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Originally Posted by pan6467
From replies on here I can see that the right cares not about the problems that face the cities, states and even the nation but about their own wallets. Perhaps if we raised tarrifs and taxed companies that sent jobs overseas we would be able to build a tax base where the burdens could be shared equally..... But the Right refuses to allow or want to even discuss that.
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Pan -
The "right" doesn't refuse to allow taxes, we try and keep them within limits. On one side you have people that want an incredible hike in taxes and on the other side you have people that want less taxes - this creates a balance. One side isn't getting their way over the other side as taxes have increased and decreased at the same time (just in different areas).
As for the problem you are specifically referring to, I have little sympathy for states that went nuts with their spending and got caught.....just as I will have no sympathy for the federal government when the same thing happens to them.
In the 90's, the states saw a boon in tax revenues, the numbers kept going up and up and up. They mistakenly assumed that this trend would continue, even when the experts were warning them otherwise.
Then, in 2000 and 2001 we got the double-whammy. A recession started and then 9/11 happened.
The states got caught with their pants down--the money wasn't flowing like it was before.
However, they weren't willing to tighten the belt and reduce spending, too many people/departments/etc got used to receiving all this money and didn't want to lose a penny so the states had two choices:
1) Reduce spending to within current revenue limits
-or-
2) Find other ways of getting more revenue
Which leads us to this problem that you are describing.
Believe me Pan, I know all to well what you and your state are going through. We have the same bullshit tax increases here that primarily effect the poor.
As I have said many times here, I do not see the level of taxes as the problem--I see the level of spending as the problem. If spending could be kept in check (at the federal/state/city levels), we would see a lot of these problems go away.
Now, are politicians going to voluntarily reduce spending? Nope. We have to force them to do it. They only way to do that is a spending cap placed on the government.