Letter to the Editor: Tax cut a meaningless gesture
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The median, meaning typical, annual WV household (meaning family) income is around $60,000. WV income taxes on that income would be around $1,600. Gov. Justice has proposed to dig into the FY2021 revenue surplus by returning 10% of tax collections to the people in the form of a permanent tax cut. So, the typical WV family of four would pay $160 a year, or $13 a month, less in taxes. Is this a whoopee! moment or just an empty gesture to delude taxpayers into thinking the government is doing something for their benefit?
Pretend that you (being the typical family) have a voice (and you do) in how this $160 should be spent. With that $160 you could, say, take the family to the movies once or twice, treating yourselves to a mindless and forgettable 1-1/2 hour long visual display accompanied with gobs of sugary and fatty foods. Or you could spend the money on something which would improve the lives of you and your children and even, possibly, improve WV. You could put the $160 in, say, better roads, schools, teachers, nurses, police officers, and so on, or, very importantly, it could go to providing more foster homes and services for the tens of thousands of unwanted and unloved children to be born as a result of the ending of abortion rights. And it would be prudent to lay away a little something for all the crime these unwanted children will be committing when they become adults. That's where adult criminals come from -- unwanted and unloved children.
Seemingly an easy choice, but I imagine a conundrum for most West Virginians, because, although we understand that the state needs a great deal of improvement, we really like our popcorn and coke.
The conundrum doesn't really exist because voters do not have this choice. It is a decision which will be made by governmental representatives supposedly acting in the best interest of the people. Unfortunately, from my perspective, the representatives who will make this decision are conservatives, and conservatives have this governmental philosophy: "that government is best which governs least" (or something like that except when it comes to imposing their morals on others).
So, West Virginians, prepare to loosen up those already oversized belts and throw down some more sugar and fat because conservatives can't resist making meaningless gestures to reduce taxes, even by trifling amounts.
Patrick Radcliff
Marietta