Raise Taxes

If national Democrats and Republicans won't say it, if neither President Barack Obama (now officially declared for re-election) nor newly minted Speaker John Boehner (just four months after capturing the House gavel) will either, I guess I have to: It's time to raise income taxes, especially on the wealthiest. America has deficit and long-term debt problems. Like any budget morass, there are two general categories of solutions — spend less or raise more. It's really that simple.

The Maryland Senate voted 27-19 this week to create a new sales tax on alcohol. It will add 1 percent per year for three years to the existing 6 percent sales tax and, ultimately, is expected to raise $80 million annually. The Sun's editorials have supported the notion of an acohol tax increase — the current excise taxes haven't been increased on beer and wine in 40 years and on liquor in nearly 60 years, and whatever economic impact the increase will have on the alcohol and hospitality industry is outweighed by the benefit of being able to maintain spending on education and other top priorities.

The Sun's recent editorial ("What's worse, the alcohol tax or education cuts?" March 13) correctly notes that raising revenue is preferable to cuts to vital services such as education and health care. Last Thursday, 1,800 parents, students, teachers and advocates braved the pouring rain to attend the Baltimore Education Coalition rally in Annapolis. Rally participants urged lawmakers to restore education funding cuts, keep their promise to fund an adequate public school system in Maryland, and use whatever resources they can develop to fill the $94 million shortfall in the governor's budget.

How much proof do the citizens of Maryland need that our legislators are out of touch with reality? At a time when gas prices are rising 10 cents to 20 cents per gallon per week, we hear that the state legislature is thinking about raising Maryland's gas tax. Why not kick us when we are down? Year after year the legislature has demonstrated fiscal irresponsibility by assuming that the economy is going to always function at a high level and increasing spending accordingly. Local jurisdictions should have anticipated an economic slowdown and planned for their infrastructure needs, but what do they do?

While it is true that the U.S. government and the states compete in a global market and must keep the costs of their goods and services as low as possible in order to compete profitably, the question is what our federal and state tax rates should be as a percentage of GDP, compared with the other developed countries, in order to assure such profit. This question is important because we need to raise revenue to reduce the federal and state deficits while not stifling the economy by excessive taxes in the present and precluding economic growth in the future.

Gov. Martin O'Malley had already said he wouldn't propose tax increases this year. And as Maryland's legislative session opened Wednesday, House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller made it clear that lawmakers don't want to, either — unless county leaders ask them to. The Democratic leaders said they will look to Baltimore and the 23 counties to reject O'Malley's budget and propose alternatives to lawmakers....

Allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for families earning more than $250,000 per year seems reasonable until one digs further into the economic facts. IRS income tax statistics show that the top 3 percent of earners pay more of the total income tax bill today than ever. In 2008, they paid 51.5 percent of all income taxes, though they earned just 28.8 percent of the income. In 2001, by comparison, they paid 46.2 percent of all income taxes, and earned 26.1 percent of income. Under President Obama's plan, top tax rates on the highest incomes will rise to 39.6 percent from about 35 percent now. And that doesn't count the jump in capital gains tax rates to 20 percent from 15 percent.

President Obama's bipartisan deficit reduction commission is calling for cuts in Social Security benefits. ("Deficit plan spreads the pain,", Nov 11). This recommendation will appeal to many conservatives. Why is it that conservatives who cry bloody murder at any mention of increased taxes are happy about reduced Social Security benefits? Reducing benefits takes money out of people's pockets just like raising taxes. The effect of reduced benefits is exactly like a new income tax, except that it only applies to retired people.

In a letter to the editor on Oct. 4, "Andy Harris won't raise taxes," a reader claimed that Rep. Frank Kratovil's vote in favor of clean energy was in fact the "largest single tax increase ever. " This is simply false. Millions of lower income families would actually save money as a result of his vote. Maryland should be proud to have a Congressman like Frank Kratovil who stood up to Big Oil and voted for the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act that would help create over 26,000 clean energy jobs in Maryland and increase our energy independence.

By now, we have all heard "independent" Rep. Frank Kratovil's nasty attack ad against state Sen. Andy Harris, implying that Mr. Harris is pushing hard to pass a 23 percent national sales tax. This is ridiculous!! Mr. Harris has made it clear that he is dead set against raising taxes of any kind, and his voting record proves it. Please look it up for yourself. He has steadfastly voted against higher taxes for the past 12 years as a Maryland state senator. Mr. Harris has never even once voted to increase our taxes, nor will he. Has Frank Kratovil signed the Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge?