A government needs revenues. So what does it do? It taxes the poor. That happens too often, says Michael Davis, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) in Dallas. “It’s politically expedient.”<\/p>\n
The poor don’t vote in elections to the degree the middle class and the rich do. Nor do they often contribute to political campaign funds. They don’t have much money left over for that after paying for housing, food, and clothing.<\/p>\n
And the poor squawk less over tax hikes.<\/p>\n
One frequent way the poor get hit is additional “sin taxes” \u201d\u201c taxes placed on gambling, tobacco, and alcoholic beverages. Because the poor tend to consume more of these items per capita than do those who are better off, poorer people bear a disproportionate share of that tax burden.<\/p>\n