Here’s a question to ask New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie the next time he appears at a public event: “Why is it in your state the top 1 percent of income earners pay state taxes at a rate that is on average 28 percent less than what middle-income earners pay?”
Then watch the fireworks. You might even get a “sit down and shut up” out of him for having the nerve to lay this fact in front of him.
From the article:
"Why should a working-class person, already dealing with stagnant if not falling wages and a government that is being decapitated under conservative ideology, pay a share of his or her wages in taxes that is orders of magnitude higher than, say, the guys (and they are usually guys) who show up at the governor’s fundraisers?
We know, of course, that the answer is that the wealthy have used their money to rig the tax code in their favor."
Don't forget the Pay to Play election scenarios that force candidates to cater to the interests and wishes of their biggest campaign donors.
The system turns elections into a commodity to be purchased by the highest bidders.
In response to this point:
"When the trickle-down ideology of top-end tax cuts did not result in enough revenue tricking down into state coffers, states turned to regressive sales taxes and fees to close the gap. The result is more of the burden of funding state and local governments has shifted onto the shoulders of working-class people – the people stressed the most by today’s inequitable economy."
Prior to CD's recent comment protocol transition, a number of regular posters turned attention away from these facts to instead posit the Frank Luntz-style talking point that "The Middle Class Hates The Poor."
What already empowered group and right wing policy would such a canard lend cover to?
