Burnt Orange Report

Back To School!

By Jim Dallas

Off the Kuff, which has been an excellent crib-sheet for those keeping trying to keep abreast of the special session, reports that the Senate has been handed a mess to clean-up.

And to add a special Austin twist to things, Gov. Perry, showing off his leadership skills, is now threatening to call a second special session if he doesn't get exactly what he wants...

"I will keep calling lawmakers back until we have found the right mix of revenue options to improve our schools, eliminate Robin Hood (the present law), maintain equity, cut property taxes and preserve Texas' strong job-creation climate," Perry said

...because cutting property taxes amd "preserving a strong job-creation climate" (which, according to my Republian-to-English dictionary is a euphemism for "not burdening rich people with taxes") is co-equal in importance to fixing the school finance mess.

This reminds me of a letter to the editor I saw in the local paper a couple days ago:

Economic Sense Required

Apparently the State Legislature never passed a basic economics course, or even basic math. The property tax is deductible from federal income tax; the sales tax is not.

Like most homeowners, I’m in the 25 percent tax bracket. That means that Uncle Sam effectively pays 25 percent of my property tax bill.

Cutting my property taxes by $1,000 while offsetting the cut by $1,000 in other taxes isn’t neutral; it costs me $250!

A state property tax, on the other hand, would truly be neutral, while solving the Robin Hood program.

The governor and legislature need to stop with the phony “property tax relief” and only consider approaches that make economic sense.

Dave Konkel
Galveston

While there are certainly some better plans out there than the one Perry pushed in the House, which was brought to the floor and executed) -- and quite honestly, whatever happened to the much bally-hooed plan David Dewhurst presented last year? -- I'd like to take a minute to remind our readers that there's a very simple solution to this whole problem.

Two words.

First word - two syllables. First syllable:

:: points inward ::

Second syllable:

:: makes beckoning gesture with hands ::

Second word, rhymes with:

:: pretends to play jax ::