Our House Is Burning Down

And we are offered stale failed old ideas.

Governor pushes budget cap, ending corporate income tax, proposes truce with Legislature

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Gov. Mark Sanford outlined a mix of new and old ideas in his annual State of the State address he felt would improve the state economy, improve education and streamline state government.

Lets see what our leadership has offered. He wants more tax cuts, school choice, a budget cap and more power for the executive branch. That sounds a whole lot like it Stanfords plan when things were working well. This is an amazing one size fits all solution, no matter what it happen in our state, nation or world, these are the steps we need to take to advance. The economy is going great, cut taxes and give us state paid access to private schools, economy is tanking, well, lets see, lets cut taxes and give us state paid access to private schools.

In addition, these ideas sounds a lot like what we have been doing in DC for the last few years, and we all see how well that worked out.

What I find most interesting is the insistence on more tax cuts. In light of the impact of last years tax cuts, they were the direct cause of our current budget crisis,.

Economists suggest that worst effects of national economic downturn have yet to hit state

The hundreds of millions of dollars that have been cut thus far this year from the state budget have more to do with recently approved tax cuts than the faltering economy, state economists say.

Ominously, they think the worst of the nation’s economic problems have not yet hit South Carolina.

it takes great courage (or a firm adherence to dogma over reality) to continue to push this idea when considering the national economic situation.

I guess they think that our the last tax cuts were so successful that another is obviously a great idea. Of course you have to understand the goal of those who want these cuts, they do not like government, they want to kill government, and the surest way to do that is to keep it so poor it is impotent that it is useless.

and it appears to be working.


Tags
South Carolina, Tax

S.C. Cigarette Tax Is Dead

The Governor killed it and the house could not override his veto. This should not be a surprise to anyone. Stanford is not one to have his own ideas ignored.

What is depressing is the dishonest excuse Sanford used to justify his veto.

Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed the plan. Sanford said the cigarette tax — an estimated $160 million — could not match the rising cost of medical care.

“It jeopardizes taxpayers and the people who depend on Medicaid,” Sanford said.

This is an argument that I can support and at times can be a good reason to veto any bill using funding of this type. The plan would establish a annual expenses for the government, while not assuring a continued corresponding revenue stream. We all have to keep in mind that one of the major benefits of raising the cost of cigarettes is it tends to reduce consumption and discourage new smokers. The end result could be established programs facing a shortage in funds due to a decline in smoking.

This could mean that in a few years the program benefits may have to be reduced, or alternate funds would have to be found to continue them.

But, in Sanfords case this excuse is just a lie.

He threw this veto, not because he opposed a hike in the Cigarette tax, he supports this, but because this version helps the wrong people. Stanfords plan, as I remember it, involved using the income from the Cigarette tax to fund a tax cut for the richest people in South Carolina. The fact that he supports this use of the potential tax revenue, and opposes the House plan, makes it clear that his excuse is a load of bull. In either case (Medicaid or Tax Cuts for the rich), the state will have to address a shortfall in income if and when cigarette consumption falls.

The difference is; the House plan taxes the poor to provide medical care for the poor, while Sanfords plan would tax the poor to aid the rich. You see, one of the harsh truths about the use of tobacco products, the poorer you are the more likely you are to smoke. The end result: We have the lowest tax on cigarettes in the nations, That we are in the top 10 state in tobacco product use in past month among persons aged 12or older, We still have grossly underfunded Medicaid system and we will have to readdress this issue in 2009.

I see this as another failing of the state government. I fear that of all the issues involved in this the only failure that Governor Sanford sees is the failure of the richest South Carolinians to get another tax break.



Tags
Cigarettes, Sanford, South Carolina, Tax

South Carolina; Fighting Hard For 50th

A couple of news stories about the SC state budget clearly define what is wrong with our state.

Fearing tight economic times, and trying to act in a proactive nature, the Senate has cut millions from the state education budget.

Details of the budget released Friday afternoon show spending eliminated or cut for young adult education, hydrogen research, computer systems at The Citadel and a College of Charleston science center.

This is a huge mistake. We can not afford to continue to cut our already grossly underfunded educational programs if we want want real long term economic growth here is SC. But what makes this action far more than the normal political stupidity we face, it is how these folks are handling their own pension program.

IT’S BAD enough that our part-time legislators want to sweeten up their uber-generous legislative pension system — the one they shouldn't even have to begin with, the one taxpayers subsidize at three times the rate we subsidize the pensions for career state employees, the one that lets legislators draw a larger state paycheck after they retire than they do while in office, and even lets them keep growing that pension at taxpayer expense even after voters kick them out of office.

But the House is poised not only to approve the plan this week, but to do so without a bit of debate. That would have happened on Thursday, but for a procedural delay. And the Senate might not be far behind.

Yep, 3 time the state contribution rate for real employees, higher pay upon retirement (or being voted out of office) and all done without debate, while cutting other vital programs because of 'tough time ahead'.

Disgusting, isn't it.



Tags
Education, South Carolina, Tax

Signs Of The End Times Here In South Carolina

I almost agree with one of our states most foolish politicians. It seems that Mike Fair is proposing a tax increase on adult oriented magazines. I have always considered the old fashioned sin tax a reasonable means of raising income. I myself would have aimed this money into the general fund, not into a specific program but this is one Mike Fair proposals that could be workable.

I wonder how he feels about another sin tax the state should be considering? I suspect that in this arena where he may be a touch more reluctant to embrace the whole sin tax concept.



Tags
Mike Fair, South Carolina, Tax

Fridays Fantastic Links

Sacraments Wholesale looks at the proposed cigarette tax.


We have a list of historically flawed movies that can be found in Millard Fillmore's Bathtub


No More Mister Nice Blog knows just how disgusting some Republicans are.





Tags
History, Republicans, Tax

Friday's Posts of Interest, Check Them Out

The Rev. Bid Dumb Chimp has a video that clearly shows how badly uninformed and uneducated some southern Christians are.


The scientific ignorance of fundamentalist Christians is also noted at Panda's Thumb


At the The Agonist we are reminded that there is a cost to doing business.





Tags
Evolution, Faith, Tax