Progressive tax would help working class
In his recent AJC guest opinion column (“Georgia income tax will be eliminated. It’s not a question of if, but when,”), state Sen. Blake Tillery made the preposterous claim that abolishing the Georgia income tax would mean a 5% raise for Georgia families. “No sales tax hike. No property tax increase. No higher gas tax. No gas on groceries,” he promised. Nonsense. Government must be paid for, one way or another.
Instead of eliminating the state income tax, the Legislature should instead make it progressive again. Republican politicians know that blue-collar, working-class citizens tend to be low-income voters who think they’ll pay less in taxes if there’s no income tax. But the opposite is true. Virtually all state taxes except graduated income tax are regressive, meaning lower-income people pay more and higher-income people pay less.
Currently, we have a flat income tax of 5.19%. Most working families should be paying lower rates, and more affluent taxpayers higher rates. We need to fix the state income tax, not abolish it.
CHRIS MOSER, STONECREST
Trump accomplished nothing at Davos
Despite the victory lap President Donald Trump took after his trip to Davos, Switzerland, he actually accomplished nothing.
Not reported on regime TV (Fox News), the United States signed a treaty in 1951 that gave our country the right to establish as many military bases on Greenland as we needed (with Danish approval). The president said we now have a framework for Arctic security; however, there is nothing in writing. At the end of the day, we don’t own Greenland and never will.
I have tremendous respect for the European leaders who stood up to the bully Trump.
RAY ZAVACKI, DECATUR
We’ve become laughing stock of the world
Your coverage of Davos is commendable, focusing on the facts and quotes rather than the appalling lack of knowledge and lack of diplomacy of the U.S. speaker.
It’s becoming increasingly embarrassing to be an American with a global presence such as that displayed in Davos. The U.S. already has authorization to retrieve mineral resources and expand bases in Greenland. Denmark has long welcomed the U.S. presence in Greenland, in accordance with the Defense of Greenland 1951 treaty.
Therefore, I find it blatantly obvious that this is another ego trip by an out-of-control head of government. (I balk at using the term leader, as his followers are rapidly decreasing in number.) How did this U.S. administration become the laughing stock of the world so quickly? If ego is the primary driving force, then our head of government can claim victory — he has destroyed U.S. credibility and leadership quicker than any other individual in any visible position in our history.
JEAN MILLKEY, ATLANTA
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