Screw everyone else.
At the Missouri Ethics Commission:
C264249 05/28/2026 Missouri Promise PAC Missouri Promise Inc. 701 Market Street Suite 110 St Louis MO 63101 5/27/2026 $1,900,000.00
[emphasis added]
It’s a new PAC:
Where did all that money come from?
What they say:
“A Future Without Income Tax.”
Which will inevitably lead to a future with a regressive tax structure (the poor and middle class pay a higher rate, the wealthy get a windfall) and fewer public services.
Amendment 5 (House Joint Resolution 173 – proposed and passed by the right wingnut controlled republican super majority in the Missouri General Assembly and signed by right wingnut Governor Mike Kehoe) will be on the August ballot.
The result, if this Amendment 5 passes in August, via the Missouri Budget Project:
Amendment 5 Would Increase Taxes for Most Missourians, Damage Communities & Economy
21 May 2026
[….]
Consequences of Amendment 5’s “Everything Tax”
Increased Taxes for Most Missourians; Yet Another Tax Cut for the Wealthiest
• Missouri already has an upside-down tax structure, where Missourians earning the least contribute a higher share of their incomes than Missourians earning the most. Replacing Missouri’s income tax with a greatly expanded sales tax will make this even worse.
• To fill the gap, Missouri’s general revenue sales tax rate would need to more than triple, from the current 3% to 10.7% – resulting in a combined average state and local sales tax rate of 16%.
• Alternatively, lawmakers could expand the sales tax to apply to all of the products and services that Missourians use every day like doctor’s visits and medication, childcare and summer camps, home and car repairs – even gasoline. The measure does not include any exemptions.
• In both cases, a median income Missourian making $65,400 per year would face $535 net tax increase.
• Older adults who rely on Social Security or public pensions and active-duty military members, whose income is largely already exempt from income tax, will have a much steeper tax increase.
Massive Budget Deficits That Trigger Cuts to Education & Other Services That Build Opportunity
• Missouri’s income tax currently generates $8.5 billion/year and supports 64% of the state general revenue budget. There is simply no realistic way to make up the revenue lost from eliminating the income tax.
• Missouri already faces a $2.5 billion budget deficit resulting from a decade of tax reductions that largely benefited the wealthy and corporations; this has already triggered painful cuts to critical services with even more steep cuts likely in the coming years.
• Even if lawmakers expand the existing sales tax to ALL services, the revenue generated would fall far short of making up for the loss of income tax. There is simply no realistic way to replace the income tax without expanded the sales tax to all services AND increasing the rate of sales tax.
Fewer Investments in the Everyday Missourians Whose Contributions and Skills Drive Our Economy
• If tax cuts were the key to economic prosperity, Missouri would already be seeing the benefits. Instead, sustainable economic growth is driven by real improvements in the lives of everyday Missourians.
• Increasing Missouri’s sales tax would dramatically increase daily costs for Missourians and dampen consumer spending in communities across the state.
• Missourians may be tempted to cross state lines or travel to big box stores for many purchases, devastating small local businesses and communities.
• State investments in quality K-12 and higher education, affordable care for children and aging parents, and access to health coverage are key drivers of economic growth and critical components in attracting and retaining a skilled workforce and quality employers.
And:
Judge to decide Monday whether Missouri tax overhaul stays on August ballot
Opponents contend the measure would violate a ban on constitutional amendments including more than one subject. They also argue the ballot summary is misleading and should be changed
By: Rudi Keller
May 29, 2026 1:00 pm
[….]
Backers are using a political action committee called Missouri Promise, which so far has been entirely funded by a nonprofit established in Delaware called Missouri Promise Inc.
On Wednesday, Missouri Promise Inc. donated $1.9 million to the PAC. Spokesman Jonathon Prouty declined to disclose the donors to Missouri Promise Inc. in a statement sent via text to The Independent.
The way the money will be spent “has yet to be determined,” Prouty said, adding that all donations to Missouri Promise PAC “are reported to the Missouri Ethics Commission in accordance with state law.”
[….]
The statement was conveyed via text. It is impossible to determine if it was delivered with a straight face.
“When the people have nothing left to eat they will eat the rich”
Taxation is the price we pay for civilization.
