Posted on 12/29/2007 5:00:21 PM PST by wastedpotential
Providing a justice system and a military (FedGov) or State Guard (the sovereign states) system are almost all that’s legitimate in a government.
Providing welfare, health care, nanny-isms of ANY sort... none of this belongs in a FREE society. Nor do things like public transportation or police roadblocks (sobriety checkpoints) or auto/property theft — oops, I mean CONFISCATION without court orders after due process. Yep, THAT’S what I mean...
Yes, the Arkansas Constitution mandates a balanced budget... BUT... also allows for borrowing in the form of bonds...
In addition, since when is the only way to balance a budget that is short on funds to raise taxes? If my monthly paycheck falls short of meeting my personal budget, I don't go to my employer and demand additional pay. I cut back on my spending (unless I would prefer to go into debt, which I don't want to do).
Huckabee CHOSE to go the route of raising taxes instead of cutting the budget. In addition, while there, he radically expanded social spending. Exactly how is this in ANY way "conservative"?
And to further demonstrate - after the budget was back in line, and the state coffers were then overflowing with a surplus... did Huckabee offer to return the money to taxpayers? Of course not. It took a DEMOCRAT Governor who followed Huckabee to actually be willing to sign a partial cut to the grocery tax (not necessarily the most equitable return of taxpayer overpayment...).
And don’t forget that in Arkansas - you get the income tax AND sales taxes...
Where did you get “tax cuts” rhetoric from that post? He posted about cutting SPENDING.....
Hypothetical question: Which is more conservative:
(1) Getting roads and infrastructure projects paid for by the federal government through earmarks made to a 3000 page omnibus spending bill or
(2) Putting to vote a raise on gasoline taxes to pay for improvements?
You are not from Arkansas, are you? You should check out the Arkansas income tax code... deductions equal to those provided in the federal income tax system? WRONG. Try again.
Your not suppose to post this stuff here (/sarcasm)
And if you make 28K and are taxed on the income you still have to pay the tax on the food you feed your children and you are taxed on your gas to go to work to make that paltry sum. And, once you have worked yourself to half to death and need to go to a nursing home, your bed there will be taxed too.
Found this interesting article about Huck’s spending:
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
FROM THE PUBLISHER >> State plane flies again: Say it ain’t so, Mike
The Leader was complaining in an editorial Saturday about former Gov. Huckabee wearing out that State Police plane after he hijacked it for his personal use, flying with family and friends to all the fun places, high above the great unwashed — that’s us, the taxpayers who’re now supposed to shell out $4 million for a new airplane because Gov. Beebe likes it, too.
Huckabee was so secretive about how much he used the plane, he had the State Police computer hard drive crushed before he left office. He didn’t want the public to know how much he fleeced us, the suckers who foot the bill for an extravagance this poor state cannot afford.
You have to wonder what else Huckabee was hiding when he ordered other hard drives destroyed. We’re also wondering why, after the Huckster logged hundreds of thousands of miles on Jet Arkansas, Gov. Beebe is now eager to replace the old plane with a new one, instead of repairing it at a fraction of the cost for use in emergencies by the State Police.
Well, Beebe likes his new job so much, he wants to keep all the perks that Huckabee had made uniquely his own — until now.
What was good enough for the Huckster suits Beebe just fine — a state jet at his beck and call, free food and servants and state troopers always at the ready.
Say it ain’t so, Mike.
But it’s true: The Beechcraft King Air 200 turbo-prop hasn’t been grounded yet — Beebe flew on it to a weekend governors’ conference in Washington, then hurried back to visit hurricane-ravaged Dumas. Using a state plane for a photo-op after a hurricane is all right with us, but not for national conferences and personal appearances, which became a habit with Huckabee.
At least Beebe will let us know when he’s flying on the state airplane. Huckabee was very secretive about the many, many times he bummed rides on the plane. No wonder Huckabee’s presidential campaign is in trouble: With a record like his, it’s hard to win supporters beyond Arkansas’ borders — or inside its borders, for that matter.
You probably don’t know that former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, has dropped out of the presidential race. You probably didn’t even know he was in the race. He was running for a couple of weeks, but he couldn’t raise any money, plus nobody knew how to pronounce his name, so he’s the first casualty of the 2008 campaign.
Huckabee could be the next candidate to drop out. He can’t raise any money either, even though his name is easier to pronounce, but his record in Arkansas is dogging him wherever he goes: He raised taxes, was soft on criminals and wasted taxpayers’ money abusing that State Police plane and padding his expense account.
Beebe looks like he’s enjoying his new job, but he should fly commercial airlines more often, or keep a precise log of where he’s flying on the state plane. Still, after just a few weeks in office, Beebe knows how to run this state — after all, he’s been preparing for this job for 25 years, when he first entered the Senate, which he pretty much ran with a younger colleague who’s now his chief of staff.
Unlike Beebe’s predecessor, who played absentee landlord for much of the time he was governor — too busy flying on that jet plane — Beebe knows how to schmooze with legislators: He’s put a school-funding package together in a couple of weeks and signed a bill cutting the grocery tax in half, saving Arkansans hundreds of millions of dollars, the largest tax cut in state history.
Huckabee, desperate to present himself as a fiscal conservative, wants to take credit for the tax cut, but he had his chance and blew it. Instead of working with the legislature when he was in office, Huckabee was off flying in that state plane promoting his diet books. Almost as if to rub it in, a Democratic governor and legislature have passed that huge tax cut bill — not a very good record for a Republican presidential candidate to run on.
Out on the hustings, Huckabee’s saying he was for the tax cut before he was against it, but if he knew what he knows now, he would have pushed it through. No wonder he’s running for president — but not for very long. Somebody send him a bill for all the time he flew on the state plane instead of taking commercial flights like the rest of us. At least Mike Beebe promises to reimburse the state when he makes private use of the plane. Southwest Airlines could take him to most places at a fraction of the cost.
posted by THE LEADER at 10:25 AM
Make sure you tax granny’s nursing home bed so that Huck could fly around for free.
It looked different with corporations, partnerships and sole proprietorships though.
Ever bother checking to see which form you are using to file? It's not beyond these guys to let you file at rates higher than are required 'jus' 'cause you did!
So there!
Why should Arkansas be any different.
I'd start with that long drive from Little Rock to Harrison ~ who ever heard of that sort of thing ~ highway goes for miles and miles and miles and all you can see is a "front" off to the right.
Totally useless territory all over the place.
Shed it!
Any time I see nuanced, the RED flag goes up. Taxes didn't just go up, they went from $6 to $16 billion {almost triple}.
The huckster is pro-tax, pro-illegal and said he wants to close gitmo. He is not my candidate.
I believe the issue was using the state plane for personal use. Hey why not? Kings live on the back of the peasants.
Arkansas has just under 3 million people. If they maintained the public schools to the level we do ours (Fairfax County VA which has, arguably, the best public school system in America), you'd spend about $6 billion per year.
If that equaled the taxes you raise, there'd be nothing whatsoever left for weights, measures, state police, dams, roads, public planning, state universities, public hospitals, public health workers, and so forth. The entirity of the rest of your state government could simply be dismissed.
Which raises in my mind your competency to assess whether or not the Huck was ripping off the state or simply working to improve your public infrastructure.
There really aren't all that many places the Governor can fly using commercial airlines ~ Benson to Little Rock maybe? Possibly Fort Smif?
Get real. Visits to Mississippi county to inspect your multibillion dollar fancy bean crop would certainly be in order. That's one of the most important businesses in the state of Arkansas and it is deserving of the tender ministrations and presence of the Governor from time to time (and you know it).
Arkansas is not really one of those places that it's easy to drive around in. The distances are sufficiently great it takes a day to get anywhere interesting.
So, what you want ~ Governor trapped in Little Rock, or the Governor traveling to other parts of Arkansas ~ gonna' take a state plane to do that.
If you want New England state life, then you have to trim the state down to size. That's why I proposed getting rid of the excess territory. Then your governor can drive to all the meaningful spots, maybe even walk to some of them ~ couple of great grits and soulfood joints just off downtown you know. Wouldn't be such a bad life.
Imagine the Governor of Arkansas able to lead the same lifestyle as the Governor of Massachusetts ~ you wouldn't know him would you?
The obvious answer is choice (2) - put it to a vote. BUT.... I was not specifically posting about the highway improvement funding/taxes.
My post was in reference to the proclivity to tax and spend vs. cutting the spending to fit the available funds.
Arkansas does deductions differently from the Federal tax return. The state gives you tax “credits” against your tax bill instead of deductions from your taxable income.
Even the itemization works differently. I would be interested to see these “tax pamphlets” you are referring to.
Here is a 100% copy/paste of the post we are debating:
“Be damned the idea that a liberal need be placed in the position to cut spending to meet lawful budget obligations....
Oh wait, he’s a Republican.
I retract my statement.”
The other portion was his own copy/paste from earlier in the thread - not his words. He was responding to someone else’s words.
In this case if the poster wanted to limit the discussion to "spending" and not "taxes" he could have done so but he didn't (not that I'm going to pay much attention to the delimeters one of the Huck's detrators seek to place on this discussion).
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