REPORT: Three States Propose Massive Tax Cuts For Millionaires, Tax Hikes

[cal04]

REPORT: Three States Propose Massive Tax Cuts For Millionaires, Tax Hikes for Middle Class
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/22/estate-tax-vs-middle-class-report/


Last week, ThinkProgress documented conservative efforts in twelve states to shift the tax burden onto the middle class even while cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy. In three states, conservatives are going even further, proposing massive estate tax cuts for millionaires even as income inequality is at its worse since the 1920s. Here are the details:

MAINE: Tea Party Gov. Paul LePage’s (I) tax reform package would raise the state’s estate tax exemption from $1 million to $2 million — allowing four hundred of the state’s wealthiest estates to escape taxation. At the same time, the tax plan would raise property taxes on middle class Mainers while freezing health care funding for working parents, cutting money for schools, and raising the retirement age for public workers. Republican legislators want to go even further, and are currently considering eliminating the estate tax altogether.

OHIO: In January, House Speaker William Batchelder (R) called Gov. John Kasich’s (R) proposal to completely eliminate the estate tax one of the Republican-controlled legislature’s “top priorities.” But already, the bill has garnered strong opposition from local governments, who depend on estate tax revenue and are already concerned state spending cuts. Even while finding room for estate tax reductions, Kasich’s proposed budget cuts 25 percent of funding for local schools, $427 million for nursing homes, $1 million for food banks, $12 million from children’s hospitals, and $15.9 million from an adoption program for children with special needs.

NEW JERSEY: In his 2011 budget proposal, Gov. Chris Christie called for raising the state’s estate tax exemption from $675,000 to $1 million even while proposing cuts to the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and homestead rebates for working poor families. And last year Christie vetoed a bill passed by the Legislature that would have raised taxes on the state’s millionaires to help fund property tax relief for Main Street.

[atreides1]

1. Makes you wonder

If those independent voters are having buyers remorse?

[damntexdem]

10. They'd better remember the remorse at next election ...

even better, at next recall vote.

[northernlights]

15. LePage didn't win due to independents

5 candidates total, with 3 splitting over 95% of the vote.

LePage roughly 38%
Elliot Cutler (independent, former dem) roughly 37%
Libby Mitchell( dem) roughly 20%

Mitchell's support dropped to 20% or so several weeks before the election. Had she chosen to drop out and endorse Cutler, he would have won handily. As it stands, 62% of Maine voted *against* LePage.

A lot of people waited until the last minute to give Mitchell every opportunity to catch up. I, for one, normally vote 1st thing in the a.m. Instead I waited until evening, and voted Cutler in a last ditch attempt to keep LePage out.

[Bandit]

19. I think they are too busy watching American Idol.

Most don't know a thing about any of it...

[Champion Jack]

2. Assholes, all of them

[Stuart G]

36. Aptly put...

[aquart]

3. No sane nation would go where Maine goes now.

Shame on Maine. We thought better of you.

Ohio and New Jersey, eh. What can you expect. But Maine?

[coalition_unwilling]

12. New Jersey: "Deliverance" on snowmobiles (to steal a line from SNL) - n/t

[aquart]

17. We New Yorkers agree with that line (and probably wrote it).

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

18. Its LePage... not Maine. Most Mainers don't like him and didn't vote for him

LePage is an ass and he is basically doing everything in his own best interests for the next 4 years. He knows he is not getting re-elected, but he doesn't care about that either. It is a shame that even 38% of people voted for him. It was probably a combination of uninformed republican voters and foaming at the mouth tea partiers that voted for him.

[Auntie Bush]

27. How did he get elected with only 38% voting for him?

[Gormy Cuss]

35. Three competitive candidates

LePage (Tea Party R): 38 %
Cutler (D running as an I) 37%
Mitchell (D) 19%
Plus two other minor candidates.

[xxqqqzme]

38. And there is no run off voting?

That's curious. Seems something broken, needs to be fixed.

[Gormy Cuss]

43. No. As in many states, plurality wins. n/t

[kag]

45. That's really too bad.

Is there any chance of a recall? I know that recall votes are picking up steam (at least that's what we hear from Wisconsin). Is there any possibility that it could happen in Maine?

[Gormy Cuss]

55. No recall process under current law. n/t

[Angry Dragon]

4. Regressive Party scum

[snappyturtle]

5. Would someone please tell me when all these hoodlums got

together to formulate their programs to protect the elite? It certainly isn't just these three states...it's a concerted effort nationwide imho. K&R

[Sabien]

9. ALEC

Look into it...

American Legislative Exchange Council

You will learn things...

http://www.alec.org

[snappyturtle]

25. Thank you!

on edit: I just opened that front page....OMG! I'll read it tomorrow because I'd like to get some sleep tonight although I hate infecting my favorites folder!

[InvisibleZen]

44. USA,Inc

Looks like yet another Koch funded organization.
pure Bircher/Libertarian fascism.

[highplainsdem]

11. ALEC. Lots of info about it in this topic:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x591230

[snappyturtle]

26. and thank YOU!

I am surprised I missed this...thanks for bringing to my attention. On my reading and digesting list for tomorrow...this is not sweet dreams material!

[truth2power]

28. American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)...

www.alecwatch.org

Yes, it is a concerted effort nationwide. Corporations writing "model legislation" for state legislatures to follow.

Everybody should take time to look at this.


ETA> I see highplainsdem is on it already. We've got to get the word out on this. Just like the Koch Bros.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

54. When aquatic life first moved onto land.

[DCKit]

6. I have a thought...

What if we try to make people realize that all these cuts to social programs are, at their core, hidden taxes? As in "A tax hike on all of us".

After all, once all these programs have been gutted, who's going to pick up the tab?

[Scuba]

8. Koch Brothers plan gave Scott Walker the budget line item for this...

... More money to the counties for indigent funerals.

[Frisbee]

23. I really think most people are too dense to get it. n/t

[russspeakeasy]

34. I don't think they are too eense.. I think they just don't give a shit.

[Zambero]

37. Boiled Frog Republicans

The 10-step criteria for belonging to this "elite" group

1. Middle class and votes a straight party ticket every time
2. Believes the gov't should "just get off the backs" of Wall Street and huge corporations
3. Susceptible to right-wing talking points and empty family values slogans
4. Thinks that a flat "fair tax" with no exemptions for their home mortgages sounds really cool
5. Hates the "death tax" even though their own estates would be unaffected by it
6. Believes that Republican politicians detest deficits and will judiciously balance budgets
7. Sees teachers, police, and other public employees as overpaid and underworked
8. Concludes that screwing public workers while cutting taxes for the wealthy will somehow help them
9. Does not possess the human gene that enables one to reach cause-and-effect conclusions
10. Will eventually be done in by their own ignorance, but will never fully realize what hit them

[chervilant]

51. Excellent summation

I would add:

11. Promotes anti-intellectualism and views scientists as liberal conspirators.

[Scuba]

7. This is Koch Brothers, just like Wisconsin....

...they own the RNC and Reince Priebus was their boy in Wisconsin.

[hifiguy]

13. Everybody who is surprised by this

stand on your head.

Feudalism then, feudalism now, feudalism forever. It is the Repig way.

[anarch]

14. Nice. Why don't they tack on some kind of Prima Nocta provision while they're at it?

fuckers.

[msongs]

16. if Obama can extend tax cuts to the wealthy so can they. no biggee nt

[L0oniX]

21. +1

[ck4829]

20. And this is just the beginning.

[baldguy]

22. There should be a Constitutional prohibition against cutting taxes during a budget crisis.

[Frisbee]

24. There should be a floor below which taxes never drop.

If the economy is going great and there is a surplus, either pay down the debt or use it to rebuild/improve infrastructure, or once those things are addressed (like that will ever happen) start investing much as other countries have been doing by investing in the US. There is no reason that either wealthy individuals or corporations should not be at least some minimum tax rate.

[Quantess]

32. And cutting taxes during a war.

[quaker bill]

29. They need to keep doing this

and we need to keep making it public. As 2010 proved, the injustice and inequality is apparently not large enough yet to get people to the polls to defeat these fools. More and faster will strengthen the protest and hasten the vote for needed change.

[malaise]

30. They'd better read this

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/118485264.html

[xchrom]

31. recommend

[Swampguana]

33. There's no common sense

in raising taxes on the middle class making it pretty clear there are unexplained reasons for continuing tax cuts for the wealthy.

[revolutionnow45]

39. add Alaska- legislature is attempting to give 2 billion per year back to oil companies in tax breaks

meanwhile:

Kochs Everywhere: Union-Busting Bill Introduced In Alaska
http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x721636

[abelenkpe]

40. K&R nt

[Enthusiast]

41. What is making them so bold

and confident?

In the face of public opposition why would they do this? Do they know something about our representative democracy being undermined that we don't know about? Has our election process been compromised? There is more here than meets the eye.

[LiberalLovinLug]

47. Because there is little in the way of vocal opposition

Yes at DU. And at HP and DKos. Bartcop etc...
But it is continually baffling that besides the very occasional whimper on the MSM from a Dem rep, they refuse to create a big bold united storm about it. They didn't do it during the healthcare reform, even when 70% of the public was for some kind of public option. They didn't do it when the Rethugs demanded the Bush Tax Cuts be extended. And now they remain silent while all these draconian bills go through in various states.

I mean I know that both parties work for the corporations first, people second. I get it. And I understand that the Obama administration is not, and never was, interested in living up to his pre-election promise of REAL CHANGE. But they MUST understand when they have a certain segment of the voting public in the palm of their hands if only they conveyed their solidarity...Thems votes baby!!! Forget about progressive principles. Even if those are long dead, why not grab the ring and make some noise for pure political purposes!

Pound it home! The Republicans believe in redistributing wealth. Taxing YOU, and handing your hard-earned money to their already rich friends! Maybe there are such ads in those states, I can't say, but at least on a national scale i am sick of the Dems continually trying to clamor up in a futile fight for position on the Rethugs ladder. Jump over onto your own ladder!

[chervilant]

52. They know

that they control exactly which two 'primary' candidates get offered up for an election process that placates the dim-witted and easily manipulated hoi polloi into believing they still play an essential role in presidential elections.

Furthermore, they knew exactly what they had in Obama, and he is delivering to them in spades (no pun intended).

I sincerely doubt that any of this will matter in the long run, since we've been soiling our own nest for better than sixty years, and that big ol' buzzard has finally come home to roost. If global climate change doesn't get us, extreme drought and toxic heavy metals will.

[Enthusiast]

56. I think the same.

Imagine, Republicans attacking the EPA just when the environment might be nearing some unknown breaking point. Here in Ohio you can hardly find a fish to eat that doesn't carry some sort of consumption advisory. All the 'soiling our own nest', as you put it, is really bad here in the rust belt states. Cancer rates are through the roof.

[RMBEBBP]

42. Uh oh

VAE!

ISTAE RES DEMONSTRATAE INUTILES ITERUM AC ITERUM AC...
These things have been proven to not work over and over and over again!

ERGO MISERUS ORDO EQUITUM ET PAUPERUM AMERICANORUM FIAT NIHILOMINUS QUI OPES PLURIMAS HABENT, LICET NOS DARE IllIS, QUI OMNIA IAM TENEANT, MAGIS PECUNIAM!
So, let the middle class and poor Americans fall into misery, but still let's give more money to those who already own everything!

EM, INSANANE HAEC SAECULA, AUT FORTASSE SIM SOLUS QUI CREDAT ITA?
Oh, well, are these crazy times, or am I the only one who thinks so?

BONA SCRIPTAST ET "REC"

VALE

[Canuckistanian]

46. Just think of all the JOBS

We'll all have 100% employment, crime will fall to nothing and the only thing people will have to complain about is all the puppies and rainbows everywhere....

[crim son]

48. I knew Maine was one of them before I clicked.

LePage is a fool.

[yurbud]

49. Do the wealthy think we have no means left to resist and that's why they are committing this naked

power grab?

[Quantess]

58. Of course. that's yesterday's news.

[emsimon33]

50. The Middle Class Republicans and the Tea Partiers are just idiots

They deserve the 3rd World country they are creating. How people can be so stupid and short-sighted appalls me.

[Chemical Bill]

53. RI had 6 years of cuts for millionaires.

The tax hikes came as property taxes. Plus we got layoffs. All with a Democratic legislature. The last governor cut funding for cities as he was giving the tax cuts to the ultra rich. The new governor is proposing sales tax adjustments to make up for lost revenue from millionaires, but he's trying to save jobs at least.

Bill

[Quantess]

57. This, plus the "Libyan Intervention" or whatever they call it, you know,

the expanding of the military presence in the Middle East. How are we supposed to pay for it?