The Chinese Water Torture Method of reducing taxes July 10, 2008
Way to go, Tim.
House Minority Leader Tim Armstead has been a great leader on the issue of the food tax elimination.
With the state raking in billions in state surpluses, our government leaders act like they are doing us a huge favor by reducing the food tax through the Chinese water-torture method of a percent at a time.
They whine that the state loses $25 million every time it drops a penny. And, of course, when you decide to take off simply a penny at at time - you know what happens? Riiiight, the state loses $25 million with every reduction.
Why?
Well, because NO ONE changes their spending habits.
Instead of ripping off the band-aid in one fell swoop, inviting grocers and retailers into our border counties, changing the spending habits of our shoppers who drop over the border to shop for food (and subsequently other items)… instead of doing any of that, what do we do? We slowly, painfully peel off the band-aid. We do 1% a year.
So, over the last three years, we have reduced the tax 3%… and changed nothing.
In fact, after three long years, we REMAIN higher than every other state around us.
So, grocers and retailers have no incentive to move into our state, shoppers have no incentive to shop here, and we simply don’t change the dynamic. (Call me crazy, but didn’t Don Blankenship say exactly what would happen when we did it this way?)
But, what DO we do? Riiight, bleed off $25 million a year.
The business franchise tax?
Eliminate it in 2015… 2015… I’m still shaking my head at that one.
Eliminate the food tax? When?
Three years from now. So, MAYBE three years from now (after SIX years of painful reduction), we can actually be competitive. That’s 2011… a speedboat for Democratic taxcutters.
Goodness gracious, when will we learn.
Taxcuts spur the economy.
Slowly eliminating the food tax and business franchise tax WILL spur the economy - in 2011… and 2015. I guess we can sit and count the hours until that happens.
See you in 2015.
See the Daily Mail editorial below…
****
State surpluses and family deficits
THANK heavens for the two-party system. May West Virginia voters preserve and strengthen it. Only under such a system are political choices examined, waste challenged, and better arrangements made.
Take, for example, West Virginia’s hated food tax.
State government has wallowed in revenues for the last several years. It has been Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin’s great good fortune to have plenty of money to spend.
To their credit, Manchin and the Legislature have by and large done responsible things with the annual windfalls. They have reduced some of the unfunded liabilities that were dragging down the state’s credit rating.
They have also shaved business taxes that hurt the state’s competitiveness, while also reducing the food tax that weighs so heavily on state residents.
It’s a delicate matter to balance the state’s need for money - for corrections, education, health care, roads, etc. - with the business sector’s need to compete for investment and citizens’ need for tax relief.
The food tax, which once stood at 6 percent, dropped to just 3 percent July 1.
Manchin, unsure whether his energy revenue will hold up, is unwilling to go further right now. Each penny’s worth of food tax costs the state $25 million, the governor’s office points out.
Take, for example, West Virginia’s hated food tax.
State government has wallowed in revenues for the last several years. It has been Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin’s great good fortune to have plenty of money to spend.
To their credit, Manchin and the Legislature have by and large done responsible things with the annual windfalls. They have reduced some of the unfunded liabilities that were dragging down the state’s credit rating.
They have also shaved business taxes that hurt the state’s competitiveness, while also reducing the food tax that weighs so heavily on state residents.
It’s a delicate matter to balance the state’s need for money - for corrections, education, health care, roads, etc. - with the business sector’s need to compete for investment and citizens’ need for tax relief.
The food tax, which once stood at 6 percent, dropped to just 3 percent July 1.
Manchin, unsure whether his energy revenue will hold up, is unwilling to go further right now. Each penny’s worth of food tax costs the state $25 million, the governor’s office points out.
With his usual respectfulness, House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, a Republican from Kanawha County, contends the state can afford to eliminate the food tax. He told Mannix Porterfield of the Register-Herald in Beckley that Republicans will push for that in the next legislative session.
Armstead notes that the state has racked up annual surpluses of $200 million to $300 million in the past few years. “Instead of giving that back to the taxpayers, the leadership and governor continue to spend that money,” Armstead said.
But state policymakers could make life easier for their constituents simply by leaving another $75 million a year in their pockets. A family that spent $100 a week for groceries would save $156 a year.
That would be welcomed by West Virginians paying $4 a gallon for gasoline.
Such thoughts do float through people’s minds when they’re in the voting booth, and that is a helpful source of clarifying pressure. The administration can’t defend $200 million to $300 million annual surpluses forever.
Republicans are right. Click HERE for more.
Loading...
11 Responses to “The Chinese Water Torture Method of reducing taxes”
Is there a Republican in the state who is brave enough to talk about cutting SPENDING?
If there is, please let me know so I can send him or her a check to show my support!
Keep in mind that if we could limit the state government’s spending, we would rob those pro-gambling politicians of the biggest reason for introducing (and ever expanding) gambling in the state: “we (big government) need the money!”
Also, when West Virginian politicians talk about tax cuts without corresponding spending cuts, they don’t have the “luxury” of being able to print (and devalue) our currency like Clinton, Bush, Greenspan, and Bernanke did.
You are right! They keep crying that Democrats won’t lower taxes, but they don’t have a response to “Where do we cut spending?”
The problem with cutting State Government is the chance it may cause one job loss.
For some reason, cutting even one State job is not acceptable in West Virginia.
The West Virginia mentality working against us once again.
After all, employment for the State is a large welfare program which is popular with the straight ticket pullers.
Mikey is also correct. However, if some of the 300,000 Republicans, especially those in office, would start pointing out how we could save billions of dollars it would at least raise public consciousness.
Here’s an easy no brainer.
Get rid of the Turnpike bureaucracy and the orange trucked Turnpike State Road department.
Paint the equipment white and transfer it and a portion of the employees to the State Road Department and FIRE all the administrators. Sell Tammarack and auction off all the property they control.
WILL NEVER HAPPEN. There are too many political favor jobs and it would be a loss of Democrat power.
This is just one example of common sense changes that could be made but will never happen in West Virginia.
For John A:
Let me be the first.
I’m a Republican candidate (for Harrison County Commission), and I would like to cut spending.
I’m not sure where all of the waste is yet, but I fully intend to carefully review the budget (line by line) and all additional funding requests to find it. I would like very much to reduce the amount of expenditures so that when we determine the property tax rate we require to meet the reduced requirements.
You can make your check out to:
Friends of Russ
Route 2, Box 326
Lost Creek, WV 26385
You are limited to a $1000 donation.
Thanks!
Russ
Would you be courageous enough to say in your election bid that by re-sending all of the paid days off work the county employees get (the ones the rest of the real world do not get) you could permanently lay off 10% of the County workforce ?
Of course not. If you were to say that on the campaign trail, you would be run out of the county on a rail.
This is my point, real change can NOT happen here in WV.
Would that cutting include say eliminating
John A., - He got you on a technicality. Even some Democrats will “talk about cutting spending”. They just won’t give specifics. No matter how long they’ve been in office they still say they need to “carefully review the budget”.
Hint: If they aren’t willing to make major changes in Education then they will just be nibbling around the edges. A million here, a million there, doesn’t mean diddlely squat.
Jawn,
You are right, my careless language back in post #1 got me nailed. Fortunately, for me, you, Mikey, and anyone else who seriously wants spending cuts, Russ Snyder’s response rings completely hollow.
Fortunately for my bank account, I’m not going to send a check to politicians who spend more effort pretending to be conservative to get a check, than those who are willing to take on political risk by calling war on bloated budgets.
Also thank you jawn for stating the problems with Russ’s comment so accurately and succinctly.
And I’m serious about supporting (financially) any state politicians who is serious enough to cut spending that he/she has actually read budgets and has concrete ideas about where to cut out the fat.
By the way, what are the best sites to see budgets for state and local goverments? I’m sure they are out there, and with the internet, I have no excuse not reading them.
www dot wvbudget dot gov
www dot wvsao dot gov
These sites have way more than you want to know and will just confuse most people.
They get all excited about finding a few thousand dollars of waste, fraud or abuse. When you are spending almost twenty billion a year that ranks somewhere below “insignificant”.
Education is the only area that is a large enough percentage of the budget and has enough room for improvement in efficiency to make a noticeable difference.
I can tell you where all the money is going. It’s going into the pockets of the jackasses running this state. They dont care if spending is cut because they have the money to live. But the people that are actually “working” for their paychecks get the shaft in the end. Get rid of the food tax…gas is OUTRAGEOUS. GIVE US A FREAKIN BREAK SOMEWHERE!! If other states dont need to tax food than neither do we. We pay taxes all over this state…and they still act as if the state doesnt have enough money. ha ha YEAH RIGHT! And not to belittle the people that dont have high paying jobs. But if it wasnt for the Coal industry this state would be nothing.