After reading Becki’s post, you may be wondering: How does the state broaden the tax base (#3) and limit the number of people paying (#5) at the same time?
This probably means they want to calculate taxes based on federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) instead of taxable income. Doing so would allow the state to collect the same amount of revenue with a lower tax rate. Of course, the rate would not be as low as it could be if we eliminate more people from the tax rolls. Tim Harford writes in Slate on why we should instead have lower taxes on people with higher incomes and higher taxes for middle-aged people.
Item #11 on the cigarette tax would apply the tax to the value of the cigarettes instead of the quantity.
On the program side, we have argued for removing the county share of Medicaid and more creative ways to finance road construction and deal with traffic congestion. I think the other ideas are also worth pursuing.
ALSO
Another Slate essay from former internet stock analyst Henry Blodget explains how savings and investment are taxed twice. JLF folk have addressed this before.
