[lbo-talk] facts? what facts?

[Christian Gregory]

>Consider Alabama, which in September voted down a tax referendum championed by the state's Republican governor. Alabama's threshold for paying state taxes is the lowest in the country at just $4,600 for a family of four; taxes are highly regressive. The referendum would have raised the threshold to $17,000, increased the tax rate for higher earners, ended the state's full deductibility of federal income taxes, and expanded the sales tax. The revenue would have more than offset the state's record budget deficit, with the surplus earmarked for a reading program for elementary-school children, higher teacher salaries in at-risk schools, and college scholarships.

I'm not sure that transaction costs capture this conundrum altogether--ideology seems pretty irreducible. In Alabama, where I used to live, one reason people support the tax structure is that their "facts" come from the Baptist church. They basically argue that you can be for tax cuts and against inequality because the taxes that go to reducing inequality should be paid to the church, who are the rightful servants of the poor anyway.  To people thus inclined, the time I might spend reading the NYT or BEA pages is better spent researching the issue with their preacher.  Which doesn't really change Woj's conclusions much--in a way, it makes the situation seem even bleaker. Ooops.

Christian