Wealthy residents can afford higher tax rate

An annual household income of over $400,000 puts you in the top 2 percent of all households in the U.S., according to the DQYDJ website. Are these people millionaires? No, but they are very affluent. The existence of the super- wealthy has made those who are merely very rich seem less well-off than they actually are. Those who are in this very-rich-but-not-millionaires category can absolutely shoulder the burden of a higher income tax to lift up our entire state.

If a household making $400,000 pays a 16 percent income tax, that would be $64,000 and would bring them down to $336,000 before any other taxes. That would still leave that household in the top 2 percent of all households in the U.S. Their position in society would not change with a 5 percentage point increase in their income tax. Tax them more to the benefit of our state.