Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Food Tax Debate

Luckily, this will be all over next Tuesday. In the meantime, it’s interesting to watch the fight. As I suspected, my opposition in yesterday’s debate was just relying on standard talking points used by Chambers of Commerce throughout the State. She succeeded in getting their message across that this is part of a sinister Libertarian agenda to eliminate all government. It’s not true of course; but she did her part in spreading that warning and scaring people about the evils of freedom.

One untruth that she said was that the side in favor of repealing the tax was better funded and spending more money on its case than the opposition. I knew that to be a lie because the only ads and literature I have seen are from the opposition. This article, with the most recent campaign disclosure figures, shows that the opposition has in fact raised twice as much in outside donations than our side has. What is not disclosed is the amount of taxpayer resources that are being used. The APPLES group opposing this measure consists mostly of government employees who are doing their lobbying and campaign work during working hours and using government resources. Those costs are not part of the official disclosure forms filed with the State.

Here is the report of yesterday’s refusal by the Arkansas Supreme Court to grant the APPLES gang’s request to toss this issue off of the ballot. The APPLES people have a twisted view of the electoral process in claiming that their constitutional rights have been violated by not being able to deprive the voters of the opportunity to vote on this matter. If they are as confident as they claim to be about the results going their way, why have they spent so much time and money trying to have this issue removed from the ballot? How does that make sense? I guess that is just another example of the oxymoron, Government Intelligence.

KMK

VAT’s Interesting

More discussion of replacing the corporate income tax with a national sales tax. It has a long way to go before we would ever see such a radical change. It might be a step towards doing the same thing for individual income and estate taxes.

KMK

Debt Collectors May Subcontract for IRS

Elections, Democrats and tax relief

Debate Recap



The debate at North Arkansas College in Harrison went well today. It was taped by the local television station, Channel 8. We are still trying to find out when it will be broadcast. The publisher of the local newspaper sat in the front row, taking a lot of notes and photos. That should be in their paper soon.

My fears of a hostile group were unfounded. The students and administrative staff were very courteous. My name tag is to the right.

The biggest arguments against our proposal to eliminate the sales tax on food and medicine have to do with fears of the unknown. The fact that the measure doesn’t specify exactly where the money will come from to replace the lost sales tax revenue scares people and they worry about what other taxes or fees will be raised as a result. This sounds like the old “the devil you know is better than the one you don’t” dilemma that stymies any attempt at change. It’s part of the problem Bush is having convincing other nations to oust Saddam.

There is also a great deal of fear of the greatly misunderstood Libertarian Party. You would think the Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director, Layne Wheeler, was describing a cult of of evil Satan worshippers when she described the LP’s goals of smaller government and lower taxes.

In the face of accusations of being irresponsible for omitting details on replacement revenues, I explained that wasn’t the purpose of this initiative. It was difficult enough to get it onto the ballot just addressing the one side of the equation. To micro-manage how our rulers adapt to the situation would not be fair and would very definitely excite other opposition groups. There is simply no tax that is universally liked by every group. The rulers in Little Rock have known that the little people have been upset about this issue and demanding a change for well over 21 years. They chose to sweep it under the rug. The LP simply stepped in to do what the other parties refused to. If this measure passes, it will bring the matter up front and center into their radar. They will have to make the appropriate adjustments.

While I long ago learned that the locals here hate to hear stories about how things were done in the PRC, I still think that the Proposition 13 property tax revolt in 1978 is a direct parallel to this sales tax issue. It rolled back property tax rates and cut the revenues to local governments by a considerable amount. It also did not specify how the revenues were to be made up. Each government entity had to do whatever it took to adjust, including cutting services and personnel. I have every confidence that the managers here in Arkansas will be just as capable in adapting to the situation they will face with the slightly lower sales tax funds. Some people in the audience expressed heavy skepticism over this faith in our leader to deal with matters. One person even called it an oxymoron to have any such faith in politicians (his words, not mine). I had to remind the audience that, if passed, the actual change in the sales tax rules won’t take effect until July 4, 2003, giving everyone plenty of time to take appropriate action.

I heard that just this morning the Arkansas Supreme Court again refused the request by the government bureaucrats to toss this matter off of the ballot; so it is looking more and more likely that we will actually be able to vote on it next Tuesday. I’m sure this weekend will be filled with ads by the opposition with their phony numbers and horror stories about how terrible life will be in Arkansas if this measure passes.

KMK

Strange Bedfellows

It seems that the only GOP candidate with the balls to defend the issue of privatizing Social Security is Liddy Dole. Has she been taking Bob’s blue pills?

KMK

NOTA For PRC Governor

Europeans Don’t Know Better

Some people have the impression that the Europeans are more sophisticated and knowledgeable than we poor slobs in the States are, such as in matters of taxation. A Value Added Tax (VAT) may sound appealing as a replacement for the corporate income tax; but it needs to be evaluated a little closer first. I’m not so sure about following the lead of the Europeans. If they’re so smart, why do they pay over four dollars a gallon for gasoline?

KMK

More Left Coast Socialism

California doesn’t have the monopoly on Pacific Socialism. Marxist Hillary-Care could be available in Oregon soon, costing taxpayers and employers a fortune. Hopefully, it will give us an advance look at how government provided medical care works before President Hillary Rodham can force it on the entire nation.

KMK

Investing In Sin

For several years, there have been investment funds that only put their money into morally acceptable types of industries. It was inevitable that there would be special funds covering the other end of the moral spectrum, the Vice Fund.

KMK