By John Cushing

For The Beachcomber

In the last issue of The Beachcomber, our state representative, Sharon Nelson, wrote an article addressing the seriousness of the state’s current economic situation. Rep. Nelson did a nice job capturing and synopsizing the state’s predicament and the impact it’s having on all of us. Those of us who are not independently wealthy and need to work for a living can certainly feel the impact on our daily lives. I’m sure the unfortunate folks who don’t have a job right now feel it even more.  

I applaud Rep. Nelson for her recognition of the fact that our state needs to increase revenue in addition to cutting expenses; however, I fundamentally disagree with what appears to be her recommended methodology for doing so. If I read between the lines in her article, I come away with the impression that her answer to increasing revenue is to increase taxes. Eliminating tax breaks, in essence, is the same thing as increasing taxes.

Quite frankly, and I’m sure many will agree, we pay enough taxes. In my case, if I add it all up, between federal income tax, Social Security tax, Medicare tax, property tax, levies, sales tax, energy taxes and other fees that are essentially taxes (license, registration, permit fees, etc.), almost 50 percent of what I earn goes to taxes. Enough is enough. It’s time to consider a new approach for increasing revenue — lowering taxes.

Lowering taxes to increase revenue may seem counter-intuitive, but here’s how it works. Putting more money in the hands of the people tends to cause them to spend more on goods and services. Increased demand creates opportunities for new business and expansion of existing business. New business growth creates new jobs — real jobs, not government jobs funded by our taxes. New jobs mean more people working, spending and paying taxes. The increased tax base increases revenue without raising the tax rate.

For those who are old enough to remember, this model worked well under President Reagan in the 1980s.

The tax structure in Washington is driving companies out of the state, instead of enticing new companies to relocate here. I’ve seen reports that place Washington in the bottom 25 percent of business-friendly states. It’s time for our state lawmakers to implement changes to the tax codes that will put this state in the top 25 percent of business-friendly states. The more businesses that come here, the more jobs there will be, resulting in more people paying taxes, creating a broader tax base and more revenue.

If our legislators’ only answer to solving the current economic crisis is to raise our taxes, it’s time to put people in office who have a better vision.

— John Cushing is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel and a Boeing employee who works on computer-based pilot training.