But the governor said the cuts proposed Tuesday—along with the bill restricting bargaining rights—are necessary to address a $137 million shortfall for the fiscal year ending June 30 and a projected $3.6 billion deficit for the following two fiscal years. He opposes raising taxes.
Mr. Walker recommended cutting total state spending over two years by $4.2 billion, or 6.7%. He's also seeking to limit the ability of local governments to offset state cuts by raising property taxes.
Once again, we're caught in the "free lunch" mentality in our political debate. Here is a news flash; it costs money to run a country. Roads need to be built, courts need to function, schools need to pay teachers ... you get the idea. And yet, once again, we're hearing a political debate based only on the idea that government is too large, taxes are sky high and we need to get rid of the public bloat.
The reality is we're now at the point where we are cutting our long-term potential nose to spite our face. At a time when the workforce needs increased educational spending to train people for the "jobs of tomorrow" we're cutting educational spending. At a time when out national infrastructure gets a near failing grade from civil engineers, we're saying infrastructure spending is too high and doesn't need to increase. At a time when our tax burden is at a 60 year low, we're saying its too high.
This entire "up is down" mentality in our political dialog is, at times, mind numbing.
8 comments:
When Reagan called for cutting taxes he stated that it was the right thing to do AT THE TIME. It would be awfully nice if somebody in our political system had the balls to actually defend raising taxes. The Governor of Illinois said he'd raise taxes and I voted for him because of it, and sure enough he did. Good on him!
Up is down summarizes it nicely. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
I have been saying the same thing to my friends for years. It cost money to make a country a nice place to live.
Most people, who never even been to Europe and have no idea what they are talking about, think we are so superior to Europe.
Why?
Because of our low taxes.
Europe has better public transportation, better health care, better roads, better education, better retirements, better safety net for unemployed workers, and better income distribution. But still America is superior to Europe, because our taxes are lower for the our top 10%.
Sigh…
@Stephen - Totally agree. Europe is ahead in a lot of areas.
When I was in France 3 yrs ago all restaurants had wireless credit card devises the waiters/waitresses carried around. No running back to a wired credit card machine to run a card, they did right there at the table. Talk about efficient. My wife and I were amazed.
Just one concrete example of the myth we are superior to everyone.
There's an unmentioned angle in all of this. The dittoheads keep ranting, ranting, ranting about how federal government spending increases every year. Every year, the government gets bigger! Every year, they spend more money!
News flash: INFLATION LEADS TO COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS.
What, are we supposed to pay out government workers the same damn wages since 1930?? Of COURSE government spending goes up. You could not add a single new government program for fifty years and, unless the country's gone totally crazy, spending will go up every single one of those years -- if only to keep inflation from driving government worker wages to well below poverty.
Now, if the "government keeps growing" whine is 6-year-old logic, the 8-year-old argument is that paying government workers more doesn't mean they'll be more competent. True. But the same goes for just about any position, and massive wage deflation certainly results in a decrease in worker quality, because anyone with a lick of competence will quit.
Finished my taxes last night and my effective Federal tax rate was just over 4%. No wonder the Fed's can't balance a budget!
It appears that if we want intelligence in Washington, readers of the Bonddad Blog need to run for office. More of us need to be part of the solution. What about you Bonddad? I recognize that the experience is likely to be painful, but unless we do get capable people elected don't we get what we have?
R -
There's an underlying cultural issue. Bonddad says "everyone is crazy" but I forgive that as venting. In fact there are a number of legislators that try very hard to do the right thing. The problems are that they are outnumbered and that it's a thankless job. I don't entirely agree with either Bernie Sanders or Ron Paul, but I will respect them both for being sincere. And I think I'm about the only person left who's capable of doing that.
In other words, it's the voters. Legislators need majorities to do their jobs, and touching any sacred cow results in a big enough loss that a principled legislator can't stay in office long enough to change anything. And how does Congress keep getting populated with crazies and morons? We vote them in.
Look at it this way. Cut military spending? Get voted out. Cut Social Security? Get voted out. Raise taxes? Get voted out. Meanwhile, the only people actually funding campaigns are big-dollar donors. Is it any wonder why legislators eventually give up trying to do anything meaningful and focus on wedge issues?
Post a Comment