When Congress or the state legislature decides to take money from you through taxes, they are presuming that they know better how to spend that money than you do, or that what they want to spend your money on is more important than what you would spend it on.
Some people are saying it's not fair that a family with a $1 million income is in the same state income tax bracket as a person who makes $30,000. In the first place, that's not accurate; the top rate doesn't kick in until almost $40,000. But let's look at it another way.
A family that makes $1 million and has $200,000 in itemized deductions pays about $40,000 in income taxes. A family that earns $30,000 pays about $300. So, the person who earns 33 times as much money pays 133 times as much in state income taxes. Does that sound more fair?
Remember, government has nothing to give anyone except what it first takes from someone else. This is one of the principles in our booklet Governing by Principle. To get your copy, go to mspolicy.org, or call 601-969-1300.