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January 21, 2004 The following was taken from Senator Tim Huelskamp's newsletter. I hope you find the ideas as interesting as I did. Thoughts on the Governor's Tax Increase
It would have been better had she made her case for each tax increase. Still, she has shown leadership. Her good political instincts made the issue a choice for lawmakers: Choose a better future for children, or choose the status quo. -- The Kansas City Star "What I heard on her education proposals I support...and I hope that she can carry it out." Rep. Ward Loyd, R-Garden City "This proposal by the governor is certainly a first step...but we'll just have to carefully assess that." Senator Stephen Morris, R-Hugoton "Here's a vision for the future, how we can do a better job educating our children," Rep. Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, who predicted Kansans would be open to higher taxes because Sebelius also proposed to establish a school audit team and making districts more accountable. "I don't think the road to economic prosperity is paved with higher taxes." Senator Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler Economy is the Most Important Issue Facing Kansas Contrary to assertions by Democrats, editorialists, and other liberals, recent voter opinion polls commissioned by The Kansas Chamber of Commerce reinforce the obvious - men, women, Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated Kansans say the most important issue facing the state is the economy. Instead focusing on how to spend more taxpayer dollars, we need to find ways to leave more in your pocket. How to Raise $1 Billion As you may know, a renegade judge in Shawnee County District Court, Terry Bullock, has ordered the Governor and Legislature to raise $1 billion in taxes to throw into public school spending. Here is what it would take to raise the Bullock $1 Billion: If we were to rely solely on Sales Taxes, it would probably take a 3.5% to 4.0% increase to raise $1 Billion. If we were to rely solely on Income Taxes, it would cost a 51% surtax on either corporate or personal income taxes to raise $1 Billion. And if we were to rely solely on Property Taxes, it would take another 45 mills of levy to raise $1 Billion. In any case, whether it were sales, income, property, or a combination tax increase, Mr. Bullock will certainly not raise his $1 Billion for more than one year - after that, there would be no economy left to tax in Kansas. Governor Proposes to Eliminate 3,748 Jobs Although not quite a one-billion per year tax increase, Governor Sebelius has instead proposed a tax increase proposal that will cost Kansas citizens another approximate $400 million annually in new taxes. An independent analysis performed by the Flint Hills Center in Wichita calculates that the Governor's tax increase would cause an economic loss of a net 3,748 jobs statewide - in only its first year. Tax increases do not help bring prosperity - unless perhaps, you work for the government. The Mythical Fiscal Conservative-Social Liberal? "As a proxy measure of social conservatism, one could use the National Right to Life Committee index that rates members of Congress from 0 to 100, with 100 being a perfect anti-abortion score. As a proxy measure of fiscal conservatism, one could employ the National Taxpayers Union system, which grades officeholders on fiscal policy, granting school-style grades that range from A to F. Senators who receive As and Bs are taxpayers' friends, while those receiving Cs, Ds, and Fs are big spenders. If the myth of social liberal/fiscal conservative were true, we would expect to find plenty of senators who receive low marks from Right to Life, but high marks from the taxpayers group. Analysis of these scores, however, reveals that social liberals tend to be fiscal liberals and social conservatives tend to be fiscal conservatives. Of those who received a score of 60 or less from Right to Life, there is not a single senator with a taxpayer-friendly grade better than a C+. Those senators who had a Right to Life score better than 80 had an average taxpayer-friendly grade of a B. Those senators who had a Right to Life score between 60 and 80 had an average taxpayer-friendly grade of B-. Those who had a Right to Life score between 40 and 60 had an average taxpayer-friendly grade of C. And, finally, those with a Right to Life score of 40 or less had an average taxpayer-friendly grade of C-. The more socially liberal the politician, the more fiscally liberal is the politician. For the most part, a conservative is a conservative and a liberal is a liberal. This is the hard truth." Claremont's Brian Janiskee. You can read more of Senator Huelskamp's newsletters at www.huelskamp.org.
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Sincerely, Kay O'Connor |