EDITORIALS : Tax cuts all around
Posted on Thursday, February 8, 2007
“Isn’t it wonderful that the discussion was how to give money back ?” —Benny Petrus, speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives.
WE FEEL confident in speaking
for all of Arkansas, Speaker
Petrus, when we say that the answer to your surely rhetorical question is... HECK YES ! Give us more of our money back. Especially when state government’s on the verge of a billion-dollar surplus. In the real world, a surplus means that We the People have been charged too much for government—and we’d like our change.
Luckily, happily, fortunately, shockingly, the Legislature finally gets it. The other day, the bigs at the Ledge shook hands and backslapped on a deal with the new big in the governor’s office to (a ) cut the shameless, regressive, morally repugnant and otherwise damnable sales tax on groceries, (b ) cut the sales tax on utilities for manufacturers, and (c ) exempt more poor folks from paying state income tax. What does all this mean for We the People ?
It means that (a ) all of us get a tax break on the basics at the grocery store. Instead of paying 6 cents a dollar on our bread and milk, it’ll be only 3 cents. Of course it should be nothing on account of right’s right, wrong’s wrong and fair’s fair. But sometimes justice has to wait. At least Arkansas is starting to get there. Halfway there.
It means that (b ) Arkansas may be more competitive when it comes to landing new business. Most of our neighboring states have lower sales taxes on utilities for manufacturers. Arkansas is currently at 6 percent. Our neighbor to the east, Tennessee, has only a 1. 5 percent sales tax on utilities for manufacturers. For a big company that uses gobs of power, that means big savings. If you don’t think a sales tax on utilities matters in the greater scheme of industrial recruitment, consider what happened a few years back: Arkansas lost a steel plant to Mississippi, it was said, because of, yes, the cost of electricity.
It means that (c ) if you’re bustin’ your back but still only making what the feds consider poverty-level wages— $ 20, 650 for a family of four—you won’t be paying state income tax. And you shouldn’t be. If the government considers you poor, then the government shouldn’t be out to make you poorer. (If this bill passes, some 81, 000 more Arkies won’t pay state income tax. Couple that with some real savings at the grocery store, and these tax cuts could be a big help to the folks who need it most. )
It means that Arkansas in the years ahead just might have a tax structure that’s fairer and more progressive, a tax structure that helps both the least among us and all of us, a tax structure that’s good for the little guy and big business. Yes, they do have some common interests. Like increasing demand for goods and services by taking this 6 percent monkey off people’s backs and letting folks spend or invest the money they’ll save. That sound you hear is the state’s economy whirring.
MIKE BEEBE, we may have, yes,
misunderestimated you. Not the
knows-government you. Not the works-with-legislators you. Not even the stick-to-your-guns you. We knew all about those. But we may have underestimated the Governor you, the Leader you, the Get- ’r-Done you, the Ain’t Gonna Let the Good Ol’ Boys at the Ledge Distract This Governor you. That was no Tax Cut Compromise the other day at the state Capitol. That was a Mike Beebe power slam of a capital-W Win. He got everything he wanted—the grocery tax cut, the utilities tax cut—plus a little extra that makes him look even better in the eyes of Us the People. And it sounds like we can afford the whole tax-cut-andkaboodle.
Now this Democratic governor should get to crow about orchestrating the biggest tax cut in the state’s history. And you know what ? He’s earned every cock-a-doodle-do. What’s more, he’s promised to eliminate the grocery tax completely in the future. And some of us aren’t about to let him forget it. He doesn’t have to stay Halfway Mike forever, you know.
But for now, considering the obstacles at the Ledge, he’s done good. He’s put the people first, and he’s kept his word. Talk about a win-win. And he’s not even been in office a month yet. Governor Beebe, this could be the start of a bee-you-ti-ful relationship—between you and the hardworking people of this small, wonderful, and soon to be less taxed state.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online