Posted on 06/21/2005 3:22:01 PM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
PS - Sorry for the typos in my previous post. I think the ghost of John Dewey's wife has been sent to bedevil me.
Friedman was right when he declared we have the highest capitol building in the United States ....and it is populated by all midgets.
They are midgets because we keep them that way on purpose.
We know that if you feed them, like Steven Spielberg's Gremlins, they turn into nasty customers. Eventually, they turn into man-eating trolls.
By the way, how long have you lived in Texas? Where did you come from before that? Some 'Rat-electing brownfield State? New York, maybe? Or how about Massachusetts? Massachusetts men think nothing of moving 1800 miles to another state and immediately starting in on telling all the locals what they're doing wrong. That's classic, and biological -- it's part of the paternity test for New Englanders.
I came from Missouri, the land of low taxes and a STATE INCOME TAX. We paid less total taxes than Texans do. I assume that you enjoy the higher taxes. I do not.
You don't seem to understand. We paid less total taxes in Missouri where I came from than we pay in Texas. You seem to like paying high taxes. I don't. You're the one who ought to move to California.
I was doing some research on this subject. Missourians have their tax freedom day on April 10 of each year. Texan's have their tax freedom day on April 14 of each year. Texan's pay higher taxes than do Missourians.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/
Case closed.
I'm with you -- been thinking along the same lines for some time now.
The trouble is that it won't come to pass because of screams that such a system is overly burdensome for lower-income families, who would certainly pay more if even the basic necessities (food, medical care, etc.) were taxed.
This is a legitimate argument. As a Christian, I do indeed believe that we have a responsibility to aid the poor. That "WE" includes everyone on this board, because if you can afford internet and computer services, your family is probably not going hungry. (My twist on defining "poor".)
On the other hand, I think that the principle of "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also," expressed by Jesus on the hillside, also applies here. When we ALL contribute to the common good (that means immigrants as well as us 7th generation Texans), we ALL have a stake in the outcome.
Renters don't take care of houses like homeowners do. Families who don't pay into the system don't have as great an incentive to make it work efficiently nor value what they haven't paid for. That goes not just for education but for all social services.
If you've got a litter of kittens who need a home, you will find it easier to sell them for $1 apiece than to give them away. It's human nature to respect value.
Our school-funding system (and our tax system as a whole) needs to be re-ordered to require investment by everyone who claims the benefits our society offers.
My long-considered opinion. Can someone here make Austin listen?
I dunno but can assure you that the attempt is being made!
Thanks for the ping. WA state with its fraudulent demoncRAT gov (Fraudoire) and its demoncRAT-controlled legislature passed early this year an tax increase of $3.8 billion (doesn't include the tax increase in 2003 of $2 billion) for the general fund. Then for laughs these jerks passed 9.5 cent gasoline tax increase for the transportation fund (doesn't include the 2003 5 cent gasoline tax increase). This money goes to all the demoncRAT projects on the west side of the state. All this was done after these godawful people gutted I-601 passed by the voters to have a supermajority (60%) pass any tax increases. Oh, yeah, demoncRATS screwed the WA voters BIG time.
It all comes down to the simple question of which of my pockets is the state going to pick?
An EXCELLENT template for decreasing the education bureaucracy is found in what New Zealand did in the 1980s. They took a systems approach incorporating many of the principles of Human Performance Technology (HPT). It was Tom Gilbert (instructional guru) meets Ronald Reagan.
Read all about it here:
http://www.hillsdale.edu/newimprimis/2004/april/default.htm
I gave this article to the Texas legislator (Grusendorf) sponsoring the education budget reforms two months ago when I met him at a meeting in Tarrant County.
We already have a state corporate income tax. The state likes to call it a franchise tax, but it is a tax based on income and applies to both corporations and limited liability companies. Perry's latest proposal simply expands the corporate income tax to cover partnerships (along with increasing sales and other taxes).
Again, it all boils down to the simple question of which of my pockets is the state going to pick? Lowering my property taxes doesn't make a hellofalot of difference if they are simply going to take the same (or more) money from me and call it some other type of tax.
Oooohh rah! Good shootin' Tex!
Move to Ohio. You can pay the same high sales tax plus pay real estate tax plus pay INCOME TAX.
The idiots who passed it here a few decades ago should be tarred and feathered.
Aren't most of those sports deals also funded with special bond elects? Until taxpayers get pissed off and start saying no to both the legislature and the special bond deals, then this is going to continue....
hehe! :)
TROLL ALERT | TROLL ALERT | TROLL ALERT
Look... Stinky Freekman is a fake, a shill, a putts just running for self agrandizement and to disrupt the balance between the big parties. His sole hope to grab a few more votes from the Republican candidate than from the Democrat candidate and maybe change the outcome. ARE YOU BLIND???
Any dope willing to buy his pablem needs to turn in their voter registration card and go back to school.
Good LORD!!!! The last thing in the world we need is an INCOME TAX! Are you out of your MIND?!?!????!!!
"Most polling locations are in schools and churchs for federal and state elections anyway. When you move them you confuse the voters. They are keeping the same polling locations which work in every election."
Ahem, when they do these special elections they 'merge' the polling places ... voters get confused anyway. But, funny thing, they'll always merge it in a way to help the yes side. And moreover, they create their own 'early voting locations' special for the election. Examples are how our local community college voting is at the ACC campus. makes sense, right? Well, yes, if you want the faculty to in effect run their own board and ignore the taxpayer interests. (Can you say 'assessment increase'?)
The bottom line is they are skewing locations to get the pro-Govt interests met.
"The Texas Ethics Commission ruled that school districts cannot do that so if they are doing it report that to the TEC. "
Did the 3 attempts to get some form of light-rail passed in Austin get reported? No, of course not. Nothing wrong with asking again and again, wearing down opponents, until you win. It's 'democracy', Palm Beach Cty style.
Yup.
Most Kids don't appreciate/demand expensive things, unless you teach them to.
~~~~~~~~~~
My wife and I are retired seniors, living in the northeast TX Piney Woods boonies of rural Cass County. 65% of our property tax burden is School Taxes!
(See my post #151 on this thread.)
Wait until you grow up, and start facing retirement. Your attitude toward those who preceded you in life (and provided the nation in which you live) will undergo an abrupt change.
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