The Soapbox: About Taxes

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O P I N I O N

THE SOAPBOX

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Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.


I want to make it incredibly clear that Democrats do not want to increase taxes for the average person. I have been a lifelong Democrat and I have yet to meet another person from my party who disagrees.

The first thing we need to establish is that living in a society does, in fact, cost money. We need to provide sanitation, police and fire, roads, schools, and other such services to the people who live there. The money that pays for these is provided through taxation. Different cities and states find different ways to establish taxes to generate the income needed. Most, but not all, have income and sales taxes. Most have taxes on specific items, such as cigarettes and gasoline. All states have property taxes. New Hampshire chooses to not have income or sales tax, and that’s fine.

The city services always need to be provided. If you cut one source of tax revenue, another will have to make up the difference. Republicans love to talk about tax cuts without acknowledging that the funds will somehow need to be made up somewhere else. A friend directed me to the website www.taxshifter.org, which gives a visual representation of how that works.

When your Republican candidate wants to cut taxes, if they are an incumbent, look at their voting record. When they vote to cut business taxes in order to maximize profits (which, the average worker will never see the fruit of those higher profits, as they usually just line the pockets of the elites), what they are doing, in effect, is shifting the taxes to the average person’s property taxes (that is: YOU).

When Democrats vote for fair taxation of businesses, those policies will LOWER the tax burden of the average person. This isn’t rocket science, it’s basic math.

None of the Democrats want to see a person’s personal property taxes go up. We are well aware that many people are on fixed incomes that can’t handle higher bills. The COVID pandemic has only made this worse. We’re on the verge of an eviction crisis due to poor economic policy, and we don’t need to hasten that along.

What we want to see is the state getting more net income and decreasing unnecessary spending, which has the end result of further decreasing people’s property taxes. We could do this by:

  • Having businesses pay their fair share of taxes (we don’t want them taxed too much, either. If a business closes because they can’t pay their bills, that would result in job loss and even more financial strain on families, which is something no Democrat wants to see happen).
  • We want small businesses in New Hampshire to continue to benefit from the very small tax rate they currently see: less than 1%. It’s the larger businesses that can, and should, pay more money to the state through higher tax rates.
  • Legalizing and taxing marijuana much the same way as cigarettes currently are taxed. You would only pay this if you choose to use it.
  • Because of the second point, if marijuana becomes legal, it would follow that people imprisoned on drug charges could be released. Decreasing the prison population would save the state a lot of money. I would like to have a discussion with lawyers and judges as to possible sentences aside from imprisonment for certain types of charges. I don’t have a specific answer in mind, currently, but it is an avenue worth exploring.

Please do not listen to Republican talking points that are not backed with actual math. Democratic principles result in advocacy for the working class, the disabled, the elderly, retirees, and other groups of people who are simply trying to make ends meet and provide for themselves and their loved ones. We will fight tooth and nail for their economic security.

Please vote for the people who understand economics. Thank you.


Beg to differ? Agree to disagree? Send submissions to carolrobidoux@manchesterinklink.com, subject line: The Soapbox


Screenshot 2019 11 02 at 7.12.25 AMCandace Moulton is a Registered Nurse, substitute teacher, and mom of 2. She is running for State Representative for Hillsborough District 44, which encompasses Manchester wards 8, 9, and the town of Litchfield.

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