By Richard WatsonNow that the 2007 elections are over, we will soon be focusing on the 2008 elections. Unfortunately, most Utahns will be looking at the Presidential candidates more than the local candidates. Sure it important to be current on national affairs, but we should never overlook our state, county and city problems.
Even though conservatives will want to focus on immigration and so called “moral” issues, they will only mention taxes as a general, rhetorical, campaign soundbite (smaller government, etc). But, are conservatives really serious about taxes? Judging the elections for the past 20 years, taxes are not that important to conservatives because they elect Republicans who persist on raising taxes, both locally and nationally.
But, there are three big reasons as to why taxes keep rising.
First: Elected-Republicans in Utah can raise taxes without worrying about their re-election.
Second: Elected-Republicans, locally and federally, cut taxes for a small percentage of prosperous families, but fail to cut taxes for middle-income families. Thus, the majority of Americans are picking up the “tab”.
To see an example of how the middle-class is stuck paying more taxes, click on the Warren Buffett interview: Video of Warren Buffett interview, NBC Nightly News, November 6, 2007
Third: The biggest myth ever concocted in politics is that Democrats raise taxes and Republicans cut taxes.
Yet, for many, especially in Davis County, that election type language only means that it is a myth. In almost three decades, locally elected-Democrats have not raised taxes and the majority of elected-Republicans have raised taxes.
So, what’s the point? The point is that we should be weary of any Republican talking about tax cuts because they can not back up their past promises. And since we have no elected-Democrats in Davis County, no one can claim that Democrats will raise taxes. The proof is not there, but there is an overabundance of evidence that Republicans do and will raise taxes.
Of course, there will be those who say, “why should we just vote for a Democrat?” Then my response would be, “why should we continue to vote for Republicans?” Then there are those who will say, “stop your whining” or “a Democrat is still capable of raising taxes”. For those who want to live the fantasy that one-party government is perfect, then stop your whining about paying higher taxes.
13 comments:
Huh? Apparently it would be a good idea to be understand current affairs but Richard does not.
The Utah Legislature has given the citizens of the State of Utah the two largest tax cuts ever the last two years. They have not only reformed and lowered the income tax but have also cut sales tax on food by hundreds of millions; and that's a tax that benefits the lower income substantially more.
Property taxes may have gone up and for that you should talk to your county, local and school board officials but the Utah Legislature has done it's job and cut taxes to the benefit of every Utah citizen.
I love how Democrats want to shed the tax me more label yet when they get in power taxes always seem to go up.
Charlie Rangel is the perfect example as he is looking at all sorts of way to raise taxes right now.
Where there's smoke there's fire.
11/11/07 - Democrat Barack Obama said Sunday he will push for higher Social Security taxes if elected
The Democrat budget reported Wednesday proposes the largest tax increase in U.S.
history – $392.5 billion over 5 years – mainly to finance immense new spending through 2012. Although they try to insist otherwise, the figures in their budget assume these tax increases will occur automatically – and without them they cannot achieve a balanced budget, as they claim.
All the stats show that the tax cuts over the past 7 years have created millions of jobs and got us through some tough wars. The economy has been better then ever, and this is due mostly to tax cuts.
Ignoring Economic Consequences. These massive tax increases would likely reverse
the economic gains that have developed since adoption of the 2001 and 2003 tax laws,
which include the following:
- Job Growth. A total of 7.6 million new jobs have been created – an average of 168,500 per month. In the prior 27 months, the economy lost 2.7 million jobs – an average of 100,000 jobs lost per month.
- Unemployment Declines. The unemployment rate has fallen from 6.1 percent to 4.5 percent.
- Economic Growth. In the past 15 quarters, real gross domestic product [GDP] has grown an average of 3.5 percent per year. In the nine prior quarters, average GDP growth was an anemic 1.1 percent.
- Investment Growth. Business investment has increased for 15 straight quarters, reversing a previous nine-quarter decline.
- Stock Market Gains. Despite recent market corrections, the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains 41 percent above its 2003 level.
Don’t increase taxes. It is better to cut spending. It is proven that lower taxes create jobs which promotes spending. This makes more money for the government while keeping people employed and surviving.
Utah Needs a proposition 13 – Just like CA & CO
Proposition 13 was a political earthquake whose jolt was felt not just in Sacramento but all across the nation, including Washington, D.C.
Why was Proposition 13 so overwhelmingly approved in 1978? Few expected it to win. In fact, on two separate occasions, less draconian versions of Proposition 13 had failed. But by 1978 raging inflation had sent property tax bills in the Golden State soaring so high that many families had to sell their homes because they couldn't afford to pay their taxes. Despite a torrent of horror stories from teachers' unions, politicians, newspapers and corporate lobbyists in Sacramento about the potentially devastating effects of Proposition 13, more than 60 percent of the voters took a gamble and approved the ballot measure.
Then and now, Proposition 13 was and is the subject of relentless attack. Money ran a cover story back in 1994 by Richard Reeves titled "The Tax Revolt That Ruined California." The article blamed the recession, the loss of 600,000 jobs and the decline in family incomes in the early 1990s on the cumulative effects of Proposition 13. No mention was made of the fact that in 1991 California passed the biggest tax increase ($7 billion) in the history of any state in the Union.
Did Proposition 13 really starve state and local services? Hardly. In real dollars, California's budget climbed from $55 billion in 1980 to $97 billion in 1992 -- a 75 percent increase above inflation! Only in government would a 75 percent real spending hike be considered inadequate and neglectful. What about revenues? In the 1980s state tax revenues as a share of Californian's incomes actually rose -- from 11 to 12 percent.
California is not an undertaxed state today. According to the latest Tax Foundation data, the state-local tax burden today in California is 11.7 percent of personal income, compared with a national average of 11.5 percent. Proposition 13 merely moved California from one of the highest tax states in the nation to a slightly above-average tax state.
The major effect of Proposition 13 has been to save the average homeowner in California tens of thousands of dollars in property tax payments over the past 20 years. That is money that would have fueled an even more rapid buildup in California's state and local public bureaucracies if it had been sent to Sacramento and city hall.
Californians intuitively understand this. That is why a large majority of California residents say that they would vote for Proposition 13 again if it were on the ballot this year -- 20 years later.
The success of Colorado's TEL, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), is probably the most dramatic. TABOR was unique because in addition to setting a low expenditure limit, it mandated immediate taxpayer refunds of surplus revenues. Shortly after TABOR was enacted, revenue began to exceed the limit. As a result, Colorado taxpayers received a tax rebate every year between 1997 and 2002. During that time, Colorado reduced taxes more than any other state, issuing tax rebates that have totaled more than $3.2 billion.
Still, one important lesson from the 1990s is that well designed expenditure limits can both effectively restrain spending and provide tax relief. Indeed, spending limits modeled after Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights may well be the best strategy for those seeking to reduce the size of government during the next 25 years.
Here we go again, bring out national politics and bring up the phoney "tax and spend" liberal label.
To Ralph:
I am very aware of the new tax brackets and the legislative tax cuts did not favor the middle class. Also, when the Leg. cuts taxes, counties and cities have to make up the difference. State Republicans offer no help to local governments.
Anon #1 and #2:
Last I checked, Charlie Rangel does not live in Utah.
It looks like you have to look at the national level to find a Democrat that raises taxes. Is that because you are afraid to defend your local Republicans?
Claiming that local Democrats would raise taxes is an assumption without backing it up.
And that means not using national politics.
Let's face it, in Utah, Republicans raise taxes.
It's a tough pill to swallow for Utah Republicans.
Democrats- Do you have anything to offer the overburdened taxpayers in Utah ?
Honestly, the Democrats have no idea what to do. They Democrats are still offering no solutions. The Democrats have no idea how to proceed forward.
The Democrats are once again reduced to bashing Republicans for their ideas, yet offer up nothing of their own.
I honestly believe they have no clue how to proceed forward. So they revert to their old ways of insulting, instead of providing leadership
Anon:
Please. Last year, the Democrats did have tax plans and were ignored. For example, Rob Miller's campaign for Commissioner had several ideas and plans. In addition, the legislative Democrats had an alternative plan as to who would receive the tax cuts. Naturally, the Republicans dissed the Democratic plan. The problem is there are people, like yourself, who only hear what they want to hear. And if a Democrat has any plan what so ever, it is ignored and tossed aside. I wish I could believe you that Democrats don't have a plan, but it is the old, worn out excuses that Republicans use to ignore their mistakes. If fact, there are Republicans who are embarassed with their party because of taxes. If you think this is just bashing, then keep voting the way you do and don't offer any alternatives yourself. Why is that more and more Republicans can see a problem but you can't?
Richard-
You are wrong. First, the income tax cut benefited all Utahns across all income brackets (let's not forget that all the House and Senate Democrats voted for this "onerous" tax plan).
Second, Republicans cut the sales tax on food. This benefits all Utahns. (BTW, not every Democrat supported this plan).
Finally, none of the tax cuts impacted local governments at all. Local governments do not receive income tax and none of their sales tax on food was cut so what are you talking about? In fact, local governments opposed any cuts to their sales tax on food portion.
Get your facts straight Richard.
Ralph:
I have checked my facts. I guess a couple of dollars is a tax cut...wow.
Also, you seem to have lost the point. Over that past 20 years, local governments have had to raise taxes because of legislature. I was not writing about just last year and I was writing about all taxes, not just income taxes.
Question to Ralph (and others): Do you believe that Republicans are ok with raising taxes? or should Democrats just shut up and stop complaining?
By the way, politics has always had the unwritten rule that the minority party or challenging candidate attacks the incumbent candidate/party. However, the rules have changed. In the past decade, it has been the majority party that attacks the minority party. Taxes are the perfect example of how the right would rather attack Democrats than defend their reasons for raising taxes.
Democrats like Richard W should just shut up and stop complaining
Richard--
Explain how the locals have had to raise taxes because of the Legislature?
It's easy to blame the Legislature for all of life's problems but I fail to see how they have forced the locals to raise taxes.
In the mid-90's when the Legislature gave a huge property tax cut everyone complained because that the cut never materialized. What happened? Local governments came in and raised their rates offsetting the legislative cuts.
In the last 20 years, the Legislature has given counties the ability to assess a .25 sales tax because they complained that they were not able to raise enough money in property tax (the true reason is people complain louder about property tax increases than sales tax increases).
In addition, the Legislature substantially decreased taxes the last two years and did not raise taxes in the early 00's when times were more difficult.
Finally, although I'm not sure I agree with your unwritten rule, the rule surely does not state that when the minority attacks the majority with incorrect facts that they need to shut up and take it.
You are misleading people with your commments.
I lived in Colorado during tabor and it starved our higher education institutions. Tuition went through the roof because inflation did not capture the increases in healthcare and energy. The inflation statistics put out by the government is notoriously bogus anyways. Higher education was the one that always got squeezed out.
Also Tabor did not allow Colorado to keep a rainy day fund for bad times so when the tech bubble burst every service got hit hard including transportation. Colorado is way behind its transportation needs because of this. Denver is one of the only major cities without a even remotely complete commuter rail system.
Tabor is a bogus one size fits all solution for the lazy citizen and it will bite Utah the same way it bit Colorado if we do something similar.
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