Remember This …
THE TRUTH ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA’S THREE-PERCENT BUDGET CUT
FITSNews - August 12, 2008 - After embarking on a spending orgy unprecedented in our state’s history, three big government Republicans voted today to cut state spending across the board by three percent … something we’d ordinarily be quite happy about were it not for the fact this move comes straight out of the “Big Government 101″ playbook.
Wait … we’re against a spending cut here at FITSNews? Say it ain’t so, Sic Willie …
Anyway, here’s how this time-honored big government charade works … when the economy is good, lawmakers like Hugh Leatherman, Dan Cooper and Converse Chellis spend every last cent of the money you send to Columbia. Sure, they make a big deal about passing a random “tax cut” here or there, but they always raise another tax in order to keep things “revenue neutral” (i.e. to keep the pork flowing).
Then, once all that government spending has choked off any possibility of economic growth, they bitch and moan that it was the nonexistent “tax cuts” which were responsible for the revenue shortfall. For example …
House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper said (Tuesday) that tax cuts passed over the last few years, including eliminating the sales tax on groceries, were helping to create budget holes. “It’s a good thing we’ve taken that tax off people, but now it’s impacting sales tax revenue,” said Cooper, R-Piedmont.
But wait … that’s just the first half of these jerk-offs formula for keeping South Carolina first in everything bad and last in everything good …
After draining our economy (and our wallets) to fund their excesses, these jokers then take the easy way out when times get tough by cutting everything - including education, law enforcement, roads and prisons.
Why?
First of all, it’s easy (and gives the appearance of “fairness.”)
Second of all, it bullies taxpayers into accepting their pleas for “revenue enhancements” to offset these dramatic “cuts” to front-line services.
Third, it helps perpetuate the quintessential big government myth - namely, that “cutting” an agency that’s seen its budget grow by leaps and bounds during the previous four years is going to somehow bring about a disaster of Biblical proportion.
Take the reaction to this round of “cuts” that came from State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex, for example, whose agency will lose a paltry $73 million after seeing its budget grow by over a billion dollars the last four years …
“It’s impossible to envision this not having a critical and negative impact on many of our educational programs,” (Rex) said.
Yeah, right. Sort of like that extra billion we just spent had such a profound and positive impact …
For those of you unfamiliar with South Carolina’s bad spending habits, this same scenario unfolded eight years ago when the booming economy of the Nineties gave way to the bumbling Bush years.
After growing government by double-digit percentages from 1997 to 1999, the post 9/11 economic free fall “forced” S.C. lawmakers to raid trust funds and cut $800 million from front-line government services.
Clearly, they haven’t learned a damn thing from the experience.
There’s a simple way to fix all of this, of course, but it requires government to live within its means the way the rest of us have to.
For example, we could cap the growth of incoming government revenue each year to the growth in population plus inflation, and then hold a percentage of what’s left over to cover any emergencies while giving the rest of it (gasp!) back to the taxpayers.
Hell, we could have returned billions of dollars to the taxpayers of this state over the last decade had we followed this plan - and avoided budget cuts altogether.
But that sort of common sense is lost on politicians in Columbia - or politicians anywhere, for that matter.
They continue to view your money as their money, and your prosperity as secondary to their pork.
Until that changes, don’t expect to see an honest tax cut - or an honest spending cut - anytime soon.
Comments
By calhoun fawls on August 13th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Frankly, Sic, I thought you and the FITS girls would be looking for a Jennifer Garner look a like to party with in celebration because the DOE is going to cut over $70 million.
By Draven on August 13th, 2008 at 7:57 am
And let’s not forget the next step in the process. When the economy turns and revenues go up again, they’ll have to spend every dime so that agencies that were cut can “catch up.”
By Jeffers06 on August 13th, 2008 at 9:30 am
You say the bumbling Bush years as causing this mess…. Bush had to deal with the greatest disaster since Pearl Harbor — 9/11 The country was not eager to rush to war…. The economy tanked shortly afterwards… Enron, WorldCom, and the accounting scandles of Aurhur Anderson… As of October 2007, the stock markets hit an all time high. The market is down right now and everyone knows with any intelligence that markets are cyclical and there are Bull & Bear markets. In fact during the Clinton regieme there was always the question how much longer would the bull market last? The market closed at 11542 yesterday.. Still higher than any Clinton year. The Record of over 14000 was set during the Bush years… We are at war and deficits occure durring those time frames. Go and spew your crap when it was democrats that have borrowed from the Social Security Fund (deficit spending) with no intention of repayment… thus nearly bankrupting the system… But that is ok…..
Bush has at least kept his zipper zipped in front of his interns while Clinton unzipped his by his own admission “because he could”… Clinton had nothing to do with bolstering the economy is was on a wild run…. Going way to fast and fostered by greed. Now Bush must take the blame for Greedy bankers making loans to people that had no business getting them in the first place???
Amazing
By fitsnews on August 13th, 2008 at 9:40 am
#4-
Clinton cut capital gains taxes, dude. That was a big boon to the economy.
As we recall, he also left office with a sizable surplus that Bush & Co. quickly turned into record deficits - and not just 9/11 related deficits.
Look, we’re glad Bush has kept his pants on … let’s give him a medal or something. But even Alan Greenspan has dogged him out for his abysmal fiscal record - specifically for not doing enough with his veto pen to curb the out-of-control spending that marked the “Republican rule” of 2001-2006, so it’s not like we’re out of line saying what we’re saying.
Anyway, we couldn’t agree w/ you more that Congressional Dems (both pre-Bush and presently) are just as bad if not worse than their big-spending GOP peers - which makes DC not unlike SC, come to think of it.
It’s a plague on both their houses, but ignoring the infection in one party simply because their standard-bearer isn’t getting blow jobs in the oval office is like saying we only need to amputate one of these horribly-mangled and diseased legs.
-FITSNews
By Salkehatchie Slim on August 13th, 2008 at 9:50 am
#5 — Congress cut taxes on capital gains dude.
Bush is no more to blame (and Clinton no more to credit) for the booming/busting national economy than Sanford is for the state economy.
Maybe one or more of them could have/did done more/less in the bully pulpit/veto department, but the final decision (and therefore blame/credit) belongs with the Congress/General Assembly.
By fitsnews on August 13th, 2008 at 10:06 am
#6-
Rather than belabor this, we’ll go ahead and concede your point that the overspending of a REPUBLICAN majority in DC and a REPUBLICAN majority here in SC is to blame for damn near EVERYTHING.
Sound good? Or is there further clarification you’d like to make?
-FITSNews
By concerned parent on August 13th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Has anyone looked into the transportation dept at Dist. 5? It is run like a kingdom. Only ex military people are given the job of supervisors. No women hold any superviory positions. No jobs are posted internally for others to bid on, only outsiders are with military service are hired. It’s a hostile work environment and the people are treated like subhumans.
By Draven on August 13th, 2008 at 10:40 am
#4 and #6,
Of course if the situations were reversed, you’d be giving Bush all the credit and Clinton all the blame.
By Jeffrey Sewell on August 13th, 2008 at 11:29 am
The cure:
http://www.house.gov/jec/fiscal/tx-grwth/reagtxct/reagtxct.htm
By theyaremorons on August 13th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
so cut education some more, gov. moonbeam….
this is the actual text of an E-mail I got earlier this week. These folks want to improve education but can’t spell and can’t write…. Actual text:
From: Bud@ip-208-109-235-75.ip.secureserver.net
To: LesterDuhe@aol.com
Sent: 8/7/2008 9:45:34 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Bud, Julia and Aden Ferillo invites you to visit Goodbye Minimally Adequate: Support the Constitutional Amendment for a High Quality Education in South Carolina
Hello!
Bud, Julia and Aden Ferillo (ctfjr@aol.com) invites you to visit Goodbye Minimally Adequate: Support the Constitutional Amendment for a High Quality Education in South Carolina
Go to: http://www.goodbyeminimallyadequate.net
Bud, Julia and Aden Ferillo tells you:
Dear Friens and Neighbors: please join us in signing and forwardingto others the petition to replace South Carolina’s standard of “minimally adequate education” with new language in our state constitution requiring the state to establish, organize and support public institutions of learning that will provide a high quality education, allowing all students to reach their highest potential. Will you sign and/or pass it on too? Visit http://www.goodbyeminimallyadequate.com
By theyaremorons on August 13th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
actual E-mail text from these guys who want to improve schools. they should learn how to spell first…
Subject: Bud, Julia and Aden Ferillo invites you to visit Goodbye Minimally Adequate: Support the Constitutional Amendment for a High Quality Education in South Carolina
Date: 8/7/2008 9:45:34 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: Bud@ip-208-109-235-75.ip.secureserver.net
Hello!
Bud, Julia and Aden Ferillo (ctfjr@aol.com) invites you to visit Goodbye Minimally Adequate: Support the Constitutional Amendment for a High Quality Education in South Carolina
Go to: http://www.goodbyeminimallyadequate.net
Bud, Julia and Aden Ferillo tells you:
Dear Friens and Neighbors: please join us in signing and forwardingto others the petition to replace South Carolina’s standard of “minimally adequate education” with new language in our state constitution requiring the state to establish, organize and support public institutions of learning that will provide a high quality education, allowing all students to reach their highest potential. Will you sign and/or pass it on too? Visit http://www.goodbyeminimallyadequate.com
By Jimmy Byrnes on August 13th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Will, it really is unfortuate that your”budgetary analysis” is so inherently flawed. You repeatedly demonstrate a total lack of any real understanding on your part.
If Rep. Haley has a political future I recommend she seek political and policy advice elsewhere.
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