Editorial voices from across the country
Editorial voices from newspapers around the United States as compiled by the Associated Press:
While we are all amused by the vulgar pie fight that is the Republican presidential field, it’s easy to overlook the taxonomy of pain their candidates would impose on the American electorate.
The three leading candidates from the party of fiscal responsibility have all proposed tax plans with the same components: enormous tax breaks for those who need them least, elimination of the estate tax, massive reductions in corporate taxes, and unspecified reductions in domestic spending.
And every reputable tax analyst from across the political spectrum asserts that these plans devised by Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio would all wreck the economy and add trillions to the national debt.
The math from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center is typical: It found that Trump would add $11.9 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years. That would increase the debt by nearly 40 percent. Cruz ($10.2 trillion) and Rubio ($8.2 trillion) would also cut taxes, increasing the debt by 36 and 29 percent, respectively.
How big are these tax cuts? George W. Bush’s historic cuts was “only” $1.82 trillion in today’s money, and he did it when the country was running a surplus.
Yes, the tax code needs an overhaul. Everyone knows that.
But it should shift the burden up the income ladder, now down. And with baby boomers flooding into retirement, tax reform that adds trillions to the national debt is a dystopian solution. These are not serious proposals, and they’re hoping voters are too distracted by their engaging personalities to notice.
One of the most-used phrases at the state capitol is keeping government close to the end-user. As in letting those who stand to receive the most benefit – or harm – from a government action, or inaction, have the greatest say on issues around it.
Which makes it all the more quizzical that the Georgia General Assembly seems determined to legalize the carrying of guns on college campuses at a pace that rivals the supersonic speed of a 9mm bullet.
Even more worrisome, given the Legislature’s intense love for sweeping government’s hard decisions far away from the state House and back down to the people, is why lawmakers seem tone-deaf to the advice of those closest to this issue. The administrators charged with maintaining safe environments for living and learning at Georgia’s colleges and universities are having the toughest of times being heard – or understood – on campus carry. Willfully overlooking their insights could have serious, even fatal, consequences for Georgia and its brightest youth.
When it comes to trusting young adults with deadly weapons at the state’s colleges and universities, lawmakers should give much more honest thought to whether their pending legislation – and existing laissez-faire concealed-carry requirements – are sufficient for 21st century Georgia.
For all the talk about creating a more “business friendly” West Virginia, lawmakers in Charleston have cooked up a series of new taxes that are about as “unfriendly” as they can be.
The House of Delegates is considering House Bill 2704, which would place new sales taxes on many professional services that businesses and residents use every day, from legal visits and accounting services to haircuts and beauty salon appointments.
The net effect could be the largest tax increase placed on West Virginians in decades – an estimated additional $344 million per year.
At first blush, the bill might seem to be a tax reduction, because it would reduce the state sales tax from 6 percent to 5.5 percent. But the action would bring in hundreds of millions in new revenue because it extends the tax to a wide range of professional services that have not been subject to the sales tax in the past.
We understand the state is facing a budget crisis, but lawmakers need to find a solution that does not cripple business development in the state.