CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – A woman who is the co-owner of a restaurant in Milwaukee has lots of criticism for Senator Ron Johnson over his votes on tax cuts.
I’m not using her name, or the name of her eatery.
She claimed in an op-ed in the Capital Times that Ron Johnson voted for changes in the tax code that benefitted his millionaire donors, while poor taxpayers got only $30 to $700.
Let’s take a look at what she conveniently left out of the argument.
The richest taxpayers in Wisconsin pay a marginal tax rate of 43-percent. So, if you happen to earn more a quarter-million dollars a year, yes, you are doing well and, yes, you are rich. But for each dollar you earn, the government takes 43-cents, and you keep 57-cents. When the government keeps nearly half, people stop working. That’s why the rich focus on investment portfolios or tax-free municipal bonds. As for the poor: 49-percent of workers pay no income tax. Everything withheld for taxes gets refunded to them, and more.
It’s the “and more” part I’d like to talk about. Because giving poor and middle-income people bigger tax refunds than what they paid in isn’t a refund at all. It’s income redistribution – welfare, delivered through the IRS.
Remember that advance on your child tax credit that showed up in your bank account last year? People who owe no taxes got it. You’ve heard of the earned income tax credit? It’s misnamed. People who work get it, even if they don’t pay income tax. The COVID cash that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden paid out? It came from the IRS, as a tax refund that you didn’t have to report.
Our restauranteur friend says she can’t hire enough workers because meanies like Ron Johnson voted against daycare and child tax credits. Maybe she should follow Joe Biden’s advice: pay them better. Then they won’t be dependent on tax hand-outs that are really welfare by another name.
I’m Chris Conley.
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