◼ This year marks the 100th anniversary of the federal income tax (February) and the Federal Reserve System (December), both of which today are doing immeasurable harm. And, thankfully, both will be undergoing enormous changes. - Steve Forbes/FORBES
...Research by Art Laffer and other economists has demonstrated that over time states that have no income tax perform better than states with high income taxes. New Jersey, for instance, traditionally outperformed the national economy. Then it not only enacted a state income tax but also subsequently raised it to nosebleed levels. Today New Jersey’s economy is a shadow of its former self and lags the nation. The same thing has happened in Connecticut.
Before the enactment of the 16th Amendment, which permitted Washington to impose an income tax, states were in the vanguard of putting taxes on income. Today they are doing just the opposite. Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas has been unrelenting in pushing for lower income tax levies. When certain members of his own party balked, he supported their challengers in the primaries. Brownback triumphed and is now putting Kansas on the path to eliminating this exaction altogether. Governor Dave Heineman of Nebraska wants to do the same thing, as does Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Other governors are pushing to reduce rates sharply, including Governors Pat McCrory of North Carolina, Mary Fallin of Oklahoma and John Kasich of Ohio.
And look at what’s happening in Massachusetts: Governor Deval Patrick, taking cues from his close friend Barack Obama, proposed raising Massachusetts’ 5.25% income tax to 6.25%, as well as boosting other levies. Despite virtually no Republican representation in the state legislature–Democrats have 36 of 40 seats in the Senate and 129 of 160 in the House–Patrick’s scheme looks to be crashing and burning. White House fantasies to the contrary, most people are in no mood to pay more to Big Government....
