The billions were’t real, but the message was.
The top hat and tuxedo-clad “Billionaires for Budget Cuts” descended on Hartford yesterday, heaping some damning praise on Republican Governor Jodi Rell for her steadfast refusal to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to close the state’s $8 billion budget deficit.
The Connecticut Working Families Party sponsored the tongue-in-cheek rally as part of a month long campaign against the Governor’s regressive budget proposal. Her plan calls for closing the gap with taxes on the middle-class and billions in cuts to basic services working families dependent on. But Rell is defiantly opposing a proposal to raise income taxes on the wealthy, what many progressive economists say is the best solution for states facing budget shortfalls.
The billionaires — “Robin Eublind, “Rich N. Luvenit,” and “Iona Lottabotes” — called “Our Jodi” their ”best investment.” Arriving at the Capitol by limousine, they chanted a refrain the Governor has taken to heart, “taxes are for little people!”
At the press conference, the Billionaires lauded Governor Rell’s Executive Order for July, which slashed funding for public services, from the life-saving LifeStar helicopter, to family resource centers and school-based health clinics.
A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 71% of Connecticut residents support raising the income tax on the highest income earners. Billionaires discounted the results of the poll, however, noting that Quinnipiac failed to weigh the opinions of poll respondents by their wealth.
According to research by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, the state’s wealthiest residents pay a far lower percent of their income to state and local taxes than moderate and low income families – exactly as it should be, the Billionaires argued.
“As your accountants could tell you, we billionaires pay under 5% of our income in state and local taxes. But, fellow Billionaires, you may not know this, but the rest pay 10% of their paltry incomes - or even more,” said Phillip D. Pockets. “That’s all thanks to Governor Rell.”
Here’s more photos from the Billionaires in action: