw of government that nobody ever sees.

“In the mid-1990s, Washington ranked 11th among all states in state and local tax collections as a share of total personal income — well above the national average,” Inslee writes. “By 2012, Washington’s ranking had fallen to 35th and well below the national average.”

First of all, if you rank eleventh in stealing your citizens dollars, why is that something to brag about?

He says: “If Washington tax collections were merely at the national average, we would be generating nearly $2.6 billion more per year in state and local revenue.”

But there is no guarantee of that. If we rack up the taxes here in the state of Washington, then we’re going to destroy the one thing we have going for us which is a pretty strong economy.

You think maybe the reason so many high-tech firms and college grad firms are operating out of the Puget Sound region might be because the taxes are great. There are a lot of people moving up from California because they have a 10 percent state income tax. In Washington, we don’t have a state income tax.

But Gov. Inslee says no our tax system is just decrepit.

He writes: “Washington’s tax system — the bulk of which was put in place in 1935 — was designed to function in an economy far different from the one we have today.”

Why is that economy so different exactly? The economy is the economy, it doesn’t change over time.

“We rely on the sales tax for the largest portion of our revenue,” Inslee says. “That worked well when we had a goods-based economy. But during the past half century, there has been a dramatic shift in consumer spending to services, which are not taxed to the extent that we tax goods.”

First of all, we do tax services here in the state. Second, what is he talking about? We’re buying the same goods as before, it’s just cheaper to buy those goods.

Then he whines about how people do their shopping online. I wonder why people do their shopping online? Oh right, to avoid your taxes.

He says: “Over the past century, the state has enacted more than 600 tax breaks worth billions of dollars. Many of these energize our economy and provide good jobs. The problem we face is the Legislature has been unable to close outdated or ineffective tax breaks. In 2013, I proposed closing more than $560 million worth of those loopholes but the state senate wouldn’t act.”

One more thing he says is hobbling our economy: “Voter-approved measures have sharply cut property tax growth and transportation revenues.”

Right, because we don’t want higher taxes. What are you not getting about this?

“The budget I proposed last month calls for about $1.4 billion in new revenue,” Inslee continues.

By new revenue he means new taxes.

“My budget uses these new revenues to make the largest-ever state investment in early learning, funds statewide all-day kindergarten, reduces class sizes in K-3, and freezes college tuition, among other important investments.”

In this editorial, he uses euphemisms like revenues and investments. It’s not an investment. I don’t see a check in the mail. I own stocks. When I get a dividend, that is my investment. When I sell my stock, that is my investment. How does my investment pay off? All these euphemisms: revenues, investments. They’re called taxes. It’s a seizure of money.

But I hope Gov. Inslee keeps along this track. I hope he keeps pushing for higher taxes. I think that will work out beautifully for everyone because it turns out Washington state voters are not into it.

Read Inslee’s full guest editorial at “The Stranger.”

Taken from Wednesday’s edition of The Ben Shapiro Show on AM 770 KTTH.

JS

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