My last blog--on Washington, with its tax structure, being one of the worst of the nation’s states with regard to undermining federal efforts to reduce income equality—didn’t go far enough in analyzing and criticizing the situation and our feckless legislature in Olympia. It was only the 8th worst of all from the standpoint on which I then was reporting

However, even that was whitewashing  the reality here in our so-called “progressive” state. According to a Time Magazine article Jan. 15 of this year, Washington State has the nation’s most unfair taxes. Our state tax system “is the most regressive in the nation, placing a disproportionate burden on those with the lowest incomes.”

Washington is not, as we are often led to believe, the cat’s meow when it comes to being liberal and progressive—despite its perceived leading role in a growing movement toward a 15% minimum wage.

Time did not dream this all up, but was reporting on a study by the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. In our state the poorest 20% pay 16.8% of their income in taxes, while the richest 1% pay just 2.4% of their earnings. The middle 60% of earners are taxed slightly more than 10% of their income.

The entire nation of course is unfair, with virtually every state taking a greater share from the low- and middle-income families than from the wealthy ones. Yet the last I’d heard as I write this, Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposal of a modest 5% capital gains tax had been shot down at the legislative level, where his carbon-emissions tax proposal also lies molding in the grave. Such taxes don’t put a burden on the poor but they raise merry hell among the wealthy  and conservative legislators championing plutocracy on all fronts. To meet the supreme court’s dictate to fully fund public education, Republicans are clawing around seeking ways to put still more of the cost onto the backs of the hoi polloi—rather than upsetting the Scrooge McDucks in any little way.

Keep in mind that 41 of 50 states have a capital gains tax (affecting large owners of stocks and bonds, real estate speculators, etc.). Washington is not one of them. Also, 42 states have some form of income tax; Washington is not among them. Our tax structure is an inequitable one that nickels and dimes the lower levels of the income scale at every opportunity, while letting the fat cats pile up wealth.

Commoners are periodically thrown, with great reluctance, small  bones that serve as red herring to divert attention from ongoing reality. However, even the current populist $15 minimum wage movement was begun at the city level, not in Olympia.  Generally, the “terrible ten” worst states of the study here referred to, led by Washington, rely heavily on sales taxes and excise taxes (cigarets, gasoline, etc.) rather than taxes that rise based on income.

By comparison, Oregon—ranked as the least regressive of all 50 states and having one of the fairest tax sttuctures—relies heavily on a very progressive income tax. That allows it to lower its dependence on consumption taxes and eliminate sales taxes entirely. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy further explains that states such as Oregon and others “also have earned income tax credits (EITCs)—essentially tax refunds targeted toward low-income working families that can give certain households a relaxed tax burden or, in some cases, a negative tax bill, meaning the government gives them money. The report describes these credits as offsetting the regressive taxes and helping poor families afford necessities.”

We remain the nation’s leading Scrooge. Our governor can’t even manage to get his foot in the door of the legislative chambers with his proposal of a very modest capital gains tax. And our conservative legislators don’t seem much concerned over the poor in any way—while struggling basically just to meet the Supreme Court’s mandate that they properly fund public education. They probably will come up with increases in every regressive form of taxation ever invented . . . perhaps figure out a new one or two.

See: time.com/money/3667280/unfair-taxes-washington-state/

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ON AN UNRELATED NOTE illustrative of a generation rife with self-centeredness and impatience—a young deer had one foot onto the pavement on my side of the road as I headed up the highway S-curve. So I stopped, as did the oncoming traffic. The deer was undecided. Some driver behind me soon blew his horn. Really? A few more seconds is all that urgent? The innocent animal finally strolled safely to the other side of the road—and the horn-blower was free to continue his asinine tail-gating.

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