Friday, January 4, 2013

Speak Out Against Sales Tax To Benefit The Rich

A month ago, I reported about how Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and his fellow plutocrats want to impose a sales tax that will go to build the Milwaukee Bucks a new arena and to help enhance the area to benefit the local businesses.

What makes Abele support for this so egregious is not just that it would only benefit his already wealthy, elitist friends, but he also blasted the idea of a sales tax when it would actually help everyone in the county, such as in supporting the transit and parks systems while cutting property taxes.

And keep in mind that the Bradley Center just received $5 million of tax money to make all sorts of upgrades to the current facility, of which they've already used more than half to do things like upgrade the executive suites and theater boxes, including new carpeting and new furniture, including leather seats.

Not a dime to help the average Joe Blue Collar Worker, much less the poor.

Nope, instead they're using our tax dollars to pamper the elite of the elite.

And now they want more of our money to help more of the most elite.

The Shepherd Express explained the plutocrat's hypocrisy well:

The more serious problem is that Abele is being less than consistent or honest on taxes. On the same day he told conservative WTMJ listeners that he was in favor of a Bradley Center tax, he also told moderate WUWM listeners that he opposed a voter-approved sales-tax increase to support the long-struggling Milwaukee County Transit System, which is an economic lifeline for county workers, especially those in the central city. Abele used the usual argument that the transit tax is “regressive.” In most states that would be true. But if Abele looked into the issue he would find that Wisconsin has a fairly “progressive” sales tax because it exempts many necessities, such as food purchased at a grocery store, so that lower-income residents wouldn’t be harmed by it. 
Perhaps if more multimillionaires rode the bus, then Abele would be in support of a sales tax for transit. Instead, he’s starving the county’s transit system at the same time he’s offering up new perks for the business community at the expense of the average working person.
The good news is that we don't have to quietly take it.

There will be a meeting of the Milwaukee County Parks Advisory Commission on Tuesday, January 8, at 4:30 pm.  The meeting will be at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation located at 101 W. Pleasant Street, Suite 201.

Unless you're in Abele's direct employment or are hoping for some favor from him, this is your chance to speak out that if there is to be an additional sales tax, it should be in the form that helps the working class and the taxpayers, not a small group of plutocrats.

3 comments:

  1. Help me here. What does the County Parks Advisory Commission have to do with the Bradley Center plan?

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  2. He also didn't "blast" the idea of a sales tax for parks/transit last month. Nor "gush" for the Bradley center plan, unless you consider "we should consider it as a funding mechanism" gushing.

    Parks advisory committee doesn't have the ability to levy a sales tax, nor does the Board, nor the County Exec. It's not even on the agenda for their meeting next week.

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  3. @Dan Yup, I have no understanding of why capper would suggest going to the County Parks Advisory Commission to talk about the Bradley Center plan? It isn't on the agenda, and I'm guessing it would never be on their agenda.

    ReplyDelete