Many of us have seen the TV ads where kindly old Bill Gates, Sr. extols the benefits of Initiative 1098, the proposed 5 percent to 9 percent state income tax while getting dumped in the dunk tank. He does not need to go to that extreme to show us that he's all wet on this issue, plus being just downright deceptive.

He states that passing I-1098 will reduce our state property tax by 20 percent, and this sounds impressive at first glance. However in my case the state portion of my total real estate property tax is 18.8 percent, and 20 percent of that results in only a 3.76 percent reduction in my total tax bill.

Bill Gates, Sr. also tells us that only 1.2 percent of the taxpayers in this state will be subject to this income tax. However, he neglects to tell us that in just two years the Legislature can, with only a simple majority vote, change both the income tax rates as well as the threshold income to which it will apply.

Does anybody seriously think that our wonderful legislators will long resist the temptation to start raising the tax rate and lowering the threshold?

Also, our esteemed Senior Gates fails to mention that in every case where a state has enacted an Income Tax that state has lost Gross State Product shares at a rate of 47 percent as in Michigan plus the per capita Personal Income has also diminished by varied amounts up to 33 percent again in MI.

And what this data shows, even to the most uninformed, is that business moves out right along with the wealthy people to another more favorable taxing state or district.

If I-1098 passes get ready for virtually everyone to eventually be subject to the state income tax. Tell our spendthrift legislators and "Mr. Wonderful," the Senior Gates that the solution for this state budgetary problem is to stop spending and prioritize only the essential services not forced extraction of more of our hard earned monies.

We have one advantage through our Initiative Process that we can set limits on expenditures by only allowing the deaf legislators that they are only authorized to spend 90 percent of the prior year's expenditures. If they can't sort out what is essential then they should be gone!

Gary Kennedy
Des Moines