No, no, a thousand times no:
Is now the time for the Indiana General Assembly to consider a progressive income tax? When Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed a one-year higher tax rate for upper income households, his idea died faster than the annual hopes of a Cubs fan.
More than 30 states already have some form of a progressive income tax, which in good times builds government reserves that can be used when revenues decline in bad times.
In a time when there is a growing desire to simpify taxes, we want to make Indiana's more complicated? The goal of taxation, I should think, is to decide what needs to be done, then raise the necessary funds, being as utilitarian as possible and the least punitive possible. With a flat rate, people pay more as they can pay more. A rate of 6 percent raises $6,000 from someone who makes $100,000, $1,200 from someone who makes $20,000. That is fair. The only thing accomplished by making state taxes progressive is to punish people for doing well. But of course that's the point:
Governments also establish the means whereby the less wealthy can improve their economic status. They support the schools, libraries and public transit systems that provide opportunities for those with talent and skills to succeed. Taxes are the means by which the more wealthy support governments, thereby helping reduce the disparities of life.
There you have it, the politics of envy. The purpose of government is to redistribute wealth.
