Stop the tax hike in Georgia!

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste ^ | 02-24-03 | Tom Schatz

[rastus macgill]

How many?

[Paul C. Jesup]

You must have missed all the stories about state budget cuts that have been in the local and state newspapers in Georgia.

[rastus macgill]

"Former Gov Barnes almost destroy the 'Hope College Fund' be raiding it and he also wrecked the Georgia state budget"


You still haven't explained the above quote


Budget cuts are a good thing we need more a lot more.
"King Roy" ranked third on the Cato institutes "fiscal policy report card" for 2002. Third behind Bill Owens R Colorado and Jeb Bush R Florida. Ahead of every other Gov Republican or Democrat.
Lets see how Sonny measures up through his term.
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-454es.html
click on the PDF file

[Paul C. Jesup]

Barns shifted money from the 'Hope College Fund' to other places that it was not meant to go and wrecked the fund. Also, under Barns the state shifted from a balance budget, that it had under Zell, to a deficit.

[rastus macgill]

Please provide documentation/citation for Barnes shifting lottery proceeds to non education spending.I think you would have the GA news scoop of the year/century.How did Barnes "wreck the Hope College Fund".
The big threat to Hope comes from the proven slowdown in lottery spending that occurs over time and in economic downturns combined with the greed and profligacy of the Board of Regents and the State Univ/college administrations.
Hey my defending "King Roy" comes as a shock to me.
I feel betrayed by Sonny Perdue.After 130+ years of Democrat rule in GA I thought we could do better.I fear we may do worse.

[ErinsDaddy]

Thank you for your judgment!

So what you are saying is that conservatives do NOT support any taxation.

[FreedomPoster]

Minimal taxation to support a minimum of Constitutionally acceptable functions is conservative.

Taxes enacted purely to coerce "acceptable" behavior rarely fits that bill.

[rastus macgill]

No I am saying conservatives do not support taxation for the purpose of "progressive " social engineering.Taxation is a necessary evil for raising the revenue needed to support the function of government.Taxes should not be a carrot and stick to coerce socially desirable behavior.
I am sorry for the tone but the whole idea of "targeted taxes" and targeted tax cuts" to encourage/coerce/force "desirable" behavior is a liberal one.
Taxes should be shared across the broad population so everyone has a stake in Gov and pays for it.
Alchohol and tobacco were not taxed originally because they were "sinful" but as an efficent trackable source of steady revenue from high demand steady supply farm commodities.
The current leadership of most large "mainstream" protestant denominations now consider such things as firearms ownership and SUVs and other gas powered vehicles as "sinfull" and as I am sure you are aware politicians have attempted to levy special taxes on them( not pittman-robinson taxes on firearms and ammo that is a real "user fee" for game wildlife conservation.Current motor fuel taxes are also in line with the cost of road building/maintainence) such as a several dollar per bullet tax and high gas taxes meant to discourage driving and build public transportation.
These are just a few examples.
Think about it read about it( most consevative economists and writers are with me thats where I learned it) continue to disagree and support raising taxes if you like.I
still contend that taxes should always be lowered and/ or adjusted to fairly produce the revenue for the legitimate functions of Gov from the broad spectrum of the people.

[rastus macgill]

Wish I read your post first thats putting it succintly.
Unfortunately not only are taxes too high the whole code is skewed toward social and economic engineering.

[FreedomPoster]

I'm a man of few words. ;-)

Good to have yours to cover the detail, though.

[ErinsDaddy]

Thank you for your comments.

I don't believe the intent of "sin taxes" is social engineering. If this is the intent, then this strategy has obviously been very unsuccessful in reducing or eliminating "sin".

As a non-indulger, I would prefer to see those who engage in these activities shoulder a larger burden instead of property owners and income earners.

I agree the ultimate goal should be controlled spending.

Thanks again for your insight.

[Paul C. Jesup]

I have a question for you, why do you come to the defense of Barnes at a drop of a hat, but at the same time you seem to hate Sonny with a passion even though he not been in office long enough to merit that level of malice?

[rastus macgill]

I defend Barnes only on fiscal policy. As cited in comparison with other State Govs Barnes was exemplary.In contrast Sonny Perdue proposed raising property ,tobacco,and alchohol taxes on his first day in office.
I voted for Sonny Perdue.I was very happy when he won the election.I anticipated a change for the better if for no other reason than the shakeup of Democrat dominated Ga and the diminishment of decades of institutionalised corruption.
If the tax proposal was just a stalking horse to force deep cuts in State spending well Sonny is a political genius.
I have no doubt however that he would sign a tax increase into law.
Gov. Perdue ,in proposing a tax increase on his first day of office after being elected as GA first Republican Governor, betrayed the principles held by most of his voters and the ideology of the political party he ran under.
The burden is totally on him to prove himself not on the citizens of GA to give him a chance.His first action as Gov speaks for itself. (He is not handling the Flag dispute very well either)

[Paul C. Jesup]

If the tax proposal was just a stalking horse to force deep cuts in State spending well Sonny is a political genius.

From what I have read and heard, that is the way things are leaning towards.

[rastus macgill]

If thats the way things shake out I will revise my position on Gov Perdue.Proposing a tax increase before spending cuts dashed my initial high opinion of him as Governor-elect. If he gets out of the Flag mess with everybody more or less happy with the re-adoption of the pre-56 flag he is a political genius.

[Paul C. Jesup]

I will hold you to that.