Earlier today North Dakota Governor John Hoeven released a plan for income and property tax relief in North Dakota.  While I think the plan is troubling for the paltry amount of relief it actually provides, I had to chuckle when I read the response to it from Hoeven’s opponent Tim Mathern:

FARGO — Gov. John Hoeven today showed how out of touch he is with average North Dakotans by offering a tax break for the state’s wealthiest income earners and out-of-state property owners. He disguised it as an education funding plan.

Just as in George W. Bush’s tax cuts, most of the income tax cut will go to the their rich buddies. Somebody earning $30,650 will get just $115 back under Hoeven’s plan, while somebody earning $1 million will get $3,163 back.

Mathern believes that North Dakota tax payers need a tax break, but said the break should target working families and those who need it most.

“While the idea of tax relief is a good one, I don’t know anybody besides John Hoeven and George W. Bush who thinks the majority of that relief should go to the wealthiest,” Mathern said.

Another problem with Hoeven’s plan is that the property tax portion includes large out of state property owners. So instead of North Dakota home owners and farmers getting the bulk of the relief, most of the money will go out of state to large corporations like Wal-Mart.

This response is full of deception.

First of all, the reason high-tax bracket income earners in North Dakota get more dollars back from Hoeven’s plan is because the income tax is based on percentages of income.  Richer North Dakotans pay more in taxes because they’re taxed at a higher percentage and there’s more income available to tax.  Poorer North Dakotans pay less because they’re taxed at a lower percentage and there’s less income.

In truth, Hoeven’s plan actually gives a much smaller rate cut to the richest North Dakotans who got an 8% cut in their taxes than to the poorest North Dakotans who got a 20% cut.  That an 8% cut for the citizens with the most income works out to more dollars than a 20% cut for citizens with the least income is neither here nor there.

As for out-of-state individuals and businesses getting tax relief, don’t we sort of want people and businesses from out of state to come to North Dakota and own property?  Business owners, particularly, are in demand here because they bring us new products and services and employ our citizens.  So why does Mathern have a problem with people who come here and pay taxes and create jobs?

I’m no fan of Hoeven’s tax cut plan because I don’t think it goes nearly far enough to provide substantive tax relief for North Dakotans, but Mathern’s response to it exemplifies perfectly the sort of economic illiteracy common among liberals.