Billed as a special session to give New Mexicans relief from soaring energy prices, NM's Dems and Republicans (mostly from the Senate) use the time to accelerate the Guv's already-enacted tax break for the rich.According to this morning's Journal, "$108.8 million to accelerate already-enacted state income tax reductions for filers in the highest income tax bracket from 6 percent to 5.7 percent in the 2005 tax year and from 5.8 percent to 5.3 percent in the 2006 tax year" was built into the $254 million package
That's right folks. Almost half of the entire package.
High energy costs for working families? NM legislators know the answer: Tax Cuts for the Rich. 'Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket. If we give a tax cut to the wealthiest New Mexicans, the rest of us will be warmer this winter.'
"I think we've insulated the taxpayers of the state of New Mexico now against the cold of winter," said Sen. Leonard Tsosie, D-Shiprock to the Journal.
I highly doubt Richardson, running for Prez, will veto the tax reduction line item, though he has suggested to the Journal he wouldn't hesitate to "veto provisions that are reckless, or that we cannot afford." I don't know if they'd have him back on Hannity and Colmes if he decided that tax cuts for the rich wouldn't help the rest of us at the pump.
All in all, this special session was yet another example of patron politics here in New Mexico. Crumbs for the majority, steak for the few.
3 Tell us what you think:
I think it's important to realize that the tax rate for the "richest" people in this state kick in at about $24,000 for a family of three or so, if I recall. And at $18,000 for a single taxpayer. So alot of people who aren't exactly "rich" will benefit from this tax cut.
$24,000 gets you into NM's highest income bracket?
Doubtful.
Even if it's true, the cut for middle and lower income folks is relatively much less than say the wealthiest %5.
This unnecessary exemption, and cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers and corporations are a kind of "tax-pork" resulting from trickle down economic theories.
Taxes are about responsibility. We all must share this responsibility in an equitable manner. So, those who benefit most from public services and infrastructure (for example, the wealthy and corporations) should also accept a proportionate responsibility in the way of taxes.
Folks at $24,000 a year for a family of 3 are pretty stretched, yes. No doubt working families earning less than that are as well. I'd say middle class families have more common values, needs and interests with the working poor than, again, the wealthiest %5.
Those %5 control more wealth than the rest of us combined.
It's time the incredibly shrinking middle class and the ever expanding class of working are poor on the same side.
"Anonymous" has, perhaps inadvertently, put his or her finger on precisely what's wrong with the income tax cut. New Mexico's income tax has been stripped of progressivity and has become essentially a flat tax. Meanwhile, the gross receipts tax, which is very regressive (i.e., it hits lower-income folks harder), keeps rising. The state's increasing reliance on regressive rather than progressive taxes is both poor tax policy and poor social policy.
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