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LIVING LIBERTY
 January 2002
Feel like you're not paying enough taxes? By Carl Gipson, Evergreen Freedom Foundation Do you feel like you should pay more taxes? Feel like you’re short-changing government? Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has set up a fund for Arkansans who share those concerns. Huckabee’s new "Tax Me More Fund" is for state citizens who think they’re taking advantage of government. "There’s nothing in the law that prohibits those who believe they aren’t paying enough in taxes from writing a check to the state . . . Maybe this will make them feel better," Huckabee was quoted in a recent CNSnews.com story. The Arkansas Governor started the fund after hearing from state legislators that more taxes were the only answer for the state’s current $147 million budget shortfall. After all, state government is running as efficiently and effectively as possible and the only other option is to cut essential state services. Sound familiar? It should. We’re facing a budget crisis of our own here in Washington. The only difference between ours and Arkansas’s is $1.85 billion. (Such a little difference.) Both Washington and Arkansas have state Constitutions that make it illegal to run a budget deficit. EFF has long contended the budget crisis can be solved if state lawmakers limit government to its core functions and run those core functions efficiently. Still, many legislators are rumbling about necessary tax increases and across-the-board cuts in essential services. Maybe Washington needs its own "Tax Me More Fund." There are plenty of liberals out there who feel they aren’t paying enough in taxes – this would allow them to donate as much as they want. Then everyone will be happy. Think Governor Locke will like the idea? Living Liberty is the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's monthly newsletter. It provides updates on the issues and projects EFF is currently working on. You will also find commentary on state and sometimes federal government issues. Living Liberty is available for our members only. Please click here if you would like to become a member. Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (360) 956-3482
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1 Part Honesty; 2 Parts Arrogance At a March 23, 2005, House Appropriations hearing on a bill to gut the voter-approved I-601 spending limit, Rep. Jim McIntire (D) asked a supporter of I-601’s two-third supermajority requirement for the legislature to raise taxes the following question: "Can you name a time when we [legislators] have actually not just set it [supermajority requirement] aside by majority vote? I mean, this is in many respects a procedural motion that has no bearing. It’s a statutory constraint that cannot constrain any legislature that chooses as a majority to set it aside . . . have we ever used a supermajority [to raise taxes]?" - Rep. Jim McIntire (D - 46) Despite the arrogance of some state officials, Washington's constitution is clear: "All political power is inherent in the people..." |
