It is said that democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others. You could say the same thing about the "millionaire's tax" - it's the worst solution to our budget crisis, except for all the others.
...
More than three quarters of the governor's cuts come from just two areas: health care and education. Is that because Gov. Paterson hates kids and sick people? Of course not. But that's where the money is.
Two-thirds of every dollar our state spends is on schools and hospitals, and much of the remainder (like debt service) can't be reduced. So anyone trying to close the budget gap through cuts would end up doing the same thing.
What about revenues, then? Raising the sales tax hurts the people who can afford it the least - working New Yorkers who spend every dollar they earn on the essentials - not to mention local businesses.
And let's not even get started on raising property taxes - which the governor is proposing through the back door, by cutting aid to local governments.
So what does that leave? If we want to keep our schools and hospitals open, and we can't tax working people any more, there's just the one option the governor has so far seemed unwilling to consider - raising the state income tax. Not for working families, but for those with incomes in the hundreds of thousands who can most afford it.
After all, they're the ones who have enjoyed most of the gains from our winner-take-all economy, and they're the ones who got most of the big tax cuts pushed through by both parties in Pataki-era past. (And some of them, like those whose big checks came from Goldman Sachs or Citigroup, also bear more than their share of blame for getting us into this mess.)
...
A painless fix? No - but it's better than shuttered hospitals and laid-off teachers.
The good news is that most New Yorkers seem to agree. Public opinion polls show that a majority of New Yorkers support raising taxes on the wealthy along the lines of the Fair Share Tax Reform plan to help close the budget gap and prevent the governor's cuts.
Believe us, no one likes taxes. But sometimes, raising taxes on those who can afford it is the least-bad option we've got.
