Tax the Vote
“I should be a happy man” after the Bush win, says the Michigan Review’s Karl Sowislo. So what’s clouding his otherwise untroubled countenance? It’s those freeloaders who vote but don’t pay income tax! Why should our election laws allow these people, who are probably poor, to have any say in what goes on in this country?
In fact, why stop there - we could have a special tax for those who want to vote. Call it a “poll tax” or something.
Even though it would hit me and my family especially hard, I would love to see a Pole tax if it would help balance the budget.
posted by Mike Ruszkowski on November 10th, 2004 at 3:13 pmPole tax? To encourage men not to vote?
posted by Murph on November 10th, 2004 at 3:16 pmNo, to discourage those people who come over from Poland and try to vote in our elections! (You probably didn’t realize that this was such a problem.)
posted by J on November 10th, 2004 at 3:28 pmi bet sowislo is all for reinstatement of jim crow laws…
posted by old_fat_punk on November 10th, 2004 at 5:35 pmI thought we forgot Poland.
posted by js on November 10th, 2004 at 5:35 pmOooh! We’re post buddies!
posted by js on November 10th, 2004 at 5:35 pmThere is a small flaw in his theory. Namely that everyone pays some form of taxes. Be it sales tax or the portion of their rent that goes towards property taxes. If people drive, they also pay gas taxes. Not to mention, those taxes tend to me more regressive.
posted by Kozzie on November 10th, 2004 at 9:22 pmPoor people probably pay , proportionately (that’s a lot of p words in a row), more taxes in this state than anyone else just by playing the lottery and going to the casinos.
posted by Alex(andra) on November 11th, 2004 at 7:37 amNot to mention that income takes a bigger chunk out of overall earnings than capital gains taxes that folks with investments pay. Also, poorer people tend not to be homeowners and don’t get the benefits of mortage interest deductions (by far the largest form of so-called “welfare” handed out by the federal government).
posted by Alexandra S. on November 11th, 2004 at 12:41 pm“proportionately [the poor pay] more taxes in this state than anyone else just by playing the lottery and going to the casinos”
You make it sound like the poor don’t know how to gamble. What kind of elitist attitude is that? What’s next? The poor don’t know how to properly vote?
posted by Mike Ruszkowski on November 11th, 2004 at 2:08 pmWell, on average, anyone gambling is going to lose money. Has nothing to do with knowing how.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on November 11th, 2004 at 3:23 pmDepends on the game, but that’s a bit of a side-note.
posted by js on November 11th, 2004 at 4:23 pmI like how Democrats are tagged as “elitist” when shit like this goes through for conservatives. What, this is populist?
I’ve never really understood the criticism. “Elitist” seems to mean “well-educated”, and “tolerant”, or believing in “reality-based” versus “faith-based” ideas, or believing in fiscal responsibility, or the protection of civil rights.
But perhaps I should keep an open mind. Afterall, praying to Jesus whilst rubbing my magic rabbit’s foot might help cure my post-election angst.
posted by Anna on November 11th, 2004 at 5:03 pmThe Democrats aren’t elitist. But a lot of their supporters clearly are, and I think it’s really hurt them. For example, you hear a lot from the left about how ignorant Americans are because a majority of them don’t have passports, unlike Europeans. Of course, Americans live in a huge, geographically isolated country. Michael Moore actually made this argument; somehow I doubt that jaunts to Europe are financially within reach for the working class of Flint he empathizes with so much.
I thought this post I read on a blog recently had a good take on it.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on November 11th, 2004 at 5:31 pmWell, Michael Moore’s a colossally overrated fuck anyway. One of the more depressing things about this past year (all of them soundly defeated by the national election outcome–although I learned from my dad yesterday that Baton Rouge now has a black Democratic mayor, which was good news) was the adoration fest over FAHRENHEIT 9/11. It wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t that good, either.
And it’s not like everybody in the red states voted Republican, for heaven’s sakes, any more than everyone in the blue states voted Democrat. It’s not like people who vote Republican are automatically evil, any more than people who vote Democrat are automatically good (and I say that as a self-professed liberal Democrat, although I’d like some explanations from the former as to why they voted for Bush, even though some didn’t). If Jane Smiley says something like that, then she’s no better than David Brooks, whose snippy comments on “blue-state elitist intolerance” received a surprisingly eloquent and inspiring answer from Daniel Adams in the Daily a couple of days ago (hey, come on–it’s free; what other local paper am I supposed to read?). Giving up on half the country isn’t only wrong, it’s the dumbest possible thing that Democrats (and progressives and liberals in general) can do for the future.
Speaking of the Daily, did everyone catch that plaigarism notice on the front yesterday? Now that I think of it (and I’m not sure this was the actual case), I could have sworn this one kid’s column on Bush and Kerry sounded an awful lot like one of Chuck Klosterman’s from SPIN… I guess we’ll see what happens.
posted by Lazaro on November 11th, 2004 at 5:43 pmI think I mispelled plagiarism. Alex(andra), if you’re out there, I’m sorry. I didn’t think the content was too bad.
And I make about $15,000-16,000 a year, about 20% of which goes to federal tax, state tax, and Social Security and Medicare (both of which I believe more and more to be fictional). Okay, I have to fill out fewer forms than someone making over $100,000 (though I doubt Sowislo clears that much), but I’d consider that a small price to pay for financial security, ability to use passports and visit foreign countries, etc. And yes, the Powers That Be pushed this same shit in the South for centuries (not just among blacks, either). This kid has no fucking clue.
posted by Lazaro on November 11th, 2004 at 5:50 pmLots of people vote for many different reasons. He is assuming that all students vote for Kerry, which is not entirely true. To limit the vote because of economic means obscures many issues.
posted by Kozzie on November 14th, 2004 at 12:01 pmThat idea would not only get rid of the poor, but also all those pesky ex-patriots who make less than $80,000 a year like myself. US income tax law on requires US citizens living abroad to pay taxes on foreign earned income over $80,000.
posted by Ben the Geographer on November 17th, 2004 at 1:55 pm