Carney’s “Shared Sacrifice” is a transparent sham
Our Governor is proposing a budget that is a matter of, and I quote, “shared sacrifice.” He says that to deal with our $395 million state deficit, we all must sacrifice more money in tax dollars and services. If all were fair, and our state tax codes were fair tax codes, maybe it would be a shared sacrifice. However, in our state, that is just not the case. So what is really happening here is not a “shared sacrifice;” despite what Governor Carney calls it. Rather, it continues a tax code benefiting very wealthy people in our state, while balancing a gross deficit on the backs of hard-working middle-class families, many of whom have sacrificed enough for this state, and are barely making it now. Meanwhile, people making millions of dollars per year pay comparatively very little in state taxes. This is unacceptable, but it is fact. Some of the wealthiest families in the region live here in Delaware, but you wouldn’t know it if you walked down the streets of many of our cities. Some of the largest corporations in the country claim residency in our state, but you would never know that, either.
Just once I’d like to know what Rich Heffron and the Chamber have ever sacrificed for the greater good.
I posted this on Facebook last night:
Gov. Carney:
It takes a lot for me to say this, but it’s time. Please immediately cease and desist from using the phrase “shared sacrifice.” Banish it from your vocabulary and remove it from any and all literature or PowerPoint presentations. It’s offensive and it completely misses the point. Respectfully, Governor, it’s not “shared sacrifice” when only one portion of the populace is actually sacrificing.
It is not sacrifice when a millionaire may be faced with a few thousand more dollars in taxes; that person will still be a millionaire. It is sacrifice when a poor child may have to attend a school with ballooning class sizes. It is sacrifice when a child abuse case goes uninvestigated because of cuts in social services. It is sacrifice when healthcare cost burdens are shifted to state workers making less than $30,000 per year.
So, please, stop using the phrase “shared sacrifice,” because it’s clear only the poor and middle class will be sacrificing. Please, sir, for all that is decent, just come out and support the bill calling for a modest tax increase on people making above $125,000. And support it wholeheartedly and without exception.
Thank you,
Mike
Well said Mike!
Great cartoon in Journal today…. guy making over 60K is taxed dollar for dollar the same as millionaire making millions in income. Shared sacrifice? I think not
The Governor thinks that by raising taxes by almost ½ of a % on earners making from $10,000 to $20,000 dollars per year, those earners will be able to simultaneously absorb that net tax increase and still spend the same amount of money in the economy. I wonder when was the last time the Governor made a salary of $10,000 to $20,000 per year. Does he have any idea of how far that much goes to housing, insurances, vehicles, food, because he seems to not understand how persons making this much survive at all.
For all class warfare zealots and those demanding the rich pay their “fair share”:
https://politisane.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/whos-really-not-paying-their-fair-share/
Nothing for nothing but there aren’t enough ‘Rich’ folks to pay down 400 million that the 24 year Democratically controlled state has amassed. How much money of a person/ family who makes 125k ~250k should the state/fed be allowed to take? Would it be ‘reasonable’ to take 40~50% ? Is there someone here who’s going to say a person making 125k should only be allowed to keep 60% of what they earned(state and fed income tax)? If you make 1 million per year, is the government entitled to 400k of money you earned??
Furthermore, the issue is that the state has over committed on state responsibilities while not having sufficient revenue streams. DE has not retracted and restrained its spending and subsequently, in lean times (now) they have no reserves. DE signed onto Oblamo era programs with subsidies from the FED and now those funds have dried up. (i.e. underfunded liabilities.) The DE tax code and the influence of Union heavy states like PA, NJ, and MD have pushed the costs beyond the means of normal DE taxpayers.
The answer is not more taxes, it is curtailing spending, curtailing gov’t overreach and recognizing the state should not be responsible for much of what it is currently tasked with. The same logic that says we shouldn’t cut the arts is the logic that doesn’t face DEtermined facts that the state is living beyond it’s means. Either cut back, cut waste, and reduce overhead OR default. Raising taxes with no real effort to make gov’t leaner and more efficient is just the lazy way of temporarily patching the hole.
@Mike
“It is sacrifice when healthcare cost burdens are shifted to state workers making less than $30,000 per year.”
-Given the fact that non-state workers have been hit with HIGHER insurance premiums and taxes than state workers to shield state workers from Oblamocare’s increased premiums, I’d say the sacrifice has not been equally shared.
-Only about 12% of households make over 125k. There are roughly 315000 households in DE. 0.12 x 315000=37,800 households
$400,000,000 / 37800 households =$10,582 would be needed from each of these 125K households to cover the shortfall.
Is it reasonable to assume that a household with mortgage, kids, cars, insurance, property taxes, federal taxes, car maintenance, home maintenance, etc. has another $10k laying around for the state who demands prevailing wages on state jobs and guaranteed state employee step increases? Maybe the state needs to stop paying for overly expensive roadways. Maybe the state needs to stop spending on frivolous programs it can’t afford.
Mike Matthews: you hit the nail on the head.
Carney also likes to repeat the equally Orwellian and incredibly offensive Republican talking point “broaden the base.”
In the words of Republican Ken Simpler, that means: “broaden the base of the personal income tax via elimination of major deductions coupled with an offsetting across the board cut in rates and the elimination of the estate tax”
Or as Carney puts it in his own mind-numbing mumble:
In plain English, broadening the base means shifting the tax burden downward. Mitt Romney’s mythical 47% will pay more so the rich don’t have to pay so much.
I WANT the 47% to pay more taxes – by having their incomes raised to the point where they actually owe more taxes. Not by raising their rates or eliminating their deductions. So John Carney, if you want to broaden the base, a minimum wage increase would be a good start.
Here’s the great thing about a progressive tax structure: It’s GOOD NEWS if you owe more taxes, because that means you are making more money. Owe more taxes? Congratulations on your success!