Leave it to the liberals to complain about a tax cut

Leave it to the liberals to complain about a tax cut

Ralph, explain to me how these liberal Democrats, particularly those in the minority serving their constituents in Little Rock, think that reducing the burden of taxation on those of us who are actually earning a living and contributing to the economic growth of this state is just the wrong thing to do.

As you know, Ralph, being the advocate of the warped, liberal point of view, that Democrats ruled Arkansas government, pandered to the wishes of those promoters of government subsidies, earned income credit for the lowest wage earners among us, while leading us to believe the more successful among us should carry the lion’s share of the burden in supporting the quarter-of-a-million poor Arkansans.

You and I both know the metaphorical “chicken-orthe- egg” describing situations where it is not clear which of two events should be considered the cause and which should be considered the effect.

Let me preface my point of view by first reminding you that about 16 percent of the nearly 3 million residents of Arkansas are classified as “poor” and West Memphis, believe it or not, is among the 10 poorest cities in the entire state, according to a Durham, North Carolina research group that uses data and analytics to determine quality of life for places across the nation.

Now then, it has been Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s goal to reduce the tax burden on all of use, an endeavor he has been very successful at accomplishing.

Let me remind you Ralph that in 2015, mostly Republican lawmakers enacted Hutchinson’s plan to cut individual income-tax rates for people with between $21,000 and $75,000 a year in taxable income. And, in 2017, lawmakers approved Hutchinson’s plan to cut the individual income tax rates for people with up to $21,000 a year in taxable income.

Oh, but now Ralph your liberal friends are all in an uproar over this idea of reducing the tax rate by a meager one percent on those top wager earners among us.

After a second vote on the plan to slice the state’s top individual income tax rate from 6.9 percent to 5.9 percent over a two-year period lawmakers within the state Senate gave their approval. And, let me point out, three of the nine Democrat senators went along with the reduction while our very own Sen. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, voted against it. But, that is to be expected, in light of the fact that he represents the poorest people in the state who depend heavily on taxpayer subsidies.

What the liberals fail to either ignore or simply don’t understand is that Hutchinson is attempting to make Arkansas, a poor state, more attractive to investors that have the financial resources to create jobs and play a major role in much needed economic development.

Heretofore, Arkansas’ tax structure has been a major factor in why the state has lagged behind in this fierce competition to attract major investors capable of creating well paying jobs and improve our quality of life.

Sure Ralph, these tax cuts have had and will mean less tax revenue but looking beyond the tip of your nose you can see that with new economic growth comes additional income for the state coffers.

Let’s not get so wrapped up in the negative liberal Democratic philosophy and realize that there is a better way to move Arkansas forward in a way that does improve our quality of life.

By Michael Coulter