G.I.’s $400 figure questioned by AZ Republic letter writer

by David Safier

This doesn't rise to the level of great importance, except that it shows an increasing number of people are picking apart the Goldwater Institute's specious arguments.

Here's a letter in the AZ Republic. See if the argument sounds familiar.

When we are dealing with difficult decisions, we need factual information to help us in our decisions.

The Goldwater Institute claims that the proposed penny-per-dollar sales-tax increase would cost the average family $400 per year ("Sales-tax hike is a waste of funding," Letter, Monday).

If the average pre-tax income in Arizona is $50,000, it is hard to believe that the average family would spend $40,000 per year on goods covered by the proposed sales-tax increase.

Any family that spends $40,000 per year on taxable goods won't miss the extra $400 to ensure that certain state services will remain available as well as to stabilize our unemployment rate. – Bob Schulman,Scottsdale