In the continuing quest to tarnish the reputation of our organization, The Anniston Star often leaves out very important facts when editorializing and ignores or distorts our true position on taxes and the poor. Most recently this occurred in a Dec. 9 editorial (“A Ghostly Visit”).Readers should read both The Anniston Star editorial as well as the Mobile Register article referenced and see how our true position was distorted.
Here are both our statements from the Mobile Register story; only the first was included in the Anniston Star editorial.
• “It’s a little disingenuous to talk about tax reform when it’s really a tax increase.”
• “ ‘We fully support the concept of raising the threshold,’ Giles said. He said it should be done without increasing the tax burden on others, noting that both of the state’s main budgets ended the fiscal year with surpluses.”
An honest read of the article would reveal that the Christian Coalition of Alabama supports lowering the income tax burden on low-income families and proposes existing budget surpluses could make this a reality today, all without raising taxes.
Here are the facts concerning our position on taxes and the poor:
• Christian Coalition of Alabama (CCA) outlines in its tenets that we believe in “easing the tax burden on families.”
• Tax reform, despite what some claim, is code language for tax increases.
• CCA Board of Directors opposed the 2003 Amendment 1 — a $1.2 billion tax increase. However, we supported the idea of lowering the tax burden on the poor and called for stewardship and accountability.
• Since Amendment 1’s defeat, Alabama taxpayers are annually putting more than $1 billion new dollars into state government. This is more than a 20 percent increase; yet we never hear about this good news.
• CCA endorsed the idea of lowering the income tax burden on low-income families by raising the tax threshold to approximately $20,000.
• During the Amendment 1 debate, the fiscal note for raising the income tax threshold was estimated by the state finance director to be about $100 million dollars.
• As of Sept. 30, the state had a $515 million dollar surplus in the Education Trust Fund and a $34 million dollar surplus in the General Fund.
• CCA views robbing taxpayers of their current federal income tax deduction as a new tax liability, which in effect is a tax increase.
• If we were serious about long-term help for those in poverty, we would identify the breadwinners in this income bracket, survey their interest, enroll them in existing training programs and find them jobs through existing placement programs and liberate them from the clutches of poverty.
You have all of the facts now — you decide if we need to raise taxes in order to lower the income tax burden on low -income families.
Come on, Anniston Star. Let’s get it right and report all the facts.
John Giles is president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama.
