Do not underestimate the power of Tax-and-Spend traitors...
Posted on 07/03/2002 9:49:13 AM PDT by RCW2001
KARIN MILLER, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 3, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/07/03/national1241EDT0586.DTL
(07-03) 09:41 PDT NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) --
As Tennessee entered its third day grappling with a partial government shutdown, the sponsor of an income tax proposal to fund state services declared the measure dead.
On the House floor, Speaker Jimmy Naifeh said he still believed an income tax was the best way to resolve the state's financial troubles, which include an $800 million budget gap for the fiscal year that began Monday.
But he urged his allies to now work for a compromise to end the partial government shutdown and raise new revenue to balance a budget.
"We've got to get together. We've got to pass some revenue, folks. We've got to help those people who can't help themselves," Naifeh said.
The declaration clears the way for consideration of proposals to close the budget gap by increasing sales taxes and other taxes.
Rep. Frank Buck, who pushed for a sales tax increase, said he believes House members will now have enough votes to pass one. On Tuesday, with the income tax plan still on the table, a measure based on a sales tax increase had fallen three votes short the 50 votes needed for passage in the House.
The gridlock over an income tax, which has plagued the Tennessee Legislature for years, came to head Sunday when proponents and opponents refused to give in and lawmakers failed to meet their constitutional duty of passing a balanced budget by the new fiscal year.
The fiscal year began Monday, and the lack of a budget led to a partial government shutdown that put 22,000 workers on unpaid furlough and left only essential services operating, such as prisons and mental health institutions.
One sales tax increase plan would raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 8.75 percent for one year and added a combination of permanent taxes. Another would provide a smaller increase in the sales tax, to 7 percent, and hike other taxes and fees.
Earlier Tuesday, before the House vote on the sales tax plan, Gov. Don Sundquist had called the legislative leadership to his office and pushed them to back a compromise plan that included a small income tax and a call for a constitutional convention. But that plan went nowhere.
In New Jersey, meanwhile, the Senate ended a fiscal standoff Tuesday by adopting a $1.8 billion business tax package. Gov. James E. McGreevey -- who could not legally balance the $23.4 billion budget he approved Monday without the tax -- signed the bill minutes after the emergency Senate session ended.
In Wisconsin, a legislative conference committee approved a plan Tuesday to close the state's $1.1 billion budget deficit while preserving most of the state's aid to local governments. It rejected the proposal by Gov. Scott McCallum that would have eliminated the aid, which cities, towns and villages use to pay for police, fire and other services.
Yup. That sums it up.
The one thing that will never receive any widespread attention is the conclusion that the citizen's lives were hardly affected by the shutdown, demonstrating that less government, not more, is a good thing.
Do not underestimate the power of Tax-and-Spend traitors...
Right on WM!...I left ct after weicker the liar put in an income tax...I've not been back in 12 years.
Hope your thinking of moving...CT is on the fast track to becoming Mass.
FMCDH
Help those who can't help themselves. I remember Frederick Douglass once said something like "If we cannot stand on our own, then let us fall."
Of course, Frederick Douglass was a great man. These people, perhaps not so much.
Sorry but most human beings should be and are capable of fending for themselves. Try the dog pound if you're interested in viewing a species that needs caretakers.
It's ironic that the proponents of a tax can just keep resubmitting a bill to implement it until it passes... but after that, an attempt to repeal the tax is characterized as "unthinkable." Well, perhaps Massachusetts will show us all the way. An initiative proposal for the complete repeal of the Massachusetts state income tax will be on their next general ballot. I can hardly wait.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
Which people can't help themselves? In the words of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, "Name them."
And in so saying summed it ALL up for ANY thinking person with a REMOTE knowledge of our history!
In the short span of one century we have "progressed" from a nation of rugged individualists, who depended on no one but themselves for ANYTHING, to a nation of PLANTATION SLAVES seemingly dependent on someone elses money for EVERYTHING!
Truly a SAD commentary IMHO!
In the most amazing string since DiMaggio's hit in 56 consecutive games, Democrats, once again, spurn spending cuts as a method to close the gap. Those guys are unbelievable!
I read the whole article and all the comments up till now and I haven't seen anyone even make the suggestion that SPENDING be cut. Amazing,,,,Well, maybe not...
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