U.S. states created crisis by cutting taxes

"...Business tax reductions may be overrated as an economic stimulus because they're so low on the totem pole of expenses. For most businesses, the cost of labor is probably 15 times the cost of all state and local taxes, said Bartik of the Upjohn Institute..."

""If state and local taxes were at the same percentage of state personal income as they were 40 years ago, you wouldn't have all these budgetary problems"

Yeah, we'd have worse problems... we wouldn't have grown as much as we did.

Liberals have this fantasy view that government can just keep taking more and more of other people's money and that this will have no effect on anything.

The GOP has this fantasy that they can lower deficits by cutting taxes. Even now, most of the new GOP govs, including Christie, want to CUT taxes despite deficits that are required to be balanced. Scott Walker and that buffoon in Florida are other examples.

GWB did the same for the US as a whole.

jason, what tax cuts? I have seen a few relatively minor tax cuts proposed, and tax CAPs (which are still increases). The GOP is focused on cutting spending.

Anybody ever heard of the neocons idea, Starve the Beast? I heard about this during the Bush years & their plan for shrinking the government was to create a fiscal crisis & then be able to say, "but we HAVE TO cut spending under the circumstance". Sound familiar?

"U.S. states created crisis by cutting taxes, researchers say"

I'm guessing they're researchers who lie and die by government grants ...

LIVE and die, that is.

But the typo fits, too!

Republicans have this fantasy view that government can just keep taking more and more of other people's money and that this will have no effect on anything.

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Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal Proposes Massive Tax Cuts For The Rich, Big Tax Hikes for Middle Class

Now that Deal is Governor, the state legislature is currently drafting major tax legislation. Deal has been a guiding hand in the negotiations over the bill, and stands behind the latest version of the bill being debated among senate and house legislators. The bill does, as Deal promised, cut many taxes.

For example, it lowers the state personal income tax rate from 6 to 4.5 percent. Yet at the same time, the bill is being touted as being revenue neutral — meaning that revenue has to come from somewhere. Georgia Republicans, under the leadership of Deal, have decided to make up the difference by eliminating a whole host of tax exemptions and increases in sales taxes. The end result? Georgians making over $180,000 would see steep tax cuts while middle class Georgians making between $20,000 and $180,000 would see tax hikes.

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/03/tax-cutting-nathan-deal/#

Is it any wonder why Southern states are poor and will remain poor?

"The GOP is focused on cutting spending."

Except defense spending
Except farm subsidies
Except oil subsidies
Except homeland security spending
Except law enforcement spending
Except NASA funding

Did I leave anything out? I probably did.

"jason, what tax cuts?"

"Florida governor presses tax cuts despite budget gap | Reuters"

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/09/us-florida-scott-idUSTRE7280L120110309

"Christie to Propose Small-Business Tax Cuts"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703800204576158840333007266.html

See also Michigan, Ohio, and the list goes on. Rick Perry is about the only one NOT offering to cut taxes on the GOP side now, despite deficits.

These are minor cuts after years of increasing taxes from liberal administrations. And the purpose is to enhance private sector job growth. Sorry jason, your straw man doesn't work.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/26026-the-difference-between-democrats-republicans

"And the purpose is to enhance private sector job growth."

Well, those tax cuts are working very well. Today a major US company aunnoced plans to hiree 50,000 AMERICAN workers. Yes, that is 50,000 workers! Now here comes the bad news: The company is called MCDonalds, which we all know is world renowned for paying decent wages and offering good health benefits.

"These are minor cuts after years of increasing taxes from liberal administrations."

Funny, I don't recall Florida having any liberal governors in recent history. Democrtats hardly win down there. And I certainly can't think of a recent governor of Georgia who was liberal.