Hey, about that Millionaire's Tax...

Never mind:

Who'd a thunk it? Taxing millionaires ain't all it's cracked up to be. And not for nothing, but I can't believe the ultra-liberal DNC-talking-point-regurgitating Star-Ledger admitted it! In print! When I read this story in yesterday's paper I had to double-check the masthead to be sure it wasn't The Wall Street Journal.

Even if every millionaire stayed, the Christie administration doubts the state would really reap $600 million — an amount officials say wouldn't solve the state's fiscal problems anyway. In 2009, when Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine raised the top tax rate to 10.75 percent for a year, the Legislature predicted added revenue of $1 billion, but Treasury spokesman Andy Pratt said the state only collected an extra $560.2 million.

Fifty-six cents on the dollar. So, $600 million becomes $336 million. Maybe.

Without having to uproot their families or leave their jobs, the rich could move to New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, this year cut the top tax rate from 8.97 percent — the same as in New Jersey — to 6.85 percent. They could decamp to Pennsylvania, which has no special tax bracket for millionaires, just a flat rate of 3.07 percent. They could also move to Connecticut, which takes 6.5 percent of its millionaires' incomes.

Wait, I thought the millionaires wouldn't flee if their taxes went up? The headline writer obviously didn't read the story, did he?

And how delicious is it that while our Democrats are pushing for more taxes their brethren across the Hudson have caught tax-cut fever? Hey guys, take a field trip to Albany and expose yourselves to The New Reality.

James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said the millionaire tax was bad policy.

ZOMG! Now I know I'm in some kind of Twilight Zone. Raising taxes is bad policy! Of course it is. But, who's the Tea Partyer on the S-L editorial board? 'Cause I wanna shake his hand.

Posted at 09:51 by Chris Wysocki   [/nj_politics]   Comments | Perm Link |
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