Why Wealthy New Yorkers Won't Move to Iowa

by: Justin Krebs

Thu Mar 12, 2009 at 13:12

As this video shows, there's some confusion already over who is paying what:

All New Yorkers earning over $20k, pay the same rate. Fair Share Tax Reformers in NY are calling on the Governor to follow the President's lead and ask those earning $250,000 to pay a higher rate.

One counter argument:  "If we raise taxes on the rich, they'll move away."

Beside the fact that if you like NYC, you sort of can't imagine living anywhere else, you also run into this problem, as noted on the Fair Share Blog: Iowa's tax rates are higher than New York.  And for folks earning more than $500,000, so are New Jersey's.

The good news: the city's wealthiest resident isn't going anywhere -- in fact, he changed the law to ensure that he could stay in office 4 more years...and giving us 4 more years to raise his taxes.

Creating a Good Villain

by: Living Liberally

Tue Mar 03, 2009 at 15:15

Every battle needs a good villain.  Not sure if that's a line out of a comic book, or the advice Matt Stoller has often offered on these pages, but it's true.  

There's some healthy debate about whether Rush is the right villain or the wrong target.  Brave New Films has done a great job their War on Greed to make the likes of Henry Kravis into a known nemesis. And in New York, the proponents for Fair Share Tax Reform just realized: why create a villain, if the entertainment industry's already done it for them.

Enter Monty Burns from the Simpsons, a no-goodnik we love to hate, and the new face of the plutocrats looking to sink New York's working class.

In anticipation of a major rally on Thursday, the Working Families Party -- leaders of the Fair Share push -- have turned to satire.  They've circulated a letter from Homer's boss to his fellow fatcats. Who wants to be on the side of Mr. Burns?  Well, except for Smithers, of course.