Really, this has to stop.
We’ve deluded ourselves for far too long. I think I can safely generalize and say in nearly every political race, lower taxes are proposed by at least one well-intentioned candidate.
Occasionally? I’m all for it. If we can cut excess spending or repeat programs, I certainly won’t stand in the way of progress. But when we make a platform out of lowering taxes, we cannot be successful.
That is, we cannot continue to lower taxes forever. Eventually, it takes a quantifiable amount of money to actually fund this thing. We need roads, buildings, public service officials like firefighters, police and yes, politicians, not to mention regulatory agencies, military spending, social programs and so on.
Take the Tea Party. In the “Contract from America,” lowering taxes is listed as a “plank” of the contract. And herein lies the problem: an approach to taxes which fundamentally ignores the economic and fiscal environment.
When will the Tea Party Patriots who support the Contract from America say taxes are fair and low enough? They won’t ever because, as a policy, taxes are too high. Above zero? Too high.
It’s just an ignorant position.
A bit closer to home sweet home, our ever-loved Gov. Bobby Jindal is expected to let the tax on cigarettes expire soon, which brings in something in the neighborhood of $12 million each year for Louisiana’s coffers.
In unrelated news, Jindal supports raising tuition and fees on students, but I digress.
Unsurprisingly, our governor also supports the barely-literate Rick Perry. Why? Because of “job creation, lower taxes and smaller