States Consider Increasing Taxes for the Poor and Cutting Them for the Affluent

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

A new report suggests that these states could be creating financial problems down the road. The strategy of shifting from income taxes to consumption taxes has caused huge budget shortfalls in Kansas and, more recently, North Carolina, which announced a budget shortfall of nearly half a billion dollars.

@GinaThatAintNoDamnPuppy!

I agree that higher consumption taxes are dumb, but I also think our tax system is way too progressive.

You compare this to somewhere like Sweden where pretty much everybody who isn't poor is paying a total of ~50% or more of their income in taxes (which I think is too high a rate personally) and getting a lot more for their money. It's hard to sell bigger social programs when the people who will be using them most are pretty much paying nothing for them. 3% effective federal taxes