Posted on 08/24/2011 7:29:27 PM PDT by dragnet2
In Rick Perry’s August 13 presidential announcement speech in South Carolina the Texas Governor stated:
.…we have led Texas based on some just really pretty simple guiding principles. One is don’t spend all of the money. Two is keeping the taxes low and under control. Three is you have your regulatory climate fair and predictable.
Later in his speech he claimed:
I’ve cut taxes. I have delivered historic property tax reductions. I was the first governor since World War II to cut general revenue spending in our state budget.
But Perry’s record on taxes reveals something entirely different. Especially for Texas businesses, where things are far from fair and predictable.
On May 18, 2006 Perry signed into law a Business Margin Tax that dramatically changed the way businesses are taxed in Texas. The Dallas Morning News (DMN) May 16, 2006 called it ‘the largest tax increase in Texas. The paper continued,
In 2006, the state was facing a judicial mandate to change the unconstitutional way it funded public schools, mostly through property taxes. Under Perry's leadership, a tax swap was created that cut school property taxes by up to one-third. To pay for that, Perry signed a bill that nearly tripled the amount Texas collects from businesses. The tax swap created a net tax decrease, but the new business tax coupled with one added to tobacco still counts as the largest tax increase in Texas.
Crafted to replace the Texas Franchise Tax, it was explained by Harper and Pearson, a CPA firm in Houston, Texas, as “a tax on taxable margin, which is a concept similar to taxable income. Generally, an entity’s taxable margin is its revenue as reported on its federal income tax return less either its cost of goods sold or its compensation expense (limited to $300,000 per employee), but not both.” But there was widespread confusion over how the law permitted the calculation of cost of goods sold and which expenses were considered.
And Texas Conservative Review (TCR) echoed the DMN, adding,
[W]hat really irks conservatives is a business would have to pay taxes whether it made a profit or not. In that way, it is worse than a corporate income tax. The non-partisan Tax Foundation in 2006 described gross receipts taxes as poor tax policy that lead to harmful tax pyramiding, distort companies [sic] structures, and damage the performance of state and local economies. The tax was sold as a "trade-off" for lower property taxes. This is a recurring myth that never works…
In other words, critics say, it’s the same as having an income tax. Which is prohibited by the Texas Constitution that the Governor has sworn to uphold.
TCR continued,
It's hard to believe but the Texas Gross Receipts (Margins) Tax on business proposed by a Republican, Governor Perry, and passed by a GOP dominated legislature in 2006 was further complicated in 2007. This was the largest tax increase in Texas history, which requires business to pay up to 10% of its gross income to the state while large corporations were given loopholes.
And Texas Representative Gary Elkins (R) wrote,
I cast a "no" vote today on HB 3 for a number of significant reasons. First, this bill calls for the imposition of nothing less than an income tax on Texas business owners — a gross net receipts tax. Texas has a long-standing tradition of paying our way as we go. Given the substantial and ever-growing budget surplus, it is unconscionable to burden Texans with a new tax when we can simply use their money to meet the mandate imposed on us by the Texas Supreme Court.
He explained the effect on business like this:
… this new tax will have the effect of punishing many businesses that have unexpected expenses. For example, a service company that has a gross revenue of $1 million and payroll expenses of half a million dollars will pay a new income (franchise) tax of 1 percent on $500,000, or $5,000. Suppose that this company was frivolously sued and spent half a million dollars defending itself. This company would likely sustain a net operating loss in the year that it was sued but would nevertheless owe the State of Texas a franchise tax on income that was never realized. In addition, HB 3 does not take into consideration the numerous other expenses that are not related to payroll. For example, rent, phones, advertising, maintenance contracts on business equipment, casualty insurance, key man insurance, property taxes on real estate and business equipment, bank interest on notes, lease payments on equipment, occupancy taxes, filing fees, and a myriad of other expenses are not deductible under this new tax scheme.
He closed by adding,
The governor’s own policy advisor has informed members of the house that the average small service sector business will pay more in taxes and in most cases double, triple, or even quadruple what they are currently paying under the current franchise tax system.
The Houston Chronicle also argued that the tax is unconstitutional because the Texas Constitution requires a statewide vote in order to pass an income tax on individuals — including income they receive from partnerships — that Perry’s tax was enacted without a vote of the people, and that it taxes partnerships. The article noted astute law student Nikki Laing’s observation that just because the law declares itself not to be an income tax doesn’t make it so. She cited “ a number of U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the point, including one that said 'the mere declaration contained in a statute that it shall be regarded as a tax of a particular character does not make it such if it is apparent that it cannot be so designated consistently with the meaning and effect of the act.'"
Critics note that particularly unfair is the feature that businesses are taxed differently according to their classifications. According to a February 6 article in the Houston Chronicle, for example, businesses such as independently owned auto repair shops are taxed twice as much as, say, a dealership or franchise store, for the same services.
Beginning in 2012, the exemption from the tax falls from $1 million in revenue to $600,000, but it is uncertain whether that exemption will be extended.
The Tax Foundation’s evaluation of the measure is this:
With the Texas margin tax collecting far less in revenue than expected, causing significant confusion and compliance costs, resulting in significant litigation and controversy over "cost of goods sold" definitions, and facing calls for substantial overhaul and even repeal, it should not be used as a model tax reform for any other state.
From the Ex. Director of CAIR...headquartered in Houston Texas.
“The Muslim community has a significant number of political conservatives, and they do support Perry,”.....said Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Houston,
So islamojerk websites is all you got?
Go beat up on Obama.
All you’re doing is throwing out insults.....prove me wrong....I also posted CAIR’S support for Perry....and there are more.
Show me Perrys support for CAIR
09:01 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 14, 2005
By LINDA STEWART BALL / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO – The Ismaili Muslim community announced Tuesday that it is building a $6.5 million worship and community center in Plano, where it has found a warm welcome.
Gov. Rick Perry flew in to lay the first ceremonial brick for the center’s foundation. It was a symbolic gesture since the site for the new center will be a few miles northeast of the Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, where the foundation ceremony was held.
The governor, who is friends with the Ismaili Muslims’ spiritual leader, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, said he was honored to participate.
You want Perry supporters to be prevented from supporting Perry at FR. There's no distortion of your posting habits. You can't lie your way out of that.
Yeah, you responded. And you also attacked Perry supporters before I ever posted anything to you, as usual. You're not fooling anyone with that "I give what I get" horsesh*t. You ALWAYS "give" first on Perry threads because you have an agenda.
Ignore me. I don't care. It doesn't change the truth about your disgusting behavior.
Two of the instructors to teach the Children Islam in Texas were from CAIR....and we know that Cair has direct affiliation with terroists groups...Hamas is one.
Or that the CAIR angle was a local chapter from Houston that was basically teasing Perry for finding the most weaksauce Muslims to make nice with. (It's just too bad he couldn't find some better Muslims to hang out with, like GW with the Saudi Royals or Barack with the Muslim Brotherhood.)
But no, you're right. Perry's probably handing out suicide vests to Texan 4th graders as we speak. That sounds pretty reasonable an assumption.
Personally, it is mostly because Palin quit after two years. Speaking of Rino stuff, did you knnow that Alaska is an illegal immigration santcuary state and Palin kept it that way?
As a side, this year has been booming business wise.
Soft sell it all you want, those in denial of the Islamic threat in our nation often do just that.
It’s more than funny you’d mention “this sect” is hated by some other Islamic...groups.......we know well not uncommon for Muslims to hate one another. That is no news at all...their history attests to that.
Ismaili’s adhere to the teachings of the Koran and see mohammed as their Prophet.....says it all to any who care to investigate.
As for your’re CAIR comment....you do realize how foolish it is to softsell anything Cair says.
Perry trumped this tax on business as necessary to relieve homeowners of the burden of the school tax. As a homeowner in Texas, I can tell you that this tax is a serious burden. I’ve owned homes in two other states and Texas is much, MUCH higher. I believe that we were only second to Wisconsin for that. (On a $120,000 home in Arizona, we paid less than $600 in annual PT. The first year here, we paid more than $1200 for a $100,000 home. Five years later - last year - we paid more than $1800. I don’t remember the number this spring, but it actually went down. I don’t know how much of that was the tax break and how much was from the serious decline in property value.)
Older people and the disabled didn’t get much of a break either. (That’s my main issue.)
The gripe we had here was that the business tax passed, but we didn’t get our drop in property taxes. After a lot of screaming (and an election last year), we finally got some relief last spring.
You are right.
So what do you propose he do, create Muslim Free zones? Kind of like Hitler tried to create Jew Free zones? This is America FGS!
I guess you missed his role in preventing another Gaza flotilla. Do your homework and quit spouting inane “He’s a Muslim Lover” nonsense.
They are his constituents just like everyone else. If there’s a significant population he’s going to have to form a relationship with them. He’s chosen the least radical element with which to work but he’s not going to prevent them from coming to Texas, nor should he.
“He’s chosen”..... the least radical element with which to work but “he’s not going to prevent them from coming to Texas, nor should he.”
Your statement speaks volumes.....yes, Perry has chosen to entertain, support and invite Muslims into his state....since when are any governors or people to “select” muslims? Perry’s sought them out as well as their investors.
Would be a good thing if people stopped soft selling muslim immigration and covering over the obvious actions Perry’s implemented to bring them into Texas.
***The Gardasil was not mandated - there was an online opt out.
Besides the fact that it never went into effect.***
Please, please get your facts straight here. The opt-out was a religious exemption for ALL vaccines. You couldn’t avoid Gardasil and still have your daughter vaccinated against, say, measles. There is NO medical exemption for vaccines in Texas. Even if your daughter were allergic to a component in the vaccine and had a bad reaction to the first shot, you would’ve had to continue to give it to her. Your only alternative is was to lie and say that you didn’t want any vaccines on religious grounds.
I dealt with the school nurse, our family doctor and the local parents on this issue at the time. There were many of us up in arms. I had our own ‘opt out’ sheets printed and notarized, sitting in a file in case we needed it.
(Oh, one more thing. I was told that I couldn’t opt-out my daughter from the vaccines, but still get my son the normal MMR, polio, etc. because it would prove that we were lying. So the only way to avoid giving my daughter Gardisil was to stop vaccinating both of my children against all diseases. Our other option was homeschool and I was more than ready to pull the trigger on that one I can tell you.)
And it was not stopped because of Perry. It was stopped in spite of him. He was unapologetic until the end.
This is the one issue that conservatives cannot honestly defend. There are many other issues that are more ‘grey’ and can be debated, but not this one.
People might have been *saying* that you could opt-out at the time and you might have *thought* that you could at the time, but those of us who actually looked into *doing* it found out the true story.
The whole thing was a serious mess.
See my post #179
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