google-site-verification=cXrcMGa94PjI5BEhkIFIyc9eZiIwZzNJc4mTXSXtGRM Gov. Brian Kemp wants to lower the tax rate for 2024 — but experts say the current tax code is ‘rooted in anti-blackness’ - 360WISE MEDIA
Connect with us

Politics and Current

Gov. Brian Kemp wants to lower the tax rate for 2024 — but experts say the current tax code is ‘rooted in anti-blackness’

Published

on

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp wants the state Legislature to consider lowering the income tax rate in 2024, citing an enormous surplus in the state’s 2023 budget.

Before 2024, households were taxed under a graduated system in which higher earners paid higher tax rates, but changes to the tax code that were scheduled to go into effect this 12 months – signed by Governor Kemp in 2022 – can be postponed to the flat rate tax model. Under the recent policy, all Georgia residents are expected to pay a general tax rate of 5.49% in 2024, with that quantity expected to decrease by an extra 0.1% every year until it reaches 4.99% in 2029.

For many, this implies exponential growth; most households earning lower than $250,000 a 12 months currently pay lower than 5.49 percent in state income taxes; according to the 2020 U.S. Census, only the top 5 percent of Georgia households earn greater than $233,979. Previously, Georgia’s highest earners paid up to 5.75 percent, while those that brought home the least paid just 1 percent.

Citing a big state budget surplus again in 2023, Governor Kemp’s office wants the Legislature to consider accelerating the reduction to 5.39%. this 12 months – a level that was previously expected to be reached in 2025.

House Bill 1015, which accelerates interest rate cuts, is currently moving through the state Senate and passed the House by a 165-0 majority.

“Cutting taxes and returning more money to taxpayers continues to be a priority for the Georgia House of Representatives, and today’s passage of HB 1015, HB 1019 and HB 1021 will help return over a billion dollars to Georgia families, homeowners and taxpayers,” House Speaker Jon said in an announcement Burns, R-Newington. “These priorities will provide significant relief to taxpayers across the state, put more money back in their pockets, and continue to propel our economy as the best state in the nation to live, work, and raise a family – and I look forward to the Senate’s early retirement and Governor (Brian) Kemp’s signature.”

Income equality advocates say the plan deepens inequality and places an unfair share of the tax burden on those that need assistance most.

Hope Wollensack, executive director of the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund, says the proposed tax cuts “are not proportional to the burden of costs and expenses that low-income households bear” and argues that “a much larger share of those savings should go to households “This should bring the greatest savings.”

Politics ‘rooted in anti-blackness’

Wollensack points out that these households are also more than likely to feel the long-term effects of a blanket tax cut; on condition that public education and health care are already severely underfunded in the state — and that the lowest-income residents are likely to have poorer schools and fewer access to quality health care — she says residents needs to be concerned about how the proposed cuts will affect state revenues .

“For the average person who works every day, what they probably care most about is what they can personally save,” she told Atlanta Black Star. “Our public policies determine who has access to certain resources… and that often determines who gets to the top.”

“We have a extremely ingrained belief that individuals in the top 1 to 10 percent (of income) deserve this. They’ve worked hard, they’ve pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, and so they deserve more advantages than those at the bottom who didn’t work as hard to get there,” Wollensack said, adding that this idea of meritocracy ignores the embedded structural mechanisms of racism that historically exist in tax code.

They are also “rooted in anti-Blackness that is as old as this country,” Wollensack said.

How can tax policy be racist?

How can tax policy be racist? When we trace the history of taxation back to the founding of this country and property taxation – and do not forget that in the South, enslaved people were considered property – it becomes just a little clearer.

“Tax policy is not race neutral,” says Alex Camardelle, a former senior analyst at the Georgia Budget Priorities Initiative who now serves as vice chairman of policy and research at the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative. “The history of the tax code is rooted in white supremacy, given its long-standing ties to property ownership (including people as property). I don’t think we necessarily took that into account. “Whenever we think about changes to the tax code and their consequences for Black people, who constitute the lowest wealth households in the country, we must consider race.”

“I think that’s one of the reasons a flat tax isn’t ideal, because it doesn’t do enough to recover taxes on losses from the wealthy who also benefit from tax breaks and other loopholes that can be exploited on income,” he said. Black Star of Atlanta.

Both Wollensack and Camaradelle agree that the tax code is intentionally complex and designed to be misunderstood, but those with greater resources are in a greater position to hire professionals to help them discover and exploit potential loopholes. that reduce their tax liabilities.

A posh system of tax cuts and loopholes are “blunt instruments that can be used to deepen inequality,” Camaradelle said.

“Our tax code is incredibly complex, so once you take into account all the deductions and tax credits in the code, it can be difficult to follow,” Wollensack said. “For the average person who works every day, they probably care most about what they can personally save (but)… I think we need to start asking and demanding more.”

Moving in a greater direction

Georgia is certainly one of 20 states that doesn’t offer a state-level earned income tax credit, a tax credit offered to low- and moderate-income people to lower their taxable income and help them keep more of their earnings in their household.

Wollensack said that if government officials really wanted to help the most vulnerable population, they’d consider introducing a loan that will profit the 3.5 million Georgians who need the help the most.

She also advocates redirecting a few of the state’s excess revenue into direct money payments directly to families, which might disproportionately affect black families in the state.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was amongst a bunch of mayors across the country who advocated for a guaranteed income program to just do that.

While it failed to gain statewide traction or the funding needed to sustain the program, the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund is currently overseeing a pilot guaranteed income program that gives $850 to $1,000 a month to residents, a lot of whom are black women.

They found that food insecurity decreased by about 20 percent, families’ ability to pay medical bills increased by 14 percent, and college enrollment doubled. Mental health has also improved significantly, with many individuals seeing their savings double, which overall improves their position when it comes to managing their household needs.

“There could be many scenarios where the $16 billion (surplus) is actually concentrated on the bottom half of Georgians — not just people in poverty, but the middle class,” Wollensack says.

Camaradelle says it is important that tax policy is intentional about the way it generates revenue for the state and addresses inequalities which have existed for generations. The current policy, which subtracts $1 billion annually from state revenues, “will ultimately limit our revenue growth potential (and will have) a long-term impact on all publicly funded state resources,” e.g., he added, that education, health care and other investments in infrastructure are possible.

His ideal policy “recovers and addresses the undertaxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals who do not pay their fair share.” He points to states like California and New York which have introduced property taxes to try to spread the burden more evenly.

“When we think about taxes and who benefits from them and who doesn’t, Black people…feel the burden of not raising taxes, and through other means as well,” Camaradelle said.

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics and Current

Branch members who face major challenges because of their stance on Israel have achieved their first victory. Here are other races to watch.

Published

on

By

Summer Lee, The Squad, Israel-Gaza War, theGrio.com

Has the team reached a turning point?

Branch members – progressive, Democratic members of color of Congress – face major challenges because of their stance on Israel. Pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and billionaire Republican donors are pouring in tons of money to disempower black social justice lawmakers who oppose U.S. support for Israeli apartheid and Palestinian genocide.

We are witnessing an enormous money operation purge democratic critics of Israelat a time of massive public outcry and outrage over what Israel is doing to the Palestinians.

AIPAC focuses on Squad, as a pro-Israel lobbying group is predicted to spend 100 million dollars unseat those Democrats who urged President Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. In a first test for progressive lawmakers, Rep. Summer Lee – the first black woman elected to Congress from Pennsylvania – killed her within the Democratic primary. Lee won by 20 points over her centrist opponent, a city councilwoman from Edgewood, Pennsylvania Bhavini Patel.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pennsylvania, speaks during a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 21, 2024. (Photo by Nate Smallwood for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Patel, who positioned herself as a centrist Democrat, received financial support from Jeffrey Yass, a Republican Party businessman, TikTok and TruthSocial investor, and billionaire megadonor who supports public funding of private schools and conservative groups in Israel. Yass, now the biggest donor in your entire country within the 2024 electionsfunds Moderate PAC, a brilliant PAC that supports centrist Democrats like primary challenger Lee. Patel disavowed Yass’s support, which included over $600,000 sponsor advertisements that portrayed Lee as doesn’t support Biden because she criticized him.

One has to wonder why the Republican is getting involved within the Democratic primary and getting involved with Black people – specifically Summer Lee. Well, Yass also has relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and financed Netanyahu coupfaced with an attempt to take over Israeli courts mass protests.

Meanwhile, as AIPAC spreads its money amongst Democratic primary challengers, some members of the sphere may have a tougher re-election fight than Rep. Lee.

Elections

AIPAC is financing the campaign of Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a Democrat, who wants to unseat Rep. Jamaal Bowman in his New York district of Bronx and Westchester counties. Bowman is taken into account one of essentially the most defenseless progressives is running for Congress, and the district has been redrawn to represent more suburban Westchester.

AIPAC accounts for 42% of Latimer’s $1.4 million in total campaign contributions, according to data Interception.And a megadonor from Trump’s Republican Party organized a fundraiser for the candidate. The AIPAC donor even pushed for Jewish Republicans change party and vote against Bowman – a critic of Israel who has called for a ceasefire – within the Democratic primary.

Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush is outperformed and outperformed by her challenger Wesley Bell, St. County Attorney Louis. Bush, who has been one of essentially the most vocal lawmakers in Congress opposing Israel’s bombing of Gaza, warned supporters that AIPAC wants to buy a seat within the House. Thanks to AIPAC’s support, Bell has $1.1 million in money on hand, twice as much as Bush. One February poll showed Bell leading Bush 22 points.

Elected in a wave of progressive prosecutors after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Bell, who had been running to unseat GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, abruptly modified the race to run against Bush.

“I have become a target of AIPAC not only because I believe that Palestinians deserve to live freely and in peace as Israelis do, but also because I want to protect our democracy from Republican extremism.” – Bush he said New York Times.

“We proudly support Wesley Bell, who is a strong advocate for U.S.-Israel relations,” he said Marshall Wittmann of AIPAC“in stark contrast to his opponent, who represents the extremist anti-Israel extreme.” Bell criticized Republican Bush for saying Israel was engaging in “ethnic cleansing campaign” against Palestinians in Gaza, calling her statement “offensive” and saying: “I think we have to stand with our allies.” Bell promised to “stand by the president.”

While Republican Bush received donations from the NBA star Kyrie Irving the Dallas Mavericks and progressive groups resembling the Squad Victory Fund and Progressive Voices for Peace, Bell has received donations from quite a few billionaires, including donors related to Republican politics. For example, hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb – who supported Democrats like Barack Obama and Cory Booker – financed GOP politicians like Elise Stefanik, Kevin McCarthy, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, John McCain and Mitt Romney.

And Reid Hoffman, the billionaire founder of LinkedIn and a Biden donor who financed Trump rival Nikki Haley, made the utmost donation to Bell.

Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) PAC endorsed Wesley Bell, claiming that Bush harbors “eternal hostility toward Israel.” DMFI PAC also endorsed Latimer within the New York race against Bowman. The pro-Israel group is spending a complete of $3 million on these two primary challengers to progressive black incumbents.

In Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar also faces a challenge. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries — which one biggest contributor is AIPAC and which he was accused of hatred towards Netanyahu attending Funded by AIPAC trip to Israel with 24 Democrats within the House — yet he supports Omar and all Democratic incumbents. Omar whose daughter Isra Hirsi was arrested and suspended from Columbia University for participating in a pro-Palestinian encampment protest called AIPAC “right-wing super PAC” financed by “dark money”.

Omar, who squeaked by and won a primary against former Minneapolis city councilor Don Samuels, is with a bonus of 18 points Samuels in a rematch in 2024. Samuels says he doesn’t receive money from AIPAC, which he spent $350,000 against Omar in 2022, but says it can consider this feature if proposed.

At this point, teammates Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mas.) are secure. Pressley who did it evolved From pro-Israel position and now calling for a ceasefire was not serious opponent since her first victory in 2018, AIPAC has not taken any motion against her on this election campaign, according to “Polityka”..

In light of solid spending by AIPAC and others, greater than 20 progressive groups have joined forces to form “Reject AIPAC” This joint effort aims to challenge AIPAC’s campaign to silence “growing dissent in Congress” on Israel.

This growing opposition reflects the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza – the US-funded industrial massacre of tens of hundreds of Palestinians, famine and the first genocide broadcast live on social media. Two-thirds of the electorateincluding majorities amongst Democrats, Independents and Republicans, called for a ceasefire in Gaza and half of Biden voters respondents consider that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.

AND majority of black Americans they need a everlasting ceasefire and conditional US military aid for Israel.

Palestine has grow to be a defining moment for human rights, social justice and freedom of speech this century. Pro-Gaza protests spill onto America’s streets and college campuses as Black students, scholars, clergy, community leaders, activists and others organize and speak out in support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, facing arrest, suspension and the penalty for it.

And it’s on this context that the Israel Lobby, just like the NRA and others, is engaging in legalized bribery of politicians, pouring money into races to replace the bench with more compliant, moderate members of Congress – including compliant black lawmakers – who will comply with the billions of dollars going into Israel and who will support every little thing Israel does.


David A. Love, theGrio.com


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
Continue Reading

Politics and Current

Vice President Harris’s Secret Service agent removed after brawl

Published

on

By

Vice President Kamala Harris, Secret Service


On Monday morning, a physical confrontation broke out between a US Secret Service agent assigned to guard Vice President Kamala Harris and other agents.

Before Harris was scheduled to reach at Andrews Air Force Base within the Washington region, a physical altercation occurred after the agent reportedly became confrontational towards co-workers, and in line with , the special agent in charge (SAIC) and the shift manager tried to defuse the situation.

“At approximately 9 a.m. on April 22, a U.S. Secret Service special agent supporting the vice president’s departure from Joint Base Andrews began exhibiting behavior that his colleagues found disturbing,” Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service’s communications chief, said in an official statement. The agent, who reportedly experienced what the Secret Service described as a medical episode, was eventually restrained, handcuffed and removed from duty to undergo a medical evaluation.

“The vice president was at the Naval Observatory when this incident occurred, and it had no impact on her departure from Joint Base Andrews,” Guglielmi added. Harris was scheduled to reach at Andrews Air Force Base following the incident.

“The U.S. Secret Service takes the safety and health of our employees very seriously,” Guglielmi noted. “As this was a medical matter, we will not be releasing any further details.” he said he was an agent identified as Michelle Herczeg. A source told the outlet that the behavior began when she allegedly took one other agent’s phone.

When the agent retrieved her device, her actions escalated to mumbling, hiding behind curtains and throwing objects. Agents on scene consider she was affected by a mental breakdown. As SAIC approached, the feminine agent, who reportedly still had her gun holstered, became physical. She allegedly beat her chest, pushed, attacked and hit her supervisor.

In 2016, during her tenure on the Dallas Police Department, she filed a $1 million gender discrimination lawsuit against the town, alleging that she was assaulted by a male officer and “was targeted as a female officer and treated less favorably.” .

Known because the leading global protective service, the Secret Service has the Vice Presidential Protection Division because the second most valued federal law enforcement task. According to the agency, no problems integrates rigorous training operational frameworks, skillful financial management, continuous workforce development initiatives and solid strategic planning processes. These key elements are typically headed by a cadre of administrative, skilled, and technical staff – skilled experts from quite a lot of fields reminiscent of accounting, analytics, law, engineering, information technology, project management, statistics, and plenty of other specialties.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
Continue Reading

Politics and Current

Florida prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a mother who allegedly forced her 3-year-old to drink bleach and blamed it on a “voodoo spell.”

Published

on

By

Florida Mother May Face Capital Punishment For Allegedly Killing Child

Prosecutors say a woman sentenced to prison for the death of a baby – whom she allegedly forced to drink bleach – could face the death penalty.

Joanna Zephir is accused forcing his 3-year-old and 8-year-old children to drink a chemical substance outside a church in Poinciana, Florida, in May 2022, WKMG reported. She is then said to have strangled the baby.

A Florida mother could face the death penalty for allegedly killing her baby
Joanna Zephir is accused of abusing her 3-year-old and 8-year-old children and her husband. Authorities say a child died after being forced to drink bleach. (WKMG/YouTube screenshot)

According to the report, the 38-year-old mother was facing an lively arrest warrant for the attempted murder and stabbing of her spouse just hours earlier. Therefore, she informed the relative that she would turn herself in to the police, but first she wanted to spend time with her children.

“She took both children and left the family member’s residence. A few hours later she called a family member and told her that she had killed her 3-year-old and that her 8-year-old was going to die too and then she was going to kill herself,” Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez said at a news conference. the conference at the moment.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found an unconscious child in the automobile, the outlet reported. They were all taken to hospital, where the 3-year-old was pronounced dead. The older child and her husband survived their injuries. According to WKMG ClickOrlando, Lopez said Zephir claimed the incident was the results of a “voodoo spell.”

Earlier this yr, a grand jury indicted her on one count of first-degree murder with a gun, making her “eligible for the death penalty,” according to the Ninth Judicial Circuit State’s Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday, April 23. She was also charged with attempted armed murder and attempted first-degree murder with a weapon.

Prosecutors filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty, explaining that “the decision to seek the death penalty was based on statutory aggravating aspects, including the victim’s age of lower than 12 years, with the victim of a capital crime being particularly vulnerable because the defendant was in the exercise of family or guardianship authority over the victim and a crime punishable by death when the defendant was involved in committing or attempting to commit aggravated child abuse.”

Court records show her trial is scheduled for July, local news reports.

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending