Kent teachers strike for reduced class size - would a state income tax fix it?

[Left coast liberal]

The silence is deafening. I can't think of one state pol who has the balls to suggest the obvious.

Plenty of tax breaks for corporations but meanwhile the teachers have 30 - 32 kids per over crowded classroom, many with special needs or english as second language.

This sucks!

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-19093-Seattle-Special-Needs-Kids-Examiner~y2009m9d11-Kent-teachers-strike-for-reduced-class-size-a-state-income-tax-would-solve-the-money-problem

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[zenprole]

2. Poof!

Hey, where'd the troll go? Response #1 was too juicy to pass up. : (

[eridani]

3. Probably

4 out of 5 people would pay less tax with an income tax combined with reduced property and sales taxes. Unfortunately, the people most likely to benefit from such a change are precisely those who are most likely to be against it.

[LeFleur1]

4. Actually

I believe income tax would have huge support if the people could trust those in Olympia not to levy huge taxes...sales tax, other taxes on top of an income tax. That's the fear. Then we'd have an income tax AND all of the other taxes we pay.

[Left coast liberal]

5. Agreed. The "no tax" bugaboo is alive and well in Olympia...

...meanwhile the state falls further and further behind with education funding. But as long as Boeing and Microsoft get their tax breaks I guess that is ok.

:sarcasm:

[SeattleGirl]

6. One thing I just don't understand about this state: When talk comes

up about a state income tax, it's always in ADDITION TO the taxes on goods and services we already have (though most people suggest they would be lower). WTF? I grew up in Oregon, which has a state income tax, but NOT a tax on goods and services. I love Washington, but I sometimes get so frustrated at the lawmaker's inability to see some things as either/or, not both/and.