Raising Taxes on the Rich and the Defeat of Proposition 82
Regarding Tom Petruno’s column “Voting Away the Tax Base” (Market Beat, June 11):
I was disappointed that the column never discussed the serious moral implications involved in the issue of taxation and how it affects our community. I also was dismayed that it did not provide an alternative view to a wealthy man’s aversion to paying his fair share of the tax burden.
The childishness and inhumanity of someone like Bob Rodriguez of First Pacific Advisors Inc. would have been much starker (and more shameful) when viewed in another light.
My faith grounds and inspires my participation in our community. I have learned that those with more have an increased responsibility to do more. I take seriously what it means to be a Christian by following the model that one finds in the life of Jesus Christ -- “taking care of the least of these” being one important aspect of that model.
Rodriguez sees taxes as an annoyance, something seized by a majority from a minority. I see taxes as a responsibility and an investment in our community (I’m sure he understands investments).
That investment improves the lives of the majority he refers to -- a lot of good, hardworking people who can barely afford to live in Southern California. That majority consists of his and my neighbors.
Patrick Briggs
Pasadena
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“Voting Away the Tax Base” was an excellent analysis and well written. But I would like to suggest another reason for Proposition 82’s stunning defeat.
Proposition 63 set a 1% surtax on incomes above $1 million to fund mental health services. Proposition 82 set its “soak-the-rich” level at $400,000.
If the measure had passed, it would be just a matter of time until the cutoff would be down to $100,000. That’s also what I think affected a large number of voters.
Darrach G. Taylor
Huntington Beach
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The fatal flaw in Proposition 82 was not that it raised income tax rates for the wealthy. Although I strongly support the concept of universal preschool education, I voted against this proposition because it involved ballot-box budgeting.
Much of the state’s fiscal problems result from voterapproved measures that mandate appropriations for various programs, destroying the ability of the Legislature to set priorities and eliminating the flexibility needed to adjust spending to meet changing needs.
David E. Ross
Oak Park
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I think we owe a debt to Tom Petruno for making us aware of how much suffering the rich must bear by living in this state.
Most of us were under the mistaken notion that the people who are suffering the most are those who work two jobs just to get enough to eat and to be able to avoid living on the streets.
Petruno has straightened us out. It’s really the rich guys who are paying so much in taxes that they can hardly keep up the payments on their country club dues or their private jets.
It is truly heartbreaking. Maybe they can hire Sally Struthers to do an ad appealing to us to “adopt a rich guy.”
Sanford Thier
Marina del Rey
