[Vision2020] Raise Our Taxes

[lfalen]

Ken
You should run for the State Legislature.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: Kenneth Marcy kmmos1 at verizon.net
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:03:19 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Raise Our Taxes

> On Friday 23 April 2010 10:22:13 lfalen wrote:
> > I do not think it would be wise to raise the income tax or to
> > increase taxes  on savings of any kind. I would not be that opposed
> >  to a 0.5% increase in state sales taxes if it would go toward
> > saving jobs in higher ed. This is provided that they first cut out
> > the fat at the top.
> 
> Generally, I agree with what you're suggesting, but I would like to 
> clarify that neither the income tax nor the sales tax rates must be 
> raised. This year the Idaho legislature, at the Governor's behest, 
> for the first time, ignored the fiscal forecast prepared by the state 
> economist, and deliberately chose to lower the accepted revenue 
> forecast for the entire state budget. Then, in robotic lockstep, the 
> Legislature funded education at lower levels than previously for the 
> first time in state history. Budget woes at the University of Idaho, 
> and throughout Idaho education, will suffer in the next fiscal year 
> not because of the chaotic wiles of the American economy, but at the 
> behest of the curmudgeonly cruelty of a state political party lacking 
> in leadership and fearful of various retributions from within itself 
> for deviations from its own hive mentality.
> 
> So, the first action that needs to be taken toward better Idaho fiscal 
> management is to respect and to accept the work of long-serving and 
> successful state employees whose efforts doing the same economic 
> forecasting work that has been not only acceptable, but 
> well-respected and heeded, during past legislative sessions.
> 
> The second action that should be taken is a reevaluation of all of the 
> Idaho income tax exemptions, the total value of which is greater than 
> the receipts from the tax itself. For too long the legislature has 
> been leaving money on the table, and ignoring both choices it should 
> be making, and needs it should be fulfilling for Idaho citizens.
> 
> To accomplish these actions the legislature needs members who are both 
> able and willing to speak to large, important issues relevant to the 
> needs of this state, not playing to crowds in adjacent or far-away 
> capitals. Raising whoop-dee-doo issues in Idaho that depend on the 
> actions of the Federal government for their overall success is a 
> waste of time, effort, and money for Idaho officials. Our people need 
> to concentrate on finding optimal solutions for Idaho problems, not 
> play-acting on media-mediated stages for others' entertainment.
> 
> > At the UI that means Baker, Mues and Daly-Laursen. There are also   
> > several former Department Heads that only took a 15% decrease when 
> > they stepped down. The former head of AVS teaches only one class   
> > and advises students, but is paid more than the other AVS          
> > professors. What a waste  of funds.
> <[snip]>
> 
> As important as these issues may be for the management of one local 
> institution, they are small spuds from the vantage point of the state 
> budget. An institution's significant monetary problems can be best 
> addressed at the state level, and it is there that cogent, effective 
> voices must be heard for an institution's present and future.
> 
> Of course, this is not to minimize the need for effective local effort 
> to understand and to manage with equity and integrity the people and 
> resources that are available. The local executives' efforts should be 
> coordinated with the Faculty Council, the City Council, and the Board 
> of Regents toward these ends. The substantive contents, and who 
> chooses the contents, of their decision-evaluating rubric remains a 
> matter for discussion.
> 
> 
> Ken
> 
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