Anne McCandless wrote: If a person has worked hard all their lives to try and obtain some security in their old age, what gives Mr Anderson and same thinking persons the right to take it all away with taxes. You had better have children who are hard working and love you very much. You may need them in your later years.
Mark Anderson responds: Anne, you must not have read my entire posting. I support Pawlenty in his tax policy -- that is I am AGAINST tax increases. If you are concerned about people taking away security with taxes, I'm one of the last participants of this List to complain to. The specific item we have discussing is whether a property tax is less "fair" than other kinds of tax. A few posters have implied that an increase in property tax would be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of someone losing their home. Well, this may be the case with property tax, but it could just as easily be the case with another kind of tax. Property tax may be a major expense for retired people with big houses, but other taxes are big expenses for others that are just as deserving of keeping their own homes, as well as keeping their children fed, clothed, educated, etc. Different taxes obviously harm different people. Low property taxes benefit people with a lot of accumulated wealth, but little income or expenses, such as the retired. Similarly, low income taxes and sales taxes benefit hard working young people with kids. I think we need a balanced approach, and have different kinds of tax hurting different people. I can see why you wouldn't want to create too much pain for the old folks by concentrating all tax on property, but I don't think we should concentrate the pain on the young families either. When you look at the tax collected nationwide, by the Feds, Minnesota, and Minneapolis, I think property tax is a pretty low percentage of the total. And yet all I hear is the moaning that property taxes are "unfair," and that we need to jack up the other taxes instead of property tax. This doesn't sound like justice to me. The only way this makes sense is when one considers the disproportionate political power held by seniors. Because they vote more, and have more time to participate in our time consuming political process, the politicians see their position crystal clear. But the busy parents don't have time for the process, so they get screwed. Mark Anderson Bancroft TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
