Governor Perry: The people are smarter than government
February 1, 2013 at 9:07 am in News by Tea Party Patriots 34 Comments
Via Erika Johnsen at Hot Air, more great news has come out of Texas:
On the (all-too-rare, harumph) occasion that a particular state ends up with a budget surplus, that state might use the leftover money to pay down debt, add cushion to a rainy day fund, put down payments on infrastructure projects, and etcetera. Several GOP governors are currently looking into their respective states’ tax codes and revenue streams in an effort to encourage competition and economic growth, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry is adding to that competitive drive with yet another economy-boosting idea. Showing off his sense of fiscal discipline and an understanding that the private sector spends money more productively than the public sector, he plans to propose a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to return unspent revenue back to taxpayers.
What do you think, Patriots? Should Perry push for this, or should he look at the other possibilities Johnsen mentioned? Here’s my quick take on all of them:
- Paying down debt is a viable option here. This is especially true given the recent economic downturn, which provided Texas with substantial deficits, and that Texas’ recent (and tremendous) economic growth is expected to slow in 2014-2015. Paying down debt would cushion the potentially negative impacts of future deficits.
- Adding to a rainy day fund would be good protection against future unexpected deficits, such as another recession.
- States are responsible for much of the funding for their infrastructure projects. Therefore, it might be a good idea to set up long-term projects in the present, given low interest rates and the extra funds Texas has available.
- As Johnsen points out, other GOP governors are looking to use their surpluses to lower taxes. This could have a great long-term effect on Texas, which has no income tax, as it could bring the state more business and residents.
- Returning excess tax money to the people, as Perry proposes, puts money in the most productive hands possible in the fastest method possible.
My only concern about Perry’s constitutional amendment is that his effort could be a somewhat shortsighted maneuver. Yes, it’s a very good option for a state to have, and it is only an option in the amendment he wants. However, a surplus today could easily turn into a deficit tomorrow, as we saw with the recent recession, which means paying down current levels of debt could have been a more productive use of a state surplus. Lower tax rates might have a better long-term impact on a state’s economy, as it is more difficult to raise taxes once they are lowered. If the economy improves, interest rates will also rise, which means costs for state transportation and other projects could rise.
Of course, it could be argued that all of the points I made above come with the presumption that government owns surplus tax revenue, when in fact income belongs to the people.
What are your thoughts? Take our poll below.
It was a multiple choice of which I would have picked more than one. since I could only pick one I picked the return the money to the taxpayers because it is impossible to pilfer it if there is no pool of money a coorupt politician has a account number for. If there is a debt in a state obviously there is no surplus so it should be paid and the future budget needs to be ajusted per the peoples consented needs and increases in taxes or cuts in spending as per the peoples consent. I love Perry for trusting the people. Infrastructure should be honestly planned and sold as is to an informed public. taxes raised from that point for it. pools of money decreased is the best way to keep crrupt hands off of it.
Good old fashioned common sense needs to be the rule for indebtedness. God’s Word tells us to owe no man anything!
I think lowering taxes is the best way. That will produce the same effect as giving money back to the people, and the more they make, the more they will save and re-invest.
I’m from Nebraska and we are doing just fine so far. I think Texas should expand the rainy day fund just in case we can’t stop this mess that Obama started.
you mean Bush
You mean Wilson?
I agree with what you say about President Bush starting the mess we now have. Do you have the intellectual honesty to admit President Obama has made the mess even bigger and by doing so, by his own measure, proven himself to be unpatriotic?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLmru6no4U
Lower the taxes. This ALWAYS raises revenue which can be used to pay down debt.
I’m from pa but texas should get with governors of other states and show them how they do it. Also they should organize with at least 25 other states (a majority) to put a stop to osama Adolph obama.
I’m from PA as well. I picked return the money to the tax payer, but if it would have been a prioritize the items, #1) Pay down debt ~ this is a no brainer and then #2) return excess after paying down debt to the tax payers. After that is done, they need to re-evalute the monetary needs and if possible lower the current taxes the people pay…so they don’t have to send a tax rebate. Perhaps, other states will follow their lead. (I know wishful thinking!)
All options are viable and on the surface seem like good ideas, however, I am very skeptical of my government these days. I choose to return the money to taxpayers it was ours to begin with. 1) I liked the idea of upgrading infrastructure, but “using the money for infrastructure” is too vague and TxDot has already proved it doesn’t care if the money is for “designated funds” it will spend it “where they feel it is needed”. 2) The rainy day fund is nice, but leaves funds available for government to decide what they want to do with it. 3) Paying down debt seems like a great idea on the surface, however, government has proven it cannot function on a budget. I give kudos to Mr Perry for his business prowess and keeping Texas one of the best states to live in economically, but he won’t be governor forever, then “whoever” will get to determine spending, kinda like our esteemed president. 4) lowering taxes seems benign; we will not SEE anything tangible from that decision. Hence, I chose returning the money! “We the people” can decide to spend it depending upon individual family (person) needs.
Returning the surplus to the taxpayers is a good option, but not by constitutional amendment. That would require returns in the future and would be a point of constant conflict. In Oregon that is another continual division between Liberals (mostly metropolitan areas) and Conservatives (mostly urban areas). We don’t need more division in the socio-economic climate in this country.
Geez gerry, we don’t have any metropolitan areas where I come from. We do have a few small urban areas, populated by liberals. We also have some very cold rural areas, populated by conservatives.
Taxes are for “Roads, Bridges, Protection and Border Security” oh yea and to pay those scum bags on well fare that got here cause the scumbags in Gov. don’t do there jobs. One man’s opinion.
I do appreciate that Gov. Perry is taking the step of returning it to the taxpayers. I do not believe it should be in the form of an ammendment. But I would also like to see the debt payed down.
I would split it between debt and rainy day fund until the debt is totally retired. Then, I would split any surplus between rainy day and citizens.
Marylena I have been paying attention since R W Reagan and moreso since Clintons second term bitten by the political animal bug. Your method has never shown to work and the day will never arrive that way. Removing the pools of money puts corruption on the unemployment line and frees people to make choices with their own money.
so humans don’t run the government?
Pay off debt first and be done with interest payments; establish a substantial ‘rainy-day fund;’ THEN lower taxes. The lower the cost of gov’t, the lower the tax rate necessary to maintain it.
In North Dakota the people voted in a rainy day fund, now, every election, we have all sorts of creeps from out of state pouring cash into our college brats to gin up ballot initiatives to spend it. This last election some Iowa outfit was hiring the NDSU football squad to canvas for some tree-hugging spending initiatives, the brats got caught padding the books. It was an issue until the DNC poured enough cash in to elect Heidi, then it went away. Imagine that!
I asked myself what I do when I have a surplus AND debt. I pay down the debt.
Pay debt first, lower taxes for economic growth next. O am from Texas
I say pay the debt first – that is an obligation, and by having it paid down, there will be even greater opportunity for more surplus in the future – or greater flexibility if there is not. (Arizona)
Concentrate on debt first and foremost and eliminate it if at all possible. After that I think the surplus should be split between a rainy day fund and modest (and I mean modest) spending on some long term projects to take advantage the low interest rates. I don’t know much about taxes in the state…there’s a sales tax, no income tax…the energy industry has to be in there at some point…anyway instinct tells me to keep taxes where they’re at, the current system seems to be working well. Texan economy is booming now but oil prices could fall, drought is already a persistent problem and could get worse, a new national recession could hit and drag the state down, etc. Best to think about the long term possibilities both good and bad, too often do people only think about the short term.
(And I am from northern California, or southern Nevada depending on the time of year)
We already have a large rainy day fund that they are talking about dipping into for various things. This really is a multiple choice question. Lowering taxes is a good start to bring in more outside the state businesses and jobs, which we have invited various businesses to do. The one thing that we still need to do is protect our borders better and get rid of the sanctuary cities that still are in Texas. We want to bring in to our state the right kind of people and give them jobs, we don’t want more people to be put on welfare at the taxpayer’s expense. Governor Perry is headed in the right direction but there is still room for improvement.
No brainer, pay down the debt.
Texas has a property tax rate that is hurting retireed people as it so high. My daughter lives in Texas and she has a home worth 250,000 her property tax is 8,000 a year. She and her husband who make good money can afford this since they pay no state income tax. But retireed people on a limited income this is a burden. I was going to move back to Texas but my wife and I are retireed and after looking into the property taxes in Texas(being ten time higher) chose to stay here in Louisiana. I am not against Texas and its free market attitude but this is one thing that has occurred. It is mostly caused by the open borders with Mexico which has flooded Texas schools. Also the economy is expanding and people are moving to Texas.
I would pay TI to build an anti ballistic laser defense network to protect the state’s citizens against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Use any surplus to replace the Anti-American Socialism promoting SCOPE System now in use in public education. IT MUST GO!!!!!!
Any extra funds that we have cannot be placed where politicians can take it in their efforts to turn Texas ‘blue’. Our intrastructure needs work. Our roads are aging and we already know that Obama will not give us funding nor should he. Why should one state build roads in another state.
We should use some of the funds to built tent cities – we have a lot of illegals to fill the camps and for the males to work on the roads; the females could cook for the workers. Sherif Joe has the right idea.
How about giving teachers and retired teachers a raise. Some teachers have had salaries frozen for at least 3 years. And it has been a number of years since retired teachers got a COLA raise!
It’s going to take leaders like Governor Perry to get this country back on the right track and out of the hands of those that seem to be trying to destroy everything good about this great Nation!
The question is how do you return the money. Do you return money to property owners our does everyone get in on the return because some of the revenue is sales tax. Since we do not have a state income tax the process of returning fund is tricky.
Keep the money stop taking funds from the federal gvt fund your own programs and tell the feds to go scratch