There Really is Some Good News Out There
Posted by scta | Filed under Miscellaneous
Amid all the bad news in the headlines there is very little drumbeat to raise taxes. It seems most public officials realize that consumers and business are also hurting and this is not the time to place even greater burden on those who fund the government, taxpayers.
In more normal economic times the first response from many public officials when faced when a budget squeeze is to propose “revenue enhancements” through higher tax rates. Ideas like cutting wasteful spending, tightening the government belt and becoming more efficient are frequently ignored. In the present environment, however, reducing spending may be the only alternative, and this is a good thing for taxpayers in general.
If we’re fortunate real fat will be cut and governments and their constituents will learn they really can live on less, despite previous claims to the contrary. Again, if we’re fortunate officials will make wise choices about priorities, impose limits on future spending growth to prevent repeating the same problem of over spending in the future.
During good times families and businesses often let the spending controls loosen up, and economic downturns serve a useful purpose of forcing them to refocus and re-prioritze to become more efficient. It’s appropriate that government engage in this refocusing effort, which seems next to impossible without the strong incentive required by the current economic dip.
Jack Atkin, President
Sonoma County Taxpayers’ Association