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We tax, they spend

06.22.10 - 10:35 am | Tim Redmond |
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There's nothing terribly new about this data, but it's still worth a look. Guess who pays most of the taxes in California? The Democratic counties whose legislators don't mind raising revenue to solve the budget crisis. And guess who gets the greatest share of that tax money? The counties dominated by Republicans, who want to cut services and keep taxes low.

In other words, the tax-and-spend liberals like me are trying to get more money that will go to the folks who elect those assholes that take the "no-new-taxes-ever" pledge.

A little bit of lovely irony for this fine summer day.

Comments

Irony or Justice?

Tim,

There are probably more than a few of us who think that is entirely reasonable. If you love excessive taxes and spending that much, why not spread it around some? That way, those less enlightened parts of the State can really see the tangible benefits of what you so tirelessly advocate.

After all, it is the wealthy that pay the lions share of your tax hikes, and yet the money gets spent on the poor. So we have already established the principle that those who pay the taxes aren't the ones who benefit from them.

Posted by TomFoolery on Jun. 22, 2010 @ 8:44 pm
Tom, I don't think Tim read the entire article

Or didn't get the statistics part.

Posted by Matlock on Jun. 23, 2010 @ 6:38 am
Redux

Tim, we have had this discussion before.

Rural (Republican, conservative) counties get more than they give in tax revenues because they are poor counties. Inland California is poor. Coastal California is rich.

I could use your silly argument to say Pacific Heights and Alioto's district pays a much higher share of taxes than district 6.

Would you say that is unfair? Rich people pay higher taxes. San Francisco and L.A. are rich places than Imperial Country a Modesto.

Get it?

Posted by Barton on Jun. 23, 2010 @ 8:39 am
Why? Because we are rich.

Tim, we have had this discussion before.

Rural (Republican, conservative) counties get more than they give in tax revenues because they are poor counties. Inland California is poor. Coastal California is rich.

I could use your silly argument to say Pacific Heights and Alioto's district pays a much higher share of taxes than district 6.

Would you say that is unfair? Rich people pay higher taxes. San Francisco and L.A. are rich places than Imperial Country a Modesto.

Get it?

Posted by BillBarton on Jun. 23, 2010 @ 8:40 am
Oh, I get it

And as I said, it's not terribly new news, nor is it surprising. Nor, I would say, is it a bad thing. It's just ironic that the folks who get the most benefits from taxes (and would get more benefits from higher taxes, most of which they would not pay because the tax hikes the Democrats want would hit mostly on the rich) elect Republicans who refuse to raise taxes. They vote against their own interests.

Nothing new there, either, it's been happening for years as GOPers use social issues like gay marriage to get poor and middle class people to cut taxes for the rich. But worth noting.

Posted by tim on Jun. 23, 2010 @ 11:19 am
lets see here

I tend to vote democrat or not at all, I would have voted for Tom Campbell but will pass on that and gov this time around. That's my caveat there.

Still lets see

Some inner state voter

15hr
x 40hrs a week
$ 600
52 weeks
$ 30,000 a year
taxes on that about 7000

What would that person gain voting for a liberal democrat? All the tax money raised off the rich would never be seen by that voter.

The democrats (democrats henceforth means liberal democrat) latest real world spending patterns is to take orders from the public employee union coffers, much of the money would just go to the government workforce that will be making much more than him, while he still is paying the same taxes. Zero gain for him there.

The next democrat spending priority is the racial spoils system, hoping to get the Latino vote democrats will never reel-in illegal alien spending. So he will never see any of that money either, he will see higher property taxes for schools and other taxes for prisons though. As the democrats open the gates he will likely see nothing but higher taxes and fees.

If a republican voter in a lower income area looks at democrat priorities he will see that he has nothing to gain economically as the democrats are just burning through cash to serve their masters, that do no include him.

He may consider that the republicans will at least insure that lifetime tax payers will see some benefit, while democrats try and hector the citizens who have spent a lifetime paying into the system with property taxes and harping on their golf courses.

Your straw-man doesn't work in the real world of democratic spending, this voter may gain something from just getting even with the rich or something like that, but he will never see any gain in services voting democrat.

This straw-man is just more liberal classism.

Posted by mr matlock on Jun. 23, 2010 @ 6:27 pm
The obvious Republican response...

"Oh! It's the Democrats who are paying most of the taxes? Ok, I guess we can raise them after all!"

Posted by Bill on Jun. 24, 2010 @ 8:56 am
Matt G supports public-sector pension reform!

Nice to see that Matt is supporting Jeff Adachi's ballet measure to get public employees to cover more of their own pension costs. (see today's Chron).

Matt understands that these huge underfunded pension giveaways to public workers are bankrupting our city.

Posted by Barton on Jun. 28, 2010 @ 10:40 am