Once again, North Carolinians are fed a bunch of
liberal propaganda from the editors at the Charlotte Observer. Last Sunday, they ridiculed the Senates “Taxpayer
Bill of Rights” as an August stink bomb sponsored by the evil Koch
brothers. Here are the “offensive”
provisions in the bill along with the Disturber’s comments:
▪ It cuts the
maximum income tax rate in half, putting a limit of 5 percent on both corporate
and personal income taxes;
▪ It locks in
spending limits by forbidding an increase in the state budget beyond inflation
and population growth, except by two-thirds vote of both houses of the
legislature;
▪ It creates a
Reserve Fund that can be tapped only by a two-thirds vote of both houses.
All
three provisions are proposed constitutional amendments that would have to be
approved by voters. Rucho and the other sponsors cleverly scheduled that vote
for March 15, 2016. That’s the new date for North Carolina’s presidential
primary. Given how that race is shaping up, it’s likely that Republican turnout
will be stronger than Democratic turnout that day, boosting the chances of
cementing these tax and spending cuts into the Constitution.
Limited government and
fiscal responsibility will always ruffle the Disturber’s tail feathers. They believe the legislature must have
freedom to respond to manufactured crises such as education and health care,
because when we think of crises, those two always pop up.
And what bugaboo does
these lions of liberalism flag as a warning.
Why Colorado of course.
Colorado
is the only state with a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. It passed there in 1992. In
2005, Colorado voters, disgusted by what the law had done to state investments
in education and health care, loosened its provisions so the state was not
limited to the inflation-plus-population formula over the previous year’s
spending.
I can safely say anytime
the Charlotte Observer makes policy assertions, its best to fact check with a
reliable and reasoned source. Here is
Civitas’ response to another Disturber lie:
Big-government advocates, special interest groups and others
interested in unfettered expansion of the size and scope of North Carolina
government, however, have already began to mount baseless attacks on this
fiscally sensible measure. Most of the opposition to HB 188 Taxpayer
Bill of Rights is
based on misleading and false claims about Colorado’s experience with a TABOR.
This fact sheet examines these claims
and provides the truth to counter the well- coordinated but desperately
misleading attacks on a measure intended to merely slow the rate of state
spending growth.
Here is one example from Civitas report that directly refutes the
assertions of the Disturber:
Claim
“TABOR’s impact on Colorado’s public
structures led to business
community leaders from across the political spectrum coming together to call for the suspension of
TABOR in 2005.”
Fact
·
This “coalition” actually – and unsurprisingly – consisted of
special interest groups that benefit from government largesse. Examining the
finances behind the movement to suspend TABOR in 2005 reveals[4]:
o The
top contributor to this movement was public sector unions.
o Another
major contributor was the Denver area Chamber of Commerce, a group seeking to
benefit from greater government spending on “economic development.”
o Also
among top donors was the construction industry – seeking to maintain high
levels of state contracts.
o Wealthy
liberal philanthropists and well-funded liberal policy groups also contributed
significantly.
· The $8 million spent in 2005 by special interests seeking to
suspend TABOR was two and a half times the amount spent by groups opposing
TABOR’s suspension.[5]
· In spite of this massive spending advantage, TABOR’s suspension
was approved by only a 52 to 48 margin.[6]
It’s never what it seems when you read the Charlotte
Observer. You can read the rest of
Civitas’ report by clicking the link below.
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