Posted on 04/07/2013 7:27:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
(Reuters) - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, one of the nation's most prominent Republicans and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has fallen out of favor with local voters, and his bold plan to scrap the state income tax is running into trouble.
Jindal was re-elected to a second term with two-thirds of the vote in 2011. But his Louisiana approval rating was down to 38 percent in a recent poll, worse than Democratic President Barack Obama in one of the most conservative states.
The poll suggested voters think he is spending more time traveling outside the state and burnishing his credentials for a possible White House run than tending to local matters.
As the Louisiana Legislature prepares to kick off its two-month session on Monday, Jindal's signature proposal to eliminate the state income tax is facing resistance.
His detailed plan would do away with all state personal and corporate income taxes. It also calls for a 56-percent increase in the state sales tax, a much higher cigarette tax, and the elimination of some tax loopholes to make up the $3 billion shortfall from scrapping the income taxes.
To allay fears that the plan would hurt the poor, Jindal has proposed a rebate for low-income residents and some retirees.
The governor says the change would attract business by making Louisiana competitive with states such as oil-rich neighbor Texas, which has no income tax.
In speeches across the state, he has cast it as a way to simplify the system, make it fairer, and give people more control over their own money.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
NO. Leave this part out. Does not support the “simplify” argument.
RE: Leave this part out. Does not support the “simplify” argument.
The problem with Tax Simplification is this -— PEOPLE WLAYS WANT TO RETAIN THEIR PET DEDUCTIONS. It is true at the Federal level, it is also true at the state level.
All proposals for Tax Simplification inevitably die the death of a thousand cuts.
The only problem I have with his plan is the much higher cigarette tax. Cigarettes are already too expensive.
I think his plan is, at the same time, too bold and not bold enough.
While a good argument can be made for cutting out the state income tax entirely, it would be better to push for a bill that steps it down each year for a few years, say 33% each year for three years. So if it turns into a catastrophe, the legislature can reverse it (with a 2/3rds vote).
At the same time, sin taxes are pretty much defunct as an idea. They have a curve something like the Laffer curve, and taxes beyond that point just lead to crime.
What would be a *huge* boon to any state would be a partial elimination of *property* taxes, under some strict conditions.
It would apply to a single family residence that is fully owned, and the family could not lease that land to others, and had to be “full time” residents of the state, that is, 6 months plus 1 day out of the year (as is done in Alaska as a requirement for the oil revenue payout.)
Likewise, there would be no state *estate* tax on that land, meaning heirs would inherit the land and home without state tax, just having to pay federal estate tax.
Just having a similar law in Florida, that a person’s residence cannot be taken away from them, has been a giant boost to Florida real estate. Every rich person who could lose it all buys a house in Florida, and retire there even if they don’t lose it all.
But an inheritable real estate law would be just as interesting to people who don’t want their hard earned money taken from their children.
Finally, Jindal could make himself extremely popular in the state, at pretty low cost, by offering for the state to buy surplus crops produced there, that would go to the poor and institutionalized at a great discount from food stamps. Both the poor and the farmers would appreciate this.
His detailed plan would do away with all state personal and corporate income taxes. It also calls for a 56-percent increase in the state sales tax, a much higher cigarette tax, and the elimination of some tax loopholes to make up the $3 billion shortfall from scrapping the income taxes. To allay fears that the plan would hurt the poor...Screw the fears -- the poor aren't spending their own money, orrrrr, they are currently carrying out tax evasion. Partisan Media Shills ping -- it's not a 56 percent sales tax, it's a bit more than a half-again increase in the current rate, looks like from a little under 4 percent to 6.25 percent. Annnnndddd:
Actually, Red Beckman wrote a book about how the 16 th ammendment was railroaded through and never properly ratified. They would have had to do that to fulfill their socialist goals...as deep inside they are tyrannical.
Republicans tend to hold their politicians accountable unlike democrats. Meaning a republican politician can’t slack off our make mistakes.
As for his income tax plan I think it is valid but that is not up to me.
why any ‘normal thinking’ person living in an income tax state
would not want to abolish that tax is beyond me — only those
that are gettin sumpin would oppose getting rid of it.
Sounds like a good idea, just cut the other taxes as well.
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