[Peace-discuss] [sf-core] Re: Comments on last evening's Champaign mayoral debate

Thu Mar 19 21:26:05 EDT 2015

the middle class already pays a tax on its wealth-the property tax which 
is a tax on the only wealth most people accumulate. so why is the wealth 
of the rich sacrosanct?

"May this be the worst day of your life".
Old Irish blessing.

On 3/19/2015 1:31 PM, 'C. G. Estabrook' carl at newsfromneptune.com 
[sf-core] wrote:
>
> Thank you for doing this David - both for attending, so I didn’t have 
> to & could stay home & watch the Bulls (since I don’t like either 
> exploited athletes [NCAA] or endangered ones [NFL] - but Barca is fun) 
> and for analyzing, so I could learn more from you than I had so far 
> from the press re the local mayoralty election.
>
> Tax questions seem one of the few substantive matters that might 
> differentiate the candidates. As a Pikettian who holds that we should 
> tax wealth (progressively) rather than income, either personal or 
> business (if you tax something, you get less of it - the theory behind 
> cigarette taxes), I think that about all one can do on the local level 
> is support property taxes and oppose consumption (sales) taxes, which 
> are necessarily regressive.
>
> One of Feinen’s people told me that she, in contrast to the others, 
> opposes sales taxes and supports property taxes instead. True?
>
> Regards, CGE
>
> > On Mar 19, 2015, at 11:47 AM, David Green via Peace-discuss 
> <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> >
> > The mayoral candidates convened last evening. The video will be 
> re-broadcast at 11 this evening, and innumerable times thereafter at 
> all hours of the morning.
> > All of the four candidates recognized that poverty is an issue. They 
> hope, and perhaps pray, for economic development and jobs. Mayor 
> Gerard implied that he has something to do with a lower unemployment 
> rate in Champaign County since he took office. I have my doubts 
> whether the real unemployment rate is much lower, about the nature of 
> new jobs, and about the relationship of any of that to his policies, 
> including the summer youth jobs for which he takes credit.
> > There seemed to be a consensus in support of TIFs, and for Bristol 
> Place development. I have my doubts whether that constitutes an 
> economic development strategy. Joe Petry claimed to have a detailed 
> economic vision on his website; I can’t seem to find that on his website.
> > All are proud of our new hotels.
> > They all love the idea of combatting “sprawl” and promoting in-fill. 
> Gerard mentioned the national award that Champaign received regarding 
> its population density, even though it’s not an island like New York 
> City, which got an even better mark and which just isn't fair. I’m no 
> authority on local issues, including this one, but it would seem that 
> there are some contradictions here. Do we not have sprawl? Do not the 
> developers want to create more sprawl? Won’t any of these candidates 
> have to please the developers? It was seen as a feather in the cap of 
> in-fill that Worden-Martin moved (was bribed to move?) to Anthony 
> Drive. That seems to me a pretty low bar regarding urban planning. Or 
> perhaps the more popular expression is "low-hanging fruit."
> > Gerard is running partly on his alleged support for organized labor. 
> Last night he lauded Phyllis Wise, whom we are “lucky to have.” Thus 
> there may be a contradiction between his support for Wise and his 
> alleged support for labor on campus. Gerard is proud of everything 
> he’s done, all the people he’s ever worked with, and indeed all the 
> people he’s met. Champaign is the “best city in the country.” (Full 
> disclosure: I enjoy living in Champaign more than Los Angeles or 
> Chicago.). However he did, he reminded us, talk back to Gov. Rauner. 
> But I'm not getting my pitchfork ready to join him at the governor's door.
> > I submitted a question about discrimination against 
> African-Americans in traffic stops, fines, etc. They all agreed that 
> the police should “look more like the community.” Anthony Cobb, they 
> said, is making that happen. They all agreed that Chief Cobb is a 
> stellar figure who will work to solve these problems. They invoked 
> community policing; however, I doubt that the premises or track record 
> of what is called “community policing” offer much hope for meaningful 
> change. It would seem, and I’m sure that it’s obvious to most of those 
> reading this, that such change would have to come at more fundamental 
> levels of economic equality and ending the war on drugs and mass 
> incarceration. The latter wasn’t mentioned, as far as I can recall, 
> although I did lose focus a few times.
> > Deb Feinin was at the meeting at the Urbana Civic Center a few weeks 
> ago about traffic stops, etc. So she is aware that there is a genuine 
> problem. Unfortunately, I’m still vague about the level of that 
> problem in Champaign in comparison to a place like Ferguson. It would 
> be good to have more data about fines, jailing, etc., but that doesn’t 
> work for a question written on a note card.
> > Karen Foster, as reported in the N-G, was the only candidate willing 
> to consider raising taxes to meet possible budget deficits. She might 
> get my vote just on that basis, if I vote, even though she’s the most 
> poorly spoken of the lot. But perhaps that’s a point in her favor. 
> Feinen said that it would be a shame to raise taxes, just as jobs are 
> picking up. But if you lay people off from government, then you lose 
> both jobs and taxes. But you don’t learn that in law school.
> > In sum, Joe Petry would probably make the best technocrat among 
> them, although of course the other three have more experience in city 
> government per se. Petry seems like a genuinely conscientious guy. I 
> could be wrong, but I could picture having an intelligent and 
> productive conversation with him.
> > I was confirmed in my belief that I don’t think a whole lot of Don 
> Gerard.
> > Concluding editorial comment: My back-of-the-envelope calculation is 
> that the yearly income of the top 20% of household in Champaign (6000 
> or so) totals over $1 billion, probably a conservative estimate, and 
> leaving their wealth aside. In this state, that strata pays 7-8% in 
> state/local taxes, while the bottom quintile pays 13%. A 3-5% 
> surcharge on the adjusted gross income of this group could easily net 
> $20-30 million, but there’s no reason why at least $50 million 
> shouldn’t be taxed from this group in order to put a lot more people 
> to work providing services. City government, with broad public 
> participation, should decide what services the people need, how many 
> jobs it wants to create, and then tax on that basis.
> > The total locally funded budgets of Champaign city, schools, parks, 
> and libraries are probably about $180 million. Given the wealth of our 
> community (over $4 billion GDP, City of Champaign), there’s no reason 
> for these services to be so hard-pressed. But of course the reason 
> they are is that none of the candidates can broach the topic of going 
> to where the money is, from those who have the most and need it the 
> least, and of course have the most influence on politics and campaign 
> funding, even at the local penny-ante level.
> > Of course, all of this would be more efficiently done at the county 
> or state levels. But there's no reason for local municipalities not to 
> set an example. Phyllis Wise isn't going to pack up her bags and move 
> to Monticello.
> > Conclusion: a good socialist would have made for an interesting 
> evening. But at least they didn’t let Barb Wysocki be the moderator. 
> That’s what allowed me to stay awake throughout.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
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> Posted by: "C. G. Estabrook" <carl at newsfromneptune.com>
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