Fellow liberals - please flame me

[Anonymous]

I am a liberal who believes in equitable tax burden sharing, meaning I feel that those of us who make more should be taxed at a higher rate. My husband and I, after multiple years of graduate training, now do make in the low-to mid 6-figures. I know, compared to most, we make a lot. Still, I feel bitter about this increased Maryland state income tax. Perhaps because it is not a graduated tax, I feel that when it comes to state and local taxes, we should all be taxed equally as far as tax rates. For federal income tax, with graduated tax rates, I understand the concept of the top portions of our income being taxed at higher rates. We pay for a nanny, becuase my hours do occasionally have to go over 6 pm (I'm a doctor). Now we have preschool costs on top of that, and private school would be impossible with the nanny cost as well.

I need some fellow liberals to help me readjust my attitude, so I thought venting here would put me in my place, as the flamers come at me

[Anonymous]

I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes, but what frustrates me is that I think the money is used poorly. If you felt like your taxes were going to public services that benefited your family (for example, your kids went to a great public school) or that public safety nets were effective and efficient, you might not resent taxes so much.

[Anonymous]

Eh, I'm a liberal, and I don't make enough (yet) to be hit by the increased tax, and I think your feelings are entirely reasonable. Sorry for failure to flame

[Anonymous]

I don't know enough about this to flame you at all. Native Marylander, so still follow peripherally, btu live in DC.

From what little I know, this tax sounds crazy to me. Mont and PG are already so expensive to live in. And for MD state wide politics, PG and Mont are liberal stalwarts, reliably democratic. Don't get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a liberal who believes in equitable tax burden sharing, meaning I feel that those of us who make more should be taxed at a higher rate. My husband and I, after multiple years of graduate training, now do make in the low-to mid 6-figures. I know, compared to most, we make a lot. Still, I feel bitter about this increased Maryland state income tax. Perhaps because it is not a graduated tax, I feel that when it comes to state and local taxes, we should all be taxed equally as far as tax rates. For federal income tax, with graduated tax rates, I understand the concept of the top portions of our income being taxed at higher rates. We pay for a nanny, becuase my hours do occasionally have to go over 6 pm (I'm a doctor). Now we have preschool costs on top of that, and private school would be impossible with the nanny cost as well.

I need some fellow liberals to help me readjust my attitude, so I thought venting here would put me in my place, as the flamers come at me

Do you have a principled basis for this position, or is it just, "because I hate paying more"?

Because that's totally fine, but you have to recognize it for what it is. Contrary to GOP/Tea Party talking points, no one LIKES paying more taxes. It's just that sometimes, they're necessary. It sucks, but there you go.

One tip, though - sighing "What with the nanny costs, we simply cannot afford private school" is not the way to get sympathy (especially if your income is in the mid six figures, which I take to mean $350,000-$650,000).

[Anonymous]

Another semi-liberal here. I also don't mind paying more than those who make less than me but I hate government waste and inefficiency and hate it when people try to tell me what to do with my own hard earned money. I live in DC and luckily Kwame Brown has been anti-tax increase.

[Anonymous]

is anyone really surprised? What will suck is the libs that move to virginia and then begin to vote in the same policies that caused them to flee their originating liberal state.

[Anonymous]

OP, regardless of how it is calculated - graduated or whatever - fundamentally you agree that those who earn more should pay more. So I don't really understand your resentment. How much money are we talking about here?

I would move if you don't agree with the tax of your state. Or run for office and change the rules.

[Anonymous]

I don't get the question. In MoCo you probably pay 8.7% in state and local income tax. The bottom tier of taxpayer would pay about 8%. So you pretty much ARE paying the same tax rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes, but what frustrates me is that I think the money is used poorly. If you felt like your taxes were going to public services that benefited your family (for example, your kids went to a great public school) or that public safety nets were effective and efficient, you might not resent taxes so much.

I do believe that MY kids go to GREAT public school--but I have no illusion that this a benefit available to everyone. The bulk of the tax burden SHOULD be on rich corporations. I believe that hardened sociopaths are mostly running the upper levels of corporate America at the moment. We are in a run of corporate leadership that is not unlike the period of the Ceasars in Rome. Benevolence and stewardship for the public good is COMPLETELy lost on these people. Chases, Rockefellers, et al, were Benevolent dictators--there is no sense of garnering wealth for the greater good any more, with possible exception of Gates Foundation. I don't resent the taxes I pay at all and I think Americans that do are a spoiled rotten, spiteful bunch.

[Anonymous]

Feel secure, your liberal card is not going to be revoked. Like all other liberals, you believe "rich people" should be taxed so that the government can help "the poor."

You're just admitting what other liberals won't--that by "rich people" what you really mean is "anyone richer than me." And by "the poor" you mean "me, and anyone poorer than me."

This is actually what ALL liberals believe, though they don't like to admit it: I want the government to give me lots of cool stuff (free healthcare, great schools, free/low cost college & grad schools, good transit, safe communities with awesome free libraries and rec centers, a generous retirement system so I really only have to work for about 30 of my 90 years on the earth, free time off for sickness/child rearing, a cushy job where I don't have to work very hard, great housing whether I can personally afford it or not), and I want somebody else to pay for it.

It's a great system while it lasts, but eventually you run out of other people's money. With clever accounting and massive borrowing from foreign countries, we're keeping the charade going a bit longer in America. But we'll find ourselves in the same place as Greece, Spain, Italy within a decade or so if we don't wise up.

[Anonymous]

If a slight bump in your (federally deductible) state taxes is enough to push you over the edge, you're not managing your money well.

And count me among your fellow liberals who find it hard to have empathy that you can't afford everything you desire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feel secure, your liberal card is not going to be revoked. Like all other liberals, you believe "rich people" should be taxed so that the government can help "the poor."

This is also what the Catholic Church believes. Didn't seem to phase Jesus, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes, but what frustrates me is that I think the money is used poorly. If you felt like your taxes were going to public services that benefited your family (for example, your kids went to a great public school) or that public safety nets were effective and efficient, you might not resent taxes so much.

I do believe that MY kids go to GREAT public school--but I have no illusion that this a benefit available to everyone. The bulk of the tax burden SHOULD be on rich corporations. I believe that hardened sociopaths are mostly running the upper levels of corporate America at the moment. We are in a run of corporate leadership that is not unlike the period of the Ceasars in Rome. Benevolence and stewardship for the public good is COMPLETELy lost on these people. Chases, Rockefellers, et al, were Benevolent dictators--there is no sense of garnering wealth for the greater good any more, with possible exception of Gates Foundation. I don't resent the taxes I pay at all and I think Americans that do are a spoiled rotten, spiteful bunch.

I'm a liberal, but taxing corporations is the same as taxing people. the money comes out of wages, out of jobs, and reduces the value of your IRA. While it may feel good to stick it to "the man", unfortunately "the man" is us. And that was the lesson of the financial implosion. Much as we hate those bastards making huge money with no ethical impulses, our futures are intertwined with the companies they run.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of a retroactive tax increase. That actually does faze me a bit.