Stage 6: Comment on a Colleague's Work

    M. Sandoval writes a blog called Texas Economy and Politics on Google Blogger. On Oct. 28, 2011 she wrote an entry titled “Personal Income Tax in Texas” in which she expresses her belief that Texas should indeed implement an income Tax. I for one enjoy not having that income tax taken out of my paycheck but after learning of all the budget cuts to public education, I would gladly accept an income tax here in Texas. The 2012-2013 budget for public education is being cut by $4 billion. That means more teachers will lose their jobs, class sizes will increase, programs will be cut and some schools will be closed all together.  Taxation in order to increase funding for public education is why I agree with implementing an income tax in Texas.

    Sandoval writes that the current tax system in Texas is regressive, which by definition is true. She also wrote, “Yet an individual’s income tax should be higher for higher-income individuals; therefore benefiting the rest of the population that does not enjoy the privilege of wealth.“, which I disagree with. I don’t believe a person should pay a higher percentage of taxes because they make more money. 7 percent of $50,000 is $3,500 in taxes compared to 7 percent of $10,000 which is $700. The person making more money ends up paying more in taxes anyway. Consequently they pay more in sales and property taxes as well. On the same note, individuals with children get a tax break for each child they have. So a person who has succeeded in working their way up from the bottom and has no children would end up paying a lot more in taxes to benefit individuals who might not even work but have several children.

  Sandoval concluded with the statement that it would benefit “ the rest of the population that does not enjoy the privilege of wealth“, which could have been left out. The article then went from implementing an income tax in order to benefit public education and health care to implementing an income tax in order to benefit people who don’t make as much money.