life's little adventures ...
Randy and I are going to testify before the state legislature’s Revenue Committee tomorrow to ask them to raise our taxes. The “Act to Invest in Our Communities” would raise the state income tax rate but also raise the exemption. Households earning under about $70K would get a tiny tax cut, somewhere around $100K people would start to pay more, and somewhere around $200K they would start to pay significantly more.
Wish me luck!
(In case someone wants to read my testimony, it’s under the cut.) (Randy and I divvied up topics, and at the moment I like his testimony more than mine, but I'll let him share it if he wants to.)
I am here today to ask you to raise taxes on me and on people like me, people in the top five to ten percent of the income curve.
Massachusetts needs to have enough revenues to support the structures and services that are essential for our state’s long-term economic performance.
The basic purpose of government is to solve problems and to prevent problems. I want roads and bridges to be in good condition. I want my food to be safe. I want the dam upstream from my house to be strong. I want the sewers to work well. I want clean water to drink whenever I turn on my tap. I want an ambulance and hospital, firefighters and police, to be there if I need them.
I cannot figure this all out for myself. I do not know how to inspect a bridge. I want to live in a state where government functions well and the rest of us are free to pay attention to other things. To our work, our families, our communities.
A lot of educated professionals feel the same way, which is one of the reasons Massachusetts has attracted educated professionals.
When people like me interact with government agencies, we want those interactions to be efficient, timely, and predictable. This is true when we are acting as private citizens. It is even more true when we are acting as business people. Time is often money, and we resent our time being wasted by slow or ineffective agencies.
We need the state to do a good job of regulating and supporting shared resources - such as our transportation network, our financial institutions, our food and water supply, our energy supply, and our physical environment. But if agencies do not have the resources to do their jobs well, resentment grows. Then people do not want to pay taxes, agency budgets are cut again, and we are in a downward spiral.
I want our state, and our country, to continue to be a land of relative prosperity and opportunity. None of us have what we have just by our own efforts. As Warren Buffet has said, he would not have been Warren Buffet if he had been born in Pakistan.
New England does not have a lot of natural resources. What we have is people - brains, creativity, technology, schools, universities, researchers. And we have little kids who need to grow up healthy and strong, and knowing how to think and be creative.
The children of today are literally going to create the wealth that supports me when I am old. I cannot save most of the things I need from now to then. Food does not last for forty years. All I can do is invest my money, which ultimately means invest in people.
So it is very much in my interest that young people today develop their capabilities and become the skilled workers and engaged citizens of my old age. I want children and teens to have not just good schools, but good food and good medical care and good libraries and summer jobs that help them learn how to be adults.
Countries go down if they do not invest in physical infrastructure, good education, and scientific research and technological innovation. I do not want to see my country go down.
What I want, as a person of wealth, is government that is effective. I know that everyone makes mistakes. I know that it is hard to run a large system well - ask any corporate manager about that. But I also know that skimping on budgets can be penny wise and pound foolish. I know that deferred maintenance is expensive, whether you’re talking about a roof on a private home, or a bridge over a river, or a child who is learning about the world.
Everybody benefits when government functions effectively and well. Those of us who are wealthy benefit most, and it is appropriate that we pay most.
Please. Do not be pound foolish. Raise taxes on me, and on people like me, who can afford to support the government framework we all rely on.
Thank you.
Wish me luck!
(In case someone wants to read my testimony, it’s under the cut.) (Randy and I divvied up topics, and at the moment I like his testimony more than mine, but I'll let him share it if he wants to.)
I am here today to ask you to raise taxes on me and on people like me, people in the top five to ten percent of the income curve.
Massachusetts needs to have enough revenues to support the structures and services that are essential for our state’s long-term economic performance.
The basic purpose of government is to solve problems and to prevent problems. I want roads and bridges to be in good condition. I want my food to be safe. I want the dam upstream from my house to be strong. I want the sewers to work well. I want clean water to drink whenever I turn on my tap. I want an ambulance and hospital, firefighters and police, to be there if I need them.
I cannot figure this all out for myself. I do not know how to inspect a bridge. I want to live in a state where government functions well and the rest of us are free to pay attention to other things. To our work, our families, our communities.
A lot of educated professionals feel the same way, which is one of the reasons Massachusetts has attracted educated professionals.
When people like me interact with government agencies, we want those interactions to be efficient, timely, and predictable. This is true when we are acting as private citizens. It is even more true when we are acting as business people. Time is often money, and we resent our time being wasted by slow or ineffective agencies.
We need the state to do a good job of regulating and supporting shared resources - such as our transportation network, our financial institutions, our food and water supply, our energy supply, and our physical environment. But if agencies do not have the resources to do their jobs well, resentment grows. Then people do not want to pay taxes, agency budgets are cut again, and we are in a downward spiral.
I want our state, and our country, to continue to be a land of relative prosperity and opportunity. None of us have what we have just by our own efforts. As Warren Buffet has said, he would not have been Warren Buffet if he had been born in Pakistan.
New England does not have a lot of natural resources. What we have is people - brains, creativity, technology, schools, universities, researchers. And we have little kids who need to grow up healthy and strong, and knowing how to think and be creative.
The children of today are literally going to create the wealth that supports me when I am old. I cannot save most of the things I need from now to then. Food does not last for forty years. All I can do is invest my money, which ultimately means invest in people.
So it is very much in my interest that young people today develop their capabilities and become the skilled workers and engaged citizens of my old age. I want children and teens to have not just good schools, but good food and good medical care and good libraries and summer jobs that help them learn how to be adults.
Countries go down if they do not invest in physical infrastructure, good education, and scientific research and technological innovation. I do not want to see my country go down.
What I want, as a person of wealth, is government that is effective. I know that everyone makes mistakes. I know that it is hard to run a large system well - ask any corporate manager about that. But I also know that skimping on budgets can be penny wise and pound foolish. I know that deferred maintenance is expensive, whether you’re talking about a roof on a private home, or a bridge over a river, or a child who is learning about the world.
Everybody benefits when government functions effectively and well. Those of us who are wealthy benefit most, and it is appropriate that we pay most.
Please. Do not be pound foolish. Raise taxes on me, and on people like me, who can afford to support the government framework we all rely on.
Thank you.