Dear Editor,

A piece of mail featuring a candidate holding a gun is not likely to persuade me to vote for that candidate, just as a piece of mail full of misinformation or no information is not likely to persuade me to support Amendment 5 on August 4.

Amendment 5 is designed to eliminate the Missouri income tax. Since the government still needs revenue to support public structures, the funds will be replaced by increased sales and use taxes.

The Hancock Amendment (1980) requires a vote of the people to raise taxes, but Amendment 5 sets that aside for this particular expansion of sales and use taxes which will be determined by the legislature. There is no actual publicly available plan to see what services may be taxed or what amount may be necessary to fund the government.

For many years, pols in Jeff City have lauded Tennessee and Texas as models for a pro-growth economy. Yes, business does sometimes boom there, but Tennessee and Texas rank number 1 and number 2 for the worst states to live in based on quality of life issues.* That includes rankings of crime, healthcare access, worker protections, education, and civil rights among other things.

Eliminating the income tax is only a tax cut for a few. Middle income and lower income folks spend all their income on goods and services, and they will see a substantial increase in those taxes. Wealthier folks will fare better, because there are only so many loaves of bread that you need to buy.

Missouri income tax rates are low, and the previous capital gains tax cuts have cost the state twice as much as estimated. You may think that having less money means we can get rid of wasteful spending, but if you consider what our taxes currently fund, what specifically would you cut? The legislature isn't saying, and there is the issue. We don't know how much we will pay, we don't know what we will be taxed on, and we don't know what will be cut. Vote no on Amendment 5.

Jane Whitesides

Glasgow, Missouri