From Thursday, March 27 (read the discussion after the article)- I had to comment: Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, said the highest earners already pay their fair share in relation to low-wage earners. The top 3 percent of tax filers contribute more than 40 percent of the state’s personal income taxes, she said. The top-heavy nature of those payments indicates Vermont’s income taxes already are progressive, she said. Not so! Rep. Donahue compares apples to oranges. What percentage of their income do Vermonts top income recipients pay in taxes? What percentage of their income do the lower income recipients pay? This is how to measure whether a tax system is fair or not. The top 5 % in Vermont have gained dramatically in recent years--like it has been for the wealthy across the country. The disparity of wealth is what Donohues analysis reflects. In speaking about how to maintain Vermonts community spirit as we work towards future resilience in the face of unfathomable climate crisis and the predicted economic outcomes, a friend recently said, Compared to other places, Vermont is doing very well. Perhaps, but how many elders and homeless and vulnerable members of Vermonts community will quietly pass away for lack of food or heat or take their own lives out of despair? If the answer is less than in other places, how many unnecessary Vermont deaths become acceptable because we cant make up for all federal cuts? Then there are the children. We know that children dont think well when hungry, that hunger often causes aggression, and that poverty in early years almost assures limited potential later in life. What are we thinking when those with so much are not being asked to pay their fair share to assure a better future for our youth? One friend recently wrote, The 1% uses every method at its disposal to remain in power: propaganda in media, media consolidation, underfunding of public schools, propaganda in private school teaching materials, propaganda in churches, election fraud, domestic and international spying, militarization of the police, debt scams, electronic investment scams, insurance scams including health insurance profiteering, lobbying, gerrymandering, privatization of pubic services and prisons, private armies, globalization, free trade agreements, union-busting, and so forth. This is the new feudal system. But it is not everywhere. The Scandinavians and Icelandic people wont stand for it. Sure--compared to all of that, Vermont may be doing much better and this is the global context in which we live. Where will Vermont stand in this new feudal system? Howard Zinn made popular the phrase, You cant be neutral on a moving train. We can turn a blind eye, here in Vermont, because we feel like were doing better than other places or we can consider what value we place on the lives of the most vulnerable. We assert the value of all Vermont lives by doing what the Vermont and U.S. Constitutions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights say is the responsibility of governments: Assure that the basic needs of all people in our community have been met. If that means raising taxes on those that have plenty, so be it.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 15:09:25 +0000
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