Republicans are running TV ads that accuse Democrats of wanting to raise taxes and give people “free stuff.”

In fact, Republicans raised your taxes big time and give free stuff all the time, to the well-to-do. If you own a house on the Eastside, you’ll be paying as much as $1,000 more in state real estate taxes next year, even if you’re retired. Why?

The Republican-controlled senate preferred raising real estate taxes to eliminating tax loopholes that favor corporations and to raising taxes on capital gains — which would have affected only the wealthiest residents.

So, get this: If you’re retired, your neighbor who earns $350,000 a year working at Microsoft will pay about as much in state taxes as you do. The rich get bailouts, tax loopholes, lower tax rates on capital gains than on earned income, overseas tax havens and an increasing proportion of our nation’s wealth.

Washington state is the worst: The most regressive tax system in the nation. The rich pay a much lower proportion of their income in state taxes than do the middle class. Republicans talk all the time about keeping taxes low but that applies only to the rich, who are the ones getting lots of free stuff.

Donald Smith,

Bellevue