Gina Petry's guest editorial, "Sales tax is not the answer to the state's revenue problem," (RC, Feb. 22-28, 2012) is not in sync with that of the state liberal establishment, which refuses to make the fundamental changes to Washington State's regressive tax structure. They have proven themselves too timid to challenge the two-thirds majority tax-raising mandate. So far they have turned their back on Rep. Reuven Carlyle's bill to cut all loopholes. With the windfall $47 million from increased state revenue, they have dodged the 22-caliber Gregoire bullet to increase the sales tax by .05 percent, which was the focus of Ms. Petry's editorial.
We are heartened to see Democrats and Republicans ready to eliminate the first mortgage B&O exemption for banks, creating $18 million in revenue, but it is all downhill from there. Republicans offer Greek-like austerity measures to balance the budget, while Democrats want to further tax the homeless who roll their own cigarettes ($13 million), allow cities and counties greater discretion to increase the general sales tax, and defer payment to school districts by two months. These measures put the burden on those who really work for a living, the unemployed who want to earn their living, and the destitute who scrap for their next meal. If we haven't been clear enough to our legislators, we will make this simple: Tax the rich, tax the rich even more, cut the damn loopholes.
Patrick Burns and Helen Gilbert | Seattle