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an effort to create searchable online databases for government expenditures
a tool to highlight the hypocrisy of tax hikers
Constitutional or statutory requirement to rein in growth of revenues end expenditures
a commitment made by elected officials and candidates for elected office never to raise taxes
Raising the bar for tax increases
Requiring a cool-off period for all bills with a fiscal impact
pork-barrel spending - the broken windows of the budget
Has Your Governor Mastered or Flunked Pro-Taxpayer Budgeting 101?
Monday, October 20, 2008 3:41 PM
How does your governor score on fiscal issues this year? Did he or she sleep through Pro-Taxpayer Budgeting 101 or not? Now you can find out.
Our friends at the CATO Institute have released their biannual "Fiscal Report Card on America's Governors: 2008."
The As scored by at least two governors come as no surprise: Govs. Sanford of South Carolina (R) and Charlie Crist of Florida (R) are both signers of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. While not a pledge signer, West Virginia Joe Manchin (D) also scored an A - like the other two, he focused on pro-growth tax cuts. West Virginia taxpayers should ask him to sign the Pledge, to demonstrate that he'll stick to his pro-taxpayer ways.
While there are only three governors to score As, the list of state leaders who flunked is longer. And as Chris Edwards, author of the study, points out, they cannot claim temporary confusion, they have no excuse because they systematically raised taxes and spending:
"At the bottom of the report card rankings, the F governors were not erratic — they consistently sought to increase taxes and spending. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, for example, proposed a massive $6 billion hike in gross-receipts taxes on businesses. Maryland’s Martin O’Malley enacted a sweeping $1.4 billion tax package that increased the corporate income tax rate, the top personal income tax rate, and the sales tax rate. The other six F governors — Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Chet Culver of Iowa, Jon Corzine of New Jersey, Bob Riley of Alabama, Jodi Rell of Connecticut, and C. L. “Butch” Otter of Idaho — also proposed or enacted large tax hikes."
The report cards also points out several trends in state taxation that should concern taxpayers - so check it out!
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