10 thoughts on “LETTER: Resident Sees Question 1 as a “Money Grab”

  1. Steve,
    It will be the voters of the commonwealth that will voted for or against the Fair Share amendment, not politicians.
    That’s the “will of the people”.
    Jack

  2. Very well articulated. Do people realize that when they sell their home, they will be paying the 4% for anything over a million dollars. A lot of homes in Watertown are selling over a million dollars. We have worked hard and invested in a home and this bill will penalize us when we sell our property. Also, the proceeds of this tax is supposedly going to infrastructure and education but, the state legislature can redirect the tax proceeds, which should frighten everyone. I am not a millionaire, by any means, but do not like the part where the legislature can change where the money goes…..

  3. I am perplexed by your argument. This has nothing to do with politicians being money grabbers. This has to do with a progressive tax in order to fund education, infrastructure, etc. It doesn’t go to politicians. In addition, it is the same as our federal government income tax; higher earners pay more than lower earners in order to help fund services that benefit us all.
    I will be voting YES on Question 1 and encourage others to do the same.

  4. Steve, many god points and questions.
    This one should be self evident “why aren’t the politicians who are pushing Question 1 working to change the current tax code to be more fair”
    Answer, this is the begging of that process. I’m guessing you like things as they are. That’s ok but I don’t hear any reasonable argument as to why it should stay the same other than the government will have more money to work with. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your government. Do you hate your government? And if yes, why?

  5. It’s an opening to a graduated income tax, and it appeals to the greed and selfishness of those who want to tax OTHERS but not themselves.

    It’s actually a hate proposal. Why?

    Because we are asked to hate and be jealous of people who earn a lot of money and to make them pay more in taxes. The wealthy are bad people and must be punished. That’s the unspoken rationale.

    But where’s the justification? I have yet to hear even one.

    And why $1 million? Why not $500,000? Why not $2 or $3 million?

    No one knows. It just sounds good.

  6. Steve, you presented some great ideas that I haven’t seen covered before. I applaud your thoughtful approach. We need to work towards eliminating our infamous title of Taxachusetts instead of adding more taxes. We need to hold our politicians responsible for constantly dividing us and looking for more money to supposedly solve all problems instead of looking for actual solutions and holding all state agencies accountable to wisely spending our hard-earned money. I will also be voting NO.

  7. Everyone paying the same 5% rate means everyone pays their “fair share”. Someone making $100,000 pays $5,000 and someone making $1,000,000 pays $50,000. And the person paying $50,000 probably isn’t getting 10x the level of services from the state!

    I am all for making sure that there are no loopholes for high earners to pay less than low earners. But adding an extra 4% to high earners will just drive them and their businesses out of state.

    And the legislature won’t stop there. Once this constitutional amendment is approved expect graduated tax rates to hit a much lower income thresholds in the future.

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