Pledge Politics Exposedby: Dean BarkerSun Nov 22, 2009 at 20:44:38 PM EST |
Behold the wreckage of the Loeb-Thomson pledge:
This visual bomb of the dysfunction of our state revenue system brought to you via this study (.pdf) (h/t here). The bottom 20% of earners in New Hampshire give 8.3% of their income to the state.The top 1% of earners gives 2.0%. This is the definition of a regressive taxation system. Dude, where's my tea party protest? Adding: In Vermont, by way of a regional example, the bottom 20% and top 1% of earners both give a little over 8 cents of every dollar earned to the state (8.2% & 8.4%, respectively). |
|
Here's Vermont, a truly different picture:
From the study's introduction, p.3: Just as the combination of flat (or non-existent) income taxes and high sales and excise taxes tends to make for very regressive tax systems, the most noticeable features of the least regressive tax states are exactly the opposite: they have progressive income taxes and rely less on sale and excise taxes. For example, Vermont's tax system is among the least regressive in the nation because it has a highly progressive income tax and low sales and excise taxes. Vermont's tax system is also made less unfair by the state's refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). And here's the rest of the New Hampshire page of the study: |
