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Letter to the Editor: The bottom 99% |
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Written by Peter Asen, Letter in the ProJo
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Monday, May 25 2009 09:13 |
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Readers of The Journal's April 24 editorial ("Not an economic island") whose incomes are less than $345,000 a year might be forgiven for feeling like chopped liver. Those of us under $345,000, that is to say, in the bottom 99 percent of the income scale, have not benefited from the recent tax-cutting of Governor Carcieri and the Rhode Island General Assembly. The formation of the so-called "alternative flat tax" costs the state tens of millions in revenue a year, an amount that is rapidly growing. In 2007, the benefits of this tax break accrued to just 2,400 tax filers, more than 60 percent of them from out of state.
What did the rest of us get while the top 1 percent benefited from this largess? Did our political leaders "hold the line" on our property taxes? Did they "hold the line" on cigarette taxes? On fees at the Division of Motor Vehicles? On tuition at state colleges? Of course not - 99 percent of us have been squeezed further so that large businesses and high-income individuals can feel "welcome" in this state.
But which businesses feel welcomed by our crumbling public schools, terrible roads and suffering health-care infrastructure? All of these problems are the result of tax and spending cuts enacted by our leaders, especially in the last five years.
Read entire letter here.
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