Trickle-down economics doesn't trickle
Published September 21, 2015
by Dylan Frick, 8th Congressional District Democratic Party, published in Salisbury Post, September 21, 2015.
Finally, the North Carolina General Assembly finished their homework and submitted a budget. It was due on June 30th, but I suppose there are no penalties for turning in their assignment late. No, the Republicans can goof off all summer and the only folks who get punished are the children of North Carolina.
When the budget deal was announced, Sen. Tom McInnis was quick to jump on the bandwagon and claim responsibility for it. “We’re finally making progress up here,” McInnis said. “I’ve been actively involved in the minuscule details of the negotiation.” I decided to see what McInnis really did for the people of rural North Carolina, so I read all 429 pages of the budget. The result was not very pretty.
The biggest problem we have in Raleigh is entitlement. The Republicans promised they would be more transparent and more cooperative, but they haven’t been. Thank goodness for Sen. Jane Smith and Rep. Ken Goodman, because they’re the only ones who have tried to reach a compromise and have continued to fight for working families and public education. But, Senator McInnis and his Republican cronies have silenced any bipartisan cooperation, and are consequently hurting rural North Carolina, especially Rowan County.
McInnis brags about the income tax cuts, as if they help rural North Carolina. He couldn’t be further from reality. The only people that benefit from these cuts are millionaires and billionaires. The Fiscal Research Department at the General Assembly calculated that the cost of cutting the corporate tax rate would be $3.94 billion over the next five years. How do they plan to make up for it?
Well, McInnis’s bright idea is to fool you into thinking he cut your income tax, when really he just increased taxes on things like automotive repairs and maintenance. I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do is pay more when my check engine light comes on, just to benefit a few rich fat cats who don’t even drive themselves.
The money that we lose from the corporate tax cuts could be used to fuel new economic projects that would effectively jumpstart our state’s economy and reap tangible benefits that all North Carolinians could enjoy, not just the special interests who have bought McInnis.
Although we’ve lost nearly every bit of manufacturing we once had, there’s one thing we have a lot of: land. Today, even if farmers own their own land, machinery is outlandishly expensive and drives farmers into debt.
Large agribusinesses (like the ones McInnis just gave tax cuts to) are leading our farmers to a slow death. However, we’ve got land perfectly suitable for solar farms and alternative energy development. Sadly, McInnis and his pals killed the Renewable Energy Investment Tax Credit (REITC), which eliminates good jobs and costs taxpayers $4.7 billion.
Instead, they earmarked $500,000 towards fracking, a highly controversial method of digging for natural gas. Fracking will only be done in a few counties, who are all vehemently protesting it, whereas solar energy would create hundreds more jobs and benefit every family in every rural county in North Carolina.
Senator, I think I can speak for every family when I say I’m disappointed in you, and in this legislature’s leadership. End this reactionary agenda that wages war on low-income families, on farmers, on the very water we drink, and on our public schools. Start standing up for the people of your district, and stop standing up for the CEO’s financing your campaign.
Didn’t we learn that trickle-down economics doesn’t trickle?
Dylan Frick is the chairman of the 8th Congressional District Democratic Party.
September 21, 2015 at 11:50 am
Richard L Bunce says:
So I suppose Boone Newspapers, Inc, the for profit corporation that owns the newspaper this article was published in, is owned by just a bunch of poor folks getting together to own and manage 70 newspapers around the Country...
September 21, 2015 at 7:35 pm
Norm Kelly says:
'the Republicans can goof off all summer'
Let's see if memory serves me correctly. Which party is it that holds the record for the longest delay in getting out a budget? Yup, that's right. The Democrat party. So, because this Democrat starts off his editorial with berating Republicans for not being as bad as Democrats, is it possible that the rest of the editorial just MIGHT not be worth reading? Yes, it's true that Republicans were quite late in getting the budget out. But Democrats were at least as bad and at least once even worse. So, when the horse is black, perhaps it's best if the horse rider doesn't mention it. Or some other such nonsense.
Just found another problem with this editorial. Compromise & bipartisan cooperation. How well did this work when Demons ruled Raleigh? Are Demons upset that they are now in the minority? (remember, Demons were put in the minority when THEY controlled gerry and voters ousted them!) Did the majority of voters send Republicans to Raleigh to compromise or cooperate with Demoncrats? Or was it the intent of the majority of voters to CHANGE the direction of Raleigh? If voters wanted compromise, why would we have put Republicans in both houses of the Legislature and Gov's mansion? Wouldn't we have put Demons in 1 house and Republicans in the other house? Then we would expect libs to whine about compromise and bipartisan cooperation. But that's not what voters did. We told Raleigh we wanted a CHANGE in direction. Which means the schemes of liberal pols needed to be put aside and a NEW DIRECTION taken for the state. Libs tired, old, outdated, overused schemes of tax the rich, increase spending, increase government monopoly school budgets, increase regulations were stifling the state, just as they are stifling the nation. Voters decided we wanted a change, the power had gone to the heads of the lib pols who thought they could do just about anything without consequence. Just ask former Gov Mike about doing anything without fear of consequences. Stealing money from the county sales tax. Stealing money from the E911 fund. Claiming state-sponsored gambling would solve so many problems, including school funding. Voters wanted a new direction. NOT COOPERATION!
Cutting income taxes actually DOES make sense. If you think about the idea of 'progressivism' you too will understand the problem with income taxes. Pols get to play games with peoples income by making bogus statements like 'the wealthy don't pay their fair share', or 'the more you make, the higher your tax should be' or 'they don't need that money anyway'. So, progressives, aka modern demoncrats, want to pit one group of people against another group. The entire party works on this basis. But income taxes are simply a penalty for being productive. What is a better taxing method? Sales taxes. Fees for government services. Government agencies, such as DMV, that pay for themselves. As well as the state getting out of the gambling and alcohol businesses. Instead of ABC store employees being government employees working in a government establishment, wouldn't it make more sense to have private employees working in a private, for-profit business? And charge appropriate sales tax on EVERY item or service and eliminate the penalty for working! Contrary to everything progressive, but more fair and more honest with voters.
When taxes are raised in places like New York, California, and Illinois, how do people respond? They MOVE! Where to? To states like NC that have decided to NOT penalize productivity. To states like Texas and Florida that don't have income taxes. If income tax elimination is so bad, how do these states survive? And which one of these states is in worse shape than New York, California, or Illinois? When businesses are looking for state to move to that don't penalize them quite so much, do they look to New York or Illinois? Nope, many businesses are moving to Texas. For regulation and tax purposes. So how does NC benefit by cutting income taxes? More people with money moving here PAYING SALES TAX on everything they do or buy. And what's wrong with more people paying taxes? More people need to get out of the wagon and help push the wagon. Something that is contrary to everything progressive.
'The money that we lose from the corporate tax cuts could be used to fuel new economic projects'. Oh, a proponent of government subsidies? Or are these called 'incentives'? Either way it's pols playing games with OUR money claiming they are improving something. Usually doesn't work out quite so well though. What works better is allowing people and businesses to keep the money we earn, and have tax & regulation in place that treats everyone EQUALLY WELL. Leave more money in my pocket and chances are I'll do what I can to expand & increase my business. When government plays winners & losers, we end up with crap like Solyndra! Get politicians OUT of the incentives business. Leave more money in MY pocket and I'll probably spend it. And when I do spend it, I can guarantee it will be more effectively than when ANY pol spends it!
Can solar power live on it's own? No? Not yet. Regardless of how much of a socialist or progressive you are, solar is not yet ready for prime time. So if libs rail against non-existent subsidies for energy production (oil & gas companies), why are they so hell-bent on actual subsidies for solar? It feels good? Perhaps but it's pointless. 'costs taxpayers $4.7 billion'? Creates good jobs? There is almost no such thing as a 'good' government-created job. Government-created jobs take real money OUT of the economy so a portion of it can be spent on some pet project of some pol. Real jobs? That's what is created OUTSIDE of government; it's called the private sector. One private sector job is worth much, much, much more than any government-created job. By NOT spending money on government subsidies for a business that can't stand on it's own COSTS taxpayers? Obviously written by a progressive Democrat! Is that anything like unemployment boosts the economy? (quote from Nancy!)
If libs were concerned about improving government monopoly schools, they would look at what's being done OUTSIDE the monopoly and trying to increase that option. But what are lib pols doing to improve the monopoly? Working to trap more families in the monopoly. Trying to remove options from families. Trying to indoctrinate more students through goofy programs such as Communist Core. Is the intent of Communist Core to improve math skills? Reading skills? If this is what you believe, prove it. The opposite is true. Just like socialized medicine is the ruin of health care everywhere it's tried. Yet, progressives insist that it will help 'the poor'. Like everything else 'socialist', it will bring everyone DOWN to the same level. Freedom raises boats. Socialism brings everyone DOWN to the same level. Except, of course, the masters of the socialist party! The central planners, much like libs in Washington, exempt themselves from their own regulations. Obamacancer is just one example. Freedom produces the most prosperous country in the world. Freedom allowed more people to move out of poverty into the middle class or higher. Can this be said of ANY socialist country?
We can expect more whining from demoncrats. It's what they do best. I'd like to see some honesty from them. I'd like to see a workable plan from them. Something other than the same old, used, schemes of taking more and spending more. Something new. But libs are stuck in the past and are afraid to try anything new. Who is it that's gaining on Hildebeast? A socialist! What's that tell you about the modern demoncrat party?
September 21, 2015 at 9:32 pm
Donald Byrd says:
At least we have a budget, does your candidate have a budget in mind?
