This Washington
The Misleading New Ad from Defeat 1098
The "Defeat I-1098" campaign has its first commercial out, lampooning 1098 by setting up a fake a sales pitch to voters: How about income tax, which would be the fourth-largest in the nation?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86NjlHoABPc[/youtube]
However, the ad never mentions that the 1098 income tax only applies to incomes higher than $200,000 per person. Instead, it paints 1098 as a huge income tax on everybody. (They're not technically lying. The ad's voice over reads: "The state income tax can be extended to you in two years.")
So, the ad's premise is pretty spacey: If the income tax is extended by the Washington State legislature to apply to everyone in the state (two years from now), Washington might have one of the four highest rates in the nation.
That's quite the speculative scenario; the initiative on the table doesn't do nearly so much in terms of an income tax. "The reality of it is, 98.8 percent of people would not pay any income tax, and even those that do pay would only have an effective rate of 4 percent because we're offering such a large exemption," I-1098 spokesperson Sandeep Kaushik says. (Full disclosure: Kaushik co-founded PubliCola in January 2009. He has no editorial role at PubliCola.)
A campaign spokesperson for the Defeat I-1098 campaign didn't call me back this afternoon.
And here's one more nit to pick: According to the non-partisan DC-based Tax Foundation, the highest marginal rate proposed by I-1098, the 9 percent rate on the $500,000-and-higher bracket, would be the fifth-highest rate when compared to other highest-bracket rates around the country. Not the fourth highest, as the ad claims.
Update: Defeat 1098 spokesperson Mark Funk, says the campaign feels fine postulating that the high-earners' income tax would become an across-the-board income tax in two years because, according to recent polls, that's what voters expect to happen.
He also said the ad's estimation that Washington State would have the fourth highest tax rate was based on a study by conservative think tank the Washington Research Council, estimating that the State would have the fourth-highest rate for the top income bracket if I-1098 passed.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86NjlHoABPc[/youtube]
However, the ad never mentions that the 1098 income tax only applies to incomes higher than $200,000 per person. Instead, it paints 1098 as a huge income tax on everybody. (They're not technically lying. The ad's voice over reads: "The state income tax can be extended to you in two years.")
So, the ad's premise is pretty spacey: If the income tax is extended by the Washington State legislature to apply to everyone in the state (two years from now), Washington might have one of the four highest rates in the nation.
That's quite the speculative scenario; the initiative on the table doesn't do nearly so much in terms of an income tax. "The reality of it is, 98.8 percent of people would not pay any income tax, and even those that do pay would only have an effective rate of 4 percent because we're offering such a large exemption," I-1098 spokesperson Sandeep Kaushik says. (Full disclosure: Kaushik co-founded PubliCola in January 2009. He has no editorial role at PubliCola.)
A campaign spokesperson for the Defeat I-1098 campaign didn't call me back this afternoon.
And here's one more nit to pick: According to the non-partisan DC-based Tax Foundation, the highest marginal rate proposed by I-1098, the 9 percent rate on the $500,000-and-higher bracket, would be the fifth-highest rate when compared to other highest-bracket rates around the country. Not the fourth highest, as the ad claims.
Update: Defeat 1098 spokesperson Mark Funk, says the campaign feels fine postulating that the high-earners' income tax would become an across-the-board income tax in two years because, according to recent polls, that's what voters expect to happen.
He also said the ad's estimation that Washington State would have the fourth highest tax rate was based on a study by conservative think tank the Washington Research Council, estimating that the State would have the fourth-highest rate for the top income bracket if I-1098 passed.
