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Dear Resa,
I was much more enthused by Governor Fletcher's
original tax modernization plan that was to cut the top individual tax rate from
the present 6 percent, to 4.9 percent. Unfortunately, Governor Fletcher is
abandoning much of the proposed tax relief and wishes to have the top income tax
rate drop to only 5.68 percent. University of Louisville economist Paul Coomes
points out how a slashing of the state income tax rate by more than a percentage
point "tells the world you are changing the tax system from one that apparently
is there to sort of redistribute a lot of money away from successful people," to
one that will stimulate economic growth and create prosperity. Since Kentucky
has a national reputation for being a high tax state, we need to dramatically
change the direction of our tax system. By going from 6 percent to 4.9 percent
on income tax, we would have accomplished that goal.
Unfortunately for Governor Fletcher and the Republican legislators, it is the
other half of the "revenue neutral tax modernization plan", i.e., all the tax
increases needed to balance the cuts, that is the focus of attention. New and
higher taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, satellite television service, etc., will be
what the people see and feel, especially in the short term. And I believe there
will be a backlash against Republicans because of the new taxes. Doctor
Fletcher should be prescribing tax relief coupled with a serious reduction of
state spending. As far as "tax modernization", well, we've all seen what
modern taxes have done to us 'eh? Republicans in Frankfort should have
listened to your Jefferson Review editorial of a couple of months ago wherein
you stated that the tax cuts should be replaced with absolutely NOTHING. The
sure way to tax relief is to pass all the stand alone tax cuts that are
proposed.
Bernie Kunkel
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