WV Center on Budget and Policy a fraud March 6, 2008
You had to love the Gazette trotting out a front page story from a “nonpartisan, nonpolitical” group called the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and how these bad, bad taxcuts are going to hurt our economy.
Front page, no less.
And, for those that didn’t know any better, they would actually THINK the WV Center on Budget and Policy was, well… a Center on Budget and Policy.
Far from it.
Of course the Gazette, and subsequent news organizations, failed to mention anything about the Center. Or even ask the question, who is the “Center?”
I’m sure all the libs just refer to it as “The Center.”
But, “The Center” isn’t non-partisan. Well, I guess there are extreme liberals in both parties, so in that regard you could classify them as “non-partisan.”
But The Center is about as nonpartisan as Karl Rove.
The Gazette failed to mention, I’m sure maybe they just simply forgot, who funds The Center. Or, even who the Board President is.
Who funds it?
The Service Employees International Union and the Affliated Construction Trades Foundation (honestly, is there any group with more boatloads of cash out there than ACT?)
Who is the board president?
Umm… Steve White, the fearless leader of the Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation.
Who runs it?
Ted Boettner. Ted is a nice young fellow, but when he ran his House of Delegates race in the 30th District, he actually had Bonnie Brown, Bobbi Hatfield, and Nancy Guthrie looking like Reagan Democrats.
So, let’s cut the crap Gazette.
The Gazette would never trot out a “nonpartisan” Council set up by the Chamber of Commerce to give analysis and then treat them as a credible organization. In fact, that would be the first thing they would say about them.
I mean, come on, Ted Boettner is no more of an “economist” or a “budget and policy” expert than oh, Nancy Guthrie or Bonnie Brown or Steve White for that matter.
So, the Center trots out how terrible these tax cuts are going to be because… well… they are tax cuts. And, goodness knows, the answer to a better economy is always more taxes on businesses.
We dumb conservatives keep forgetting that socialistic or communistic or any government based on obscenely high taxation has ALWAYS been successful.
Let’s face it, the only item more fraudulent than the Center’s reports on taxcuts being bad is the Center on Budget and Policy itself.
If the unions want to spout their propaganda, so be it. They should just have to pay for ad space to do it.
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10 Responses to “WV Center on Budget and Policy a fraud”
I figured there was something like this behind that article. It’s too bad that so many WVians will ignorantly accept that article as gospel. Lord knows we can’t actually let people & businesses keep more of what they earn! We must be able to fund nanny government!
Tax cuts BAD
Prevailing Wages Law GOOD
Right to Work BAD
Captive Audience Law GOOD
Easy enough to understand ?
Mikey nails it.
Now I’d just like for the former Weirton Steel employees - the ones with no jobs and no retirement - to explain to us what wondrous things the union has done for them.
The Gazette publishes editorial letters from Ted Boettner as if he were an expert in the field of economics but has never listed his qualifications in the past. Why should we expect to see them now. He has said in past Gazette writings that Professor Russ Sobel, who has published some 75 books on economics as well as many articles in peer reviewed journals is clueless about the needs of West Virginia. He probably thinks that Milton Friedman was a TV comedian, too. Obviously, the Democrats in the WV Legislature choose to believe Ted rather than Russ despite that their qualifications show expretise of one and the ignorance of the other.
Re: who most (i.e. Democratic) legislators listen to, it’s all about who tells them what they want to hear. The truth is too inconvenient for them.
Sen. Sprouse has pointed this out many times by writing about how Dem. legislators thing things, economically speaking, are great here in WV. They’ve created their own little fantasy world in which they are absolved of any responsibility to make things better because things are A-OK. Hence, legislative sessions come and go with no real change….well, except for pay increases for themselves and maybe teachers.
Doug
The 3 laws of WV nature:
1. The Unions RUN this State.
2. The Unions and Democrats RUN the Gazette which
is their mouthpiece.
3. The Legislature believes the Union because
they HAVE to or they will NOT remain in
office.
The only certain things in this life are Death, Taxes and WV nature
Vic, I just wanted to tell you that I look forward to your newsletter. They are so entertaining and to the point. You tell it like it is as you see it, and I love that. Whether I agree or not to your point, I enjoy the way you present it. It is very thought provoking. And your blog on the Tri-State Casino, Cross Lanes issue is so true. Keep up the good work.
VIC: THANKS FOR YOUR GOOD WORK OF INFORMING US OF THE REAL TRUTHS AND SITUATIONS.
I read that article and didn’t think twice that this group wasn’t legit. I mean, I knew they were obviously liberal, but I had no idea they were bankrolled by the ACT and SEIU. Thanks for the info and I’ll inform as many people as I can.
The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the Sisters of Saint Joseph Charitable, and yes, also by donations from ACT and SEIU. These are small donations compared to the foundation funding. Does the Center have a liberal bias? Yes. The Center board and staff believe that government should (1) work for all the people not just special interests, (2)government should be transparent and accountable to the voters, (3)a progressive tax system is good for WV. The work of the Center is based on research by a wide range of economists.