From: buchman@osf.org (Terri Buchman)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.president.clinton,talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Network projections
Date: 10 Nov 92 14:00:08 GMT
Organization: Open Software Foundation
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X-Xxdate: Tue, 10 Nov 92 09:00:26 GMT
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In article <1992Nov9.181221.4220@crd.ge.com> joseph,
joseph@c2a.crd.ge.com writes:
>  How a sales tax is any less regressive than property taxes is
beyond
>me.  Yes, a sales tax is broad based - it will catch all those
>homeless people who don't pay any property taxes, and all those
>people who live in rented apartments.  But how does that make it
>progressive ?
>
Arnie Arneson, who was the dem running for Gov in NH, wanted to
enact an income tax.  Traditionally, NH voters have made office
seekers take "the Pledge" that they would not enact an income tax. 
Arneson, and the income tax, lost by about 57 - 43 (I think). 

Sales taxes are regressive.  They fall heavily on the poor.  That
was one of the criticsms leveled at Bill Clinton when he raised the
sales tax to cover his education reforms in Arkansas.  (I believe
that this included a tax on food, which is a heavy penalty for the
lower economic stratum.)  The Arkansas constitution allows the
legislature to raise taxes (income) only with the consent of 75% of
the legislators.  Clinton pushed for the education reform and was
forced to up the sales tax to pay for it.  It was a problematic
solution.  Was the cure worse than the disease?  Maybe someone from
Arkansas can answer that.  

To get back to New Hampshire, their problems seem to defy common
sense.  These folks whined all through the primaries about how hard
times were then refuse to help themselves by enacting any kind of
legislation that would provide aid.  The property tax burden is
immense.  Many people bought houses in NH when times were good and
have seen their values plummet.  (New Hampshire has the highest
personal bankruptcy rate in the US.)  NH schools are financed almost
exclusively through the property tax and this has resulted in crisis
for many school districts as the revenues have dropped.  NH schools
are still federally mandated to continue many programs (special ed,
etc) even though the money is not there.  New Hampshire still
figures that if it does nothing  that things will get better. 
Meanwhile a lot of NH folks are , literally, out in the cold.

IMHO, NH is a sort of omen for the future.  I believe that the US
will have a great many more lawsuits filed to correct the disparity
in funding for schools.  The systems now are separate, but not
equal.  NH refuses to do anything about this, so their worst case
scenario may come to pass - having the issue (and their taxes)
raised by judicial decree.  Too bad they won't even try and fix it
first.  No political courage.

>  I don't know the details of the democratice "broad based"
proposal,
>but I would venture a guess that the democrats wanted to have a
>sales tax IN ADDITION to the allegedly high property taxes.  And
>the republicans said no ?
>
Actually it was an income tax.  The sales tax has been mentioned
recently, but Arnesen actually mentioned an income tax.  I would
hope that she meant a progressive rate income tax.  Massachusetts
has a flat rate income tax and NH might want to avoid that.
Also, The republicans have not yet had a chance to vote against any
of these taxes.  They have not been submitted.

>james joseph                    joseph@c2a.crd.ge.com
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.rush-limbaugh