More Cuts … And A Novel Idea

The news that South Carolina’s budget needs to be cut by another $135 million isn’t surprising … nor is it frankly “bad news.”

South Carolina’s government is too big and its previous spending was completely unsustainable, and this is pretty much what happens when government gets too big thanks to unsustainable spending.

Nor is surprising that Clempsun University – one of the prime beneficiaries of all that taxpayer-funded largesse – would put out a study this week blaming tax cuts for our state’s latest bout with revenue “vulnerability.”

That would be a point worth debating, presuming South Carolina actually cut taxes – which it didn’t.

South Carolina swapped taxes, people, all under the sacred Columbia dictum of “revenue neutrality.”

We also about fell out of our chairs when we read this little nugget in the Clempsun study:

State institutions (of higher learning) are increasingly becoming out of reach for average families and average students.

No sh*t, Sherlocks. Which is one reason Clempsun’s secret $140 million slush fund is so appallingly inappropriate.

Anyway, back to the real issue … which incidentally has nothing to do with when and how this latest $135 million needs to be cut.

No, the real issue is that it’s time for this state to try something different … and the current economic quagmire may provide us with the perfect opportunity.

Consider this – with almost all of America’s 50 states facing some form of revenue disaster or the other, you can bet your bottom taxpayer dollar that this country is in store for a whole slew of “revenue enhancements.”

In fact, this is precisely the approach hinted at by the Clempsun study and wholeheartedly endorsed by the big government slaves over at La Socialista.

It’s also the impetus for a plan to “raise the cigarette tax to fund health care,” which we translate as “picking on one group of taxpayers to perpetuate failed bureaucracy.” You can read more on that debate by clicking here, if you’re interested.

But are “revenue enhancements” really the way out for a state that continues to struggle under the weight of the nation’s worst school system, bottom-of-the-barrel wages and skyrocketing unemployement?

So here’s our novel idea … don’t take more money from the taxpayers to blow on communist-inspired crap like this … instead, cut taxes.

In fact, don’t just cut them … slash them.

And don’t just slash them … slash them without caring how much revenue you lose in the short term.

Wait … what? Are we crazy?

Maybe, but think about it like this … South Carolina has an opportunity to get itself into the global competitive game for the first time ever … right now.

All we have to do is this – resist the urge to go along with what the other 49 states are getting ready to do and … wait for it … try something different.

Look, people are always going to move their money, their ideas and their jobs to places where they’re wanted.

And when we say “where they’re wanted,” we mean places that have a low tax burden and favorable business climate, neither of which South Carolina has at the moment by any stretch of the imagination.

Which is probably why our definition of “economic development” involves a record percentage of high school dropouts stacking boxes.

Here’s another factor to consider – not only is business ultimately going to go where it can find a home, it’s also going to go someplace nice (i.e. pretty). What better place than South Carolina?

On that front, at least, we’ve got every advantage under the sun, we’ve just buried those advantages under oppressive tax, regulatory and legal climates.

Which is why the real question lawmakers should be asking themselves is this – can we afford not to try something new?

The timing for something like this couldn’t be better. After all, businesses in America are going to be looking for any competitive advantage they can find as our nation’s economic climate worsens.

Why not give them what they’re looking for at a time when other states are going to be taking those advantages away?

Seriously people … we could throw open the floodgates and usher in a competitive renaissance in this state, bringing jobs, capital investment, higher income levels and yes … sufficient revenues for government to perform certain core functions on behalf of our current population as well as all these new job creators that would be calling our state home.

So what, specifically, would we do? Which taxes would we cut? And by how much?

Stay tuned … we’ll have a lot more to come on this in future posts …