Tax and Finance Transparency in the 2012 Election

Scott Laugenour is transparent? Well then maybe he'll answer a simple question. (0.00 / 0)

Hey Scott, real simple question (I don't need exact #'s just ballpark).  

How much income did you make last year?

 

Obama Extends The Patriot Act
http://www.latimes.com/news/na...

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by: Republican Ram Rod Radio @ Thu Jun 21, 2012 at 18:16:58 PM UTC

Here's the answer, RRRR (5.00 / 1)

Hello, RRRR.   In 2011 I did not have income because I was not working.  My husband's and my joint income was $130,000.  We filed this income on our joint Massachusetts return.  (Mark was working as a paralegal and renting an apartment in New York City until March of this year.)

Never fear that I won't respond to questions you pose, RRRR, which may help you and other voters to decide where to cast your votes in November.  It seems you'd prefer that my smart phone buzzes whenever you post here, but it doesn't.  The phones do buzz, though, when e-mails or phone calls come in:  hq@scottlaugenour.org or 413 551 9222.

Scott

Move forward; the center leads nowhere.

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by: scott_laugenour @ Sun Jun 24, 2012 at 17:41:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Additional thoughts and responsiveness on tax transparency and tax fairness (0.00 / 0)

Although I do not support there being an optional higher state income tax rate that voters can choose to pay, that is the system we currently have.  Voters have a right to ask me and other candidates which of the two tax rates I chose, as one voter did in a blog to which I responded.

Confronting the current regressive tax system and achieving a fair and progressive structure will be realized not through the gimmick of an optional higher tax rate but through clear codification that shifts the current burden by imposing a lower net tax rate for those whose incomes are lower and a  higher net tax rate for those whose incomes are higher.  Determining if taxes as a whole are progressive or regressive must take into account the burden of local taxes, sales taxes, and fees for essential government services.  I discuss this further on my budget and tax page, emphasizing that the value equation includes not only what we pay but what we get.

Unlike my incumbent opponent, Mr. Pignatelli, I will choose not to take the federal tax deduction that allows state legislators to reduce their tax liability through a 'double dipping' that allows deducting from income those travel expenses that have also been reimbursed by state taxpayers.  This will be known because I will disclose my tax returns whenever I am on the ballot seeking employment from taxpayers and whenever I draw a taxpayer-funded salary.

When the Berkshire Eagle decided to cover tax transparency in 2010 with a front page headline containing this graphic, most candidates in district and statewide races who refused to disclose their tax returns cited spousal privacy as a justification.  I point with pride to my own husband, Mark Woodward, who unflinchingly and immediately concurred that making our joint tax returns public was the right thing to do.

Would I vote for a progressive tax rate even if it would increase my own personal tax liability?  I sure would when the accompanying budget funds public infrastructure and services that help us to thrive and restores local aid where it is needed.  The tax structure that I have proposed on my web site and have articulated in candidate questionnaires would lower the income taxes paid on incomes less than $90,000, which is a large majority of taxpayers in districts like the 4th Berkshire District.

Mitt Romney made his 2011 tax returns public this year only after Newt Gingrich repeatedly prodded him into doing so (asking voters if they really wanted to see the day when a US President had a Swiss bank account).  Here in the Bay State, neither Deval Patrick nor my opponent made their tax returns public in 2010, the same year that a Fox News report noted that the number of Beacon Hill candidates making their tax returns public was declining rapidly.   Nicholas Shaxson has put the issue of tax transparency into the spotlight with his article in the August 2012 issue of Vanity Fair magazine.  That and Paul Krugman's NY Times column of July 8, 2012 are recommended reading for anyone who believes that tax transparency and tax fairness are important and related issues.

Move forward; the center leads nowhere.

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by: scott_laugenour @ Mon Jul 16, 2012 at 22:03:40 PM UTC

Paying for Government With Pledge Drives (0.00 / 0)

We shouldn't be trying to pay for needed state services through pledge drives but instead, insist on fair and equal contributions from  those of equal means. The voluntary higher income tax rate box is a gimmick--- anybody see an option to pay higher sales taxes at your local corner store?  Or better yet, an option to not waive taxes on MA registered Wall Street investment banks offering mutual funds? $150 Million a year to companies cutting 25 - 50% of their MA jobs!  And we should ask volunteers to pick up the burden State Street, Putnam and Fidelity refuse to share?  

"We are so happy to have a seat at the table that we ignore the meal being served." Jeff Crosby, president of IUE-CWA Local 201 in Lynn, Mass.

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by: Nat Fortune @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 13:42:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Of course, pledge drives could be our future! (0.00 / 0)

Americathon (1979): in a story told in narrative flashbacks, a young TV consultant is hired by the President of a bankrupt USA to organize a telethon in order to prevent the country from being repossessed by wealthy Native Americans.

"We are so happy to have a seat at the table that we ignore the meal being served." Jeff Crosby, president of IUE-CWA Local 201 in Lynn, Mass.

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by: Nat Fortune @ Fri Jul 27, 2012 at 13:51:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

From what I'm seeing elsewhere, Scott (0.00 / 0)

There's some genuine organizing going on around your campaign--canvassing, etc. Good to see it, especially in light of what I'm reading here. MA being totally in the bag for Obama--correct me if I'm wrong, someone, please--hope the GRP marshalls whatever forces and dollars it has and puts them squarely behind your campaign.

I liked this:

When the Berkshire Eagle decided to cover tax transparency in 2010 with a front page headline containing this graphic, most candidates in district and statewide races who refused to disclose their tax returns cited spousal privacy as a justification.  I point with pride to my own husband, Mark Woodward, who unflinchingly and immediately concurred that making our joint tax returns public was the right thing to do.

 

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by: michael horan @ Fri Jul 20, 2012 at 02:28:32 AM UTC