Daily Debunk: 'Opponents are blowing on all the familiar horns'
NYT editorial urges vote for Fair Tax Amendment
The New York Times backs the Fair Tax Amendment in Illinois, arguing, “The opponents are blowing on all the familiar horns.” (Shutterstock)
By Ted Cox
The nation’s most respected and reliable newspaper has come out in favor of passing the Fair Tax Amendment.
The New York Times posted an editorial Wednesday backing progressive tax measures on the ballot in the general election in Illinois, Arizona, and California.
The editorial states up front: “Most Americans accept the common-sense case for progressive taxation: those who have more ought to contribute more to the society that is the foundation of their prosperity.” It cites that “the federal government and 32 states impose progressive income taxes,” and it praises that “the biggest reform is on the ballot in Illinois, where voters have the opportunity to replace a flat tax on income with a progressive tax that would impose a larger burden on those with larger incomes.”
“The biggest reform is on the ballot in Illinois, where voters have the opportunity to replace a flat tax on income with a progressive tax that would impose a larger burden on those with larger incomes.”
The editorial states succinctly what informed Illinois voters have probably memorized by now in the proposed shift away from the current flat tax imposing the same 4.95 percent tax rate on everyone: “Most Illinois households would get a modest tax cut. The first $10,000 in income would be taxed at 4.75 percent; the next $90,000 would be taxed at 4.90 percent; and income between $100,000 and $250,000 would be taxed at the current rate.
“The big change is for income above $250,000,” the editorial added, “which would be taxed at rates of up to 7.99 percent. Also, individuals with income above $750,000, or couples with income above $1 million, would pay the top 7.99 percent rate on all income, including the first $250,000.”
The case apparently made on a factual, common-sense level, the Times goes on to acknowledge what we at One Illinois have been confronting for weeks with our Daily Debunks: “Opponents are blowing on all the familiar horns. They say that Illinois should cut spending rather than raising taxes, that the rich will flee, that investment will wither. They say taxing the wealthy will end up punishing those who have less. The truth is that the level of taxation matters less than how the money is used. People flock to high-tax jurisdictions that provide services and amenities and, in those places, commerce thrives. Illinois, long plagued by fiscal mismanagement, undoubtedly has work to do on the spending side of the ledger. But that’s no argument against progressive taxation as the best way to raise the money it does need.”
The editorial points out that additional reforms are needed in property taxes, because they’re similarly regressive, especially the way they’re put to use in Illinois, to make up the difference in essential education funding due to the state’s failure to assume its constitutionally mandated “primary” role in paying for schools. That puts the burden on towns to raise the necessary funds through property taxes, an onus that falls especially heavy on rural communities and blighted areas where’s it’s in effect squeezing blood from a turnip.
“Decades of relentless advocacy for limits on taxation have left states strapped for resources and forced to lean heavily on lower-income households,” the Times editorial agrees. “A new generation of politicians is now stepping forward to make the case for progressive taxation, promising to use the money to invest in services like high-quality education. It is up to the voters to give that effort their support.”