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Published on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 by The Rachel Maddow Show
TABOR: A Bad Idea That Just Won't Go Away
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© 2009 The Rachel Maddow Show/MSNBC
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5 Comments so far
Show AllVideos should really be summarised for those of us who can't/don't watch them.
The assertion that TABOR is a 'bad idea' is probably indefensible on democratic grounds, so it's surprising to see it at CD.
I'm sure we all realise that politicians enjoy spending our money, often on things that benefit them and their cronies rather than us (bailouts, anyone?). Why shouldn't they be at least prevented from requiring a blank check from us?
As a citizen from a state that passed such a shitty, stupid, ill advised law over a decade ago, let me tell you just what is wrong with such STUPIDITY.
First, it is always written so that your state will NEVER get those funds back once removed. It's just not possible for the state to even break even again. There is NO making up for lost funding, period. So once you lose the ability to pay for your roads, for instance, you will NEVER get that money back, and your roads will go straight to hell. Trust me, I drive on such roads every day. What I am supposedly saving on taxes I'm spending twice on car repairs.
When an emergency happen in your state, WHERE will the money come from to take care of it? Won't be from taxes, you CAN'T raise them. It's illegal under TABOR. Got a massive forest fire in your state? Too bad, it's just going to have to burn itself out and if it endangers a residential area, too bad. No money to fight it.
Want your schools to be funded for some advantage to your kids? Won't happen with TABOR. In fact, since TABOR was passed here, we have sunk to 49th in education spending in the country. Something to REALLY be proud of, isn't it? Oh, and at the same time, we have the honor of being #3 in prison spending.
Just so you know, TABOR was written by a CO slum lord who has spent time in jail for not being responsible enough to even take care of his own properties. He's been sued successfully by his own tenants, and been forced to make BASIC repairs to his own properties. He shows by his own life that he has NO understanding of responsibility or foresight in any way. He is as selfish a human being as you have ever seen. He takes everything and gives nothing.
TABOR is nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing. It leaves you with no way to take care of your own needs, and does so FAR more for the benefit of the rich, who pay less and less as time goes on. And it costs you in ways that you can't even begin to understand. Until you have lived it, don't think it will just do one thing, lower your taxes, it will also cost you in ways that you can't imagine. It leaves you vulnerable to emergencies and gives you no way to protect yourself from disaster. It's not a smart way to go, it's a sucker's game. They promise you one thing, and then deliver a whole other set of circumstances that you won't like nearly as much as you think you will. And it comes down to QUALITY of life. And trust me, somethings ARE worth paying for. Considering how things are here now, compared to when I was much younger, I would say that they are a bargain.
DON'T TABOR yourself. It sucks.
I live in Mass, where "Prop. 2 1/2", a species of TABOR, has been law since 1982. All the dire claims you mention were put forward back then and even since, but somehow the bills get paid.
What objection can you possibly have to the idea that the people who get stuck with the check should have the major say in what's on the check? Do you *like* the idea that the scum in Congress can give away hundreds of billions of our money to the wealthy few, while refusing to let us spend those billions on ourselves (e.g., single-payer healthcare)?
The reason why all the real heavy taxation is federal is because we have no usable power over Congress. They can do whatever the hell they like to us and we have *no recourse* except to vote them out next time, if we can. But by then they can beggar us, ship our kids off to kill and die for oil, and any other damned thing they please, and we have no legal way to stop them. As a radio personality back home became humorously famous for saying, "they got a *good* job!".
objections:
No money for schools, fire departments, justice systems and police, infrastructure (water, sewer, roads. I amazes me how some people think that a society and all its accouterments and advantages, just spring into being without any upkeep, upgrades, or investment. Like a place for your kid to get an education so that they too can go on to succeed. Geez, get real.
People like your TABOR buddies passed Prop 13 in California to freeze current (1976) property taxes and seriously curtail the ability to raise them in the future. Those taxes had previously funded the BEST school system in the world. Now, that system is in near collapse. It took me 7 years to finish because when I started it was 1800/year, by now it is nearly 6000/year (plus all living costs). Some years I didn't make enough money to go to school (I paid for it myself). I am so glad to be done now, before everything goes to shit.
Anyways, my point is that a lot of taxes do go to very wanted and good things, education, safety, transportation, infrastructure. And I think that people have to realize that if they happened to end up doing very well in life, it wasn't like they did it in a vaccuum, they lived in a society, a society which other people invested in prior to them. Don't you feel any gratitude to the womb that gave birth to you? I am talking society, not Gaea (although she desrves a break too). Whatever you did, you didn't do it alone, at least not down here (go to Alaska if you want to eat the fruits of your own labor by yourself, I did).
Sorry for being so attacky. I largely agree with you about the federal thing, but here again your throwing the baby out with the bath water. There is some real bad stuff that our taxes get used for, I don't like paying for bullets for a war I could give a shit about, I don't like TARP, I don't like GoldmanSachs or any of its progeny, I don't like subsidizing oil companies, etc etc. Bu there are good things, education, parks, emergency services, environmental protections.
You are right that we give way too much tax money to rich people so they can get richer. But you don't chop off your arm to get rid of a leach, do you? I mean your arm does good things for you right? Save the knife for the leach.
I really hope you think your attitude on TABOR and similar schemes by the rich to hang on to their money and avoid their civic duty to maintain that which was entrusted to them, society.
objections:
No money for schools, fire departments, justice systems and police, infrastructure (water, sewer, roads.
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But that's the point: all those bills get paid in Mass. The only things that aren't getting paid are the boondoggles, the bridges to nowhere, the bailouts, the monuments to greed (although too many of those STILL get through).
If you honestly think a blank check is a good idea, then the next time you pay by check, fill up everything but the amount and hand it over saying "You fill in the amount you want. I trust you." And walk away. Will you do it? If you won't do it with your personal money, why do you think we should do it with tax money? Do you honestly think politicians are MORE honest or even careful when it's not their money?