On April 2, the
RI House Finance Committee heard testimony on two bills that would increase the
marginal tax rate on people making more than $200,000 a year. Representative
Maria Cimini proposed a 2% increase, from 5.99 to 7.99% on incomes over
$250,000, while Representative Larry Valencia proposed a 4.01% increase on
incomes over $200,000 for individuals and $250,00 for married couples.
Valencia asked
the committee to explain the effectiveness of tax cuts for the rich (starting
in 1996) given that these were supposed to bring more jobs to Rhode Island, not
less, as evidenced by our high unemployment. Appeals to reason however, were
not found persuasive by the committee.
In fact, it’s the
property taxes that are hitting these Rhode Islanders the hardest, even as the
myopic House Leadership continues to champion a policy of across the board tax
cuts, curbs on spending and other austerity measures. The impassioned pleas of
struggling Rhode Islanders fell on deaf ears, because appeals to compassion
were not found to be persuasive.
Everyone knows
that the bills proposed by Cimini and Valencia are going nowhere this year.
Chairperson Raymond Gallison, recently appointed to his position by Speaker
Mattiello, shaped the discourse by calling up all those in favor of the bills
and listening politely, reserving the last word for John Simmons, executive
director of a right wing think tank, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure
Council (RIPEC). Gallison and Simmons are on a first name basis, and Simmons’
testimony was welcomed as a breath of fresh air.
Simmons simply
restated the same things RIPEC says every year. Increasing taxes is wrong. The
rich already face a higher tax burden than the poor. We shouldn’t be targeting
the job creators.
Philosophically, why should we be punishing those who are
successful? The rich are rich because they are better than the poor, more
deserving than the poor, and more important than the middle class. Here’s
Simmons’ closing argument:
“Then there’s
the philosophic issue, I guess I want to address that. It’s a little bit
different. Is it because we can tax people who can make money and are
successful that we should? Is that the philosophy we want for people to come to
Rhode Island and grow a business here? If you make money we can take it from
you? I don’t know that that’s the right message to send to people who want to
come to Rhode Island. It’s the opposite. If you are successful we would like
you to come to Rhode Island.”
Note that
Simmons is not all that interested in those who already live in Rhode Island.
He isn’t talking about improving the lives of Rhode Islanders, instead he’s
talking about making Rhode Island a haven for the rich and successful. If Rhode
Islanders are lucky, I suppose, we might find jobs shining the shoes and
cleaning the yachts of our more deserving citizens.
This is what
Gallison, representing House Leadership as Chairperson of House Finance, found
persuasive: A naked appeal to everything he wants to believe is true, despite
all evidence to the contrary. It’s called motivated reasoning, a process of
having a conclusion and then searching for reasons to believe it. No contrary
examples, no logic, no amount of suffering and no evidence contrary to the
deeply held belief will be truly considered.
So what do you
say to the man who eases your mind and continues to guide you down the primrose
path of massive economic inequality? What do you say to the man who confirms
all your biases and tells you that everything you sincerely wish were true is
true and good, despite the nagging fear at the back of your mind that tells you
it’s all a lie?
Gallison said,
“Thank you very much John, I appreciate it.”
Steve Ahlquist is a writer,
artist and current president of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit
group dedicated to reason, compassion, optimism and action. He also maintains
the blog SteveAhlquist.com where almost all his writing can be found. The views
expressed are his own and not necessarily those of any organization of which he
is a member. Write him direct at atomicsteve@gmail.com.