Proposed Bernalillo County tax hike is anti-poor, anti-progressive

It is often (wrongly) assumed that when policies are proposed by Democrats, they are inherently for the benefit of the poor with the reverse applying to Republicans who supposedly, reflexively either oppose the poor or support the rich. Well, it just ain’t so.

Take the recently-proposed 1/4 percent ($40 million) gross receipts tax increase which is being supported by the three Democrats forming the majority on Bernalillo County’s Commission. A final vote is to be held on the tax hike in a matter of just a few weeks, so be sure to contact your Commissioners now.

While liberals proclaim their support for the poor, liberal columnist E.J. Dionne might not be thrilled with the County’s liberal Commissioners’ desire to raise taxes. As Dionne noted in his recent column (linked above):

Most state and local governments rely on regressive taxes — particularly sales and excise levies. Poor and middle-class people pay more simply because they have to spend the bulk of their incomes just to cover their costs.

As if that were not enough, the liberal group NM Voices for Children recently noted that “Consumption taxes,” like NM’s gross receipts tax, “exacerbate poverty.” So, there you have it, by unnecessarily increasing the gross receipts tax in Bernalillo County, the liberal members of the Commission are “exacerbating poverty.” Not only that, but they are making New Mexico’s largest city and most-populous county less attractive to a wide array of businesses and economic activities at a pivotal time when no one knows what will drive New Mexico’s economy…federal spending isn’t getting the job done and with oil prices in the tank, the one economic bright spot around here has been snuffed out.

I guess the good news for economically-struggling New Mexicans is that they can always move to Texas.