Sometimes, the brazenness of conservative politicians in crafting public policy to benefit themselves and their rich patrons is just too much to be believed. Take, for instance, Gov. Pat McCrory and the North Carolina General Assembly. A new brief from the fiscal policy wonks at the N.C. Budget and Tax Center paints a truly remarkable portrait of what can only be described as “government of, by and for the top 1%.”
According to the latest BTC calculations, the tax cuts enacted between 2013 and 2016 in North Carolina will produce, among many other travesties, this remarkable result:
Say you had seven North Carolinians in one room representing the following income groups –
- The bottom 20% (average income $12,000 per year),
- The second 20% (average income $27,000 per year),
- The middle 20% (average income $44,000 per year),
- The fourth 20% (average income $73,000 per year),
- The next 15% (average income $123,000 per year),
- The next 4% (average income $259.000 per year) and
- The top 1% (average income $1,072,000 per year).
The average member of the top 1% (someone who already brings in more than $1 million per year) will realize an annual tax cut that is larger than all of the others combined…multiplied by 5!
That was not a misprint. Under the tax cuts enacted by conservative state leaders in recent years, the richest people in North Carolina will receive an annual tax cut of $15,439. If you add up the tax cuts bestowed upon an average representative of all the other six income groups, the total combined figure is $3,044. And most of that ($2,220) would go to the second wealthiest individual. Folks in the middle get $83 per year. People in the poorest group will actually pay $10 per year more! Click here and scroll to page 5 to see the remarkable numbers.
Not surprisingly, these cuts are having (and will continue to have) a devastating impact on essential public structures and services. By Fiscal Year 2019-’20, the net annual revenue loss to the state will be more than $2 billion per year.
No wonder the supposed “Carolina Comeback” touted by state leaders is looking more and more like a “Carolina Con Job” to so many average working families.
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