OT: Election Disappointment

[ifarania]

Infarnia I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Taxes on items that do not do a body good and will cost society more in the long run should be taxed to off set those cost is to me good policy. I do not care if it hurts the working class more. Maybe they will smoke and drink less which would be better for their health anyway.

Now on the school issue, when I'm talking about overhead I am pinpointing to the exess of administrators plus their staff and consultants needed to run the system, not teachers. The administrators tend to make a lot more then teachers. IMO teachers are not paid enough in our society and I'd probably like to see a merit system put in place and funding for all year round classes.

I have seen the numbers before but cannot recall them but the funds allocated for the administration of some school districts is greater then what the teachers make in those districts. I'd like to see funds go directly to the maintenance and the teachers of schools then the policy makers.

I much prefer the way Bradley is rebuilding campus.. Through donations and whatnot.. SFP, what I mean is....

In the event of a sales tax, the poor are more deeply impacted in terms of proportion of income spent on NECESSARY items. If there is a 10% sales tax, and a family makes $30,000 and spend $20,000 on food, clothes.. anything purchased in the city or county, then they've spent $2,000 on sales tax, or around 6.7% of their income... Say a family makes $150,000 and, as they can afford it, spend $40,000 on the same necessary items... That would be $4,000 in sales tax, twice as much, but only 2.7% of income on the sales tax. Therefore, the tax burden falls disproportionately on the poor. A progressive tax of some sort would be better for society, especially considering the poor family rarely gets to use the end result (like a stadium with expensive ticket licenses, $150 seats, etc..). That example is a bit exaggerated, but you get the point.

If you're thinking some thought like, "it's better for them if they don't buy booze and tobacco" ... Then, aside from an unfortunate me vs. them mentality, you're confusing a sin tax with a sales tax.

[SFP]

I much prefer the way Bradley is rebuilding campus.. Through donations and whatnot.. SFP, what I mean is....

In the event of a sales tax, the poor are more deeply impacted in terms of proportion of income spent on NECESSARY items. If there is a 10% sales tax, and a family makes $30,000 and spend $20,000 on food, clothes.. anything purchased in the city or county, then they've spent $2,000 on sales tax, or around 6.7% of their income... Say a family makes $150,000 and, as they can afford it, spend $40,000 on the same necessary items... That would be $4,000 in sales tax, twice as much, but only 2.7% of income on the sales tax. Therefore, the tax burden falls disproportionately on the poor. A progressive tax of some sort would be better for society, especially considering the poor family rarely gets to use the end result (like a stadium with expensive ticket licenses, $150 seats, etc..). That example is a bit exaggerated, but you get the point.

If you're thinking some thought like, "it's better for them if they don't buy booze and tobacco" ... Then, aside from an unfortunate me vs. them mentality, you're confusing a sin tax with a sales tax.

Infarnia I understand what you are saying. Also a sin tax is a sales tax no matter how you slice it. I also understand that a dollar is worth more to a poor person then a rich person. That is why when we discussed this in an earlier thread someone also said that doing away with the income tax and substituting for a sales tax could only work if the government send a check to everyone every month to off-set the taxes on purchases needed to live on (i.e. shelter, food, water). Basically a consumption tax minus the minimum of what you need to live on. This way everyone can get the basic necessity to live on.

[TheHeemyMonster]

if you can't afford to spend 25 cents on every $100 you spend on retail then you probably shouldnt be spending that $100 in the first place. Maybe if you go through you couch cushions you can find that extra $$. I think the muesem is something that can make downtown Peoria not such a dump and get people to go down there.

The IHSA exhibit the new museum seems pretty cool along with the IMAX.