OTHER VOICES
Progressive taxes
You reported on County Executive
Steuart Pittman’s call for progressive taxation at the county level, and in a quote attributed to him, Pittman argued that the tax increase should apply to people making more than $500,000: “[We should] get more investment from the folks who got the Trump tax cut... I mean, it’s just common sense” (The Capital, Jan. 22)
Fair enough. I can certainly get my mind around progressive tax rates.
But according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office report “Distributional Analysis of the Tax Cuts .... ” sent to the Senate Finance Committee on November 17, 2017, more than 75% of the net “Trump tax cut” between 2019 and 2027 accrues to the benefit of people making less than $500,000. This CBO analysis accounted for the tax bill’s reduced spending (which lowers the effective tax benefits to beneficiaries of such spending) and did not include the impact of the elimination of the individual health insurance mandate.
Is Pittman proposing that more than 75% of the county tax increase be born by these beneficiaries of the Trump tax cut? People making less than $500,000? Or is he just reverting to disunifying class warfare rhetoric of the pre-Joe Biden era?
CHARLES ABBEY, Edgewater
More info, please
I have found that the information related to the coronavirus vaccine disseminated by the state and provided by the press is pretty frustrating. There is no place to go to get clear process and statistics about vaccine distribution status.
Just basic stuff is so hard to find:
How are the vaccines allocated to each state? I’m assuming it’s based on total population. So for example, based on 2018 estimates Maryland had a population of 6 million and the United had 330 million. Thus Maryland had approximately 1.83% of the population so it would receive 1.83% of vaccine shipments.
How many vaccines are Pfizer and Moderna shipping? Are they shipping daily to each state or are they shipping to each state over the course of a weekly interval or longer?
In Maryland, are the vaccine shipments sent to one central location for in-state distribution or are the shipments to more granular locations? At this time, how many vaccines is Maryland receiving on a regular basis?
How many vaccines has Maryland received, to date?
This needs to be published daily along with all other relevant vaccine statistics: how many sent to providers, how many have been administered, vaccines received by state in the last 24 hours, vaccines distributed to providers in the last 24 hours, vaccines administered in the last 24 hours.
Do Pfizer and Moderna or Warp Speed have a projected vaccine dose production chart? A distribution chart?
And for vaccines held but not administered by providers, what are the problems or holdups?
JOHN HAAKENSON, Arnold
Vaccines
I would like to reply to Colleen Ligibel’s letter to the editor dated (The Capital, Jan. 18).
First of all Ms. Ligiel, we are just now starting to receive our first dose of the vaccine. Three weeks after that, we will luckily receive the second. And then 21 days after that, we will be considered 90% safe from the coronavirus.
Second, in case you haven’t heard,
AACPS is looking for people to supervise the students in their classes during the time the teacher has their lunch or planning.
This would require you to come to school every day for approximately two hours. I am assuming that you are qualified to fill that position. So, stand up for the students and don’t just sit there, volunteer!
MARY COX, Arnold