Income taxes go up and up

Published 1:15 pm Friday, May 6, 2011

There are still those who believe that a state income tax is the answer to the tax problems in Washington. I would draw your attention to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal (April 30): “Governor Lowell Weicker sold an income tax (to Connecticut) in 1991 as a one-time reform that would keep sales and property taxes low. Instead, a state that paid its bills for 200 years without an income tax and had become one of the richest states in per capita income is now raising income taxes for the fourth time in 20 years.

“This is what always happens when a state introduces an income tax. A gusher of new revenue leads to higher spending, which leads the politicians to demand higher rates; rinse the taxpayers and repeat.”

Sales and property taxes in Connecticut continued to climb. So beware of those still promoting an income tax in spite of the fact that Washington residents have rejected it overwhelmingly. The promoters will try to insinuate their income tax into Washington state by other means but they must be defeated.

Thomas D. Smith
Oak Harbor