The House Revenue and Taxation Committee voted 13-5 against a bill that would raise beer and wine taxes in Idaho. Supporters of the tax increase said the revenues would be used to boost substance abuse treatment in Idaho. But opponents said the bill would hurt taxpayers, beer and wine makers and sellers, as well as the agriculture community. The Idaho Freedom Foundation suggested an alternative concept -- one that would increase substance abuse funding without raising taxes.
BOISE – Idaho could allocate around $27 million for substance abuse treatment without needing to raise taxes under a proposal from the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
The non-profit, non-partisan think tank encouraged lawmakers on Tuesday to consider its alternatives to the tax increases now pending before the Legislature.
The federal stimulus bill that President Obama has signed into law very nearly cost Idaho taxpayers $84 million (and still could). That's what we get for being responsible with money. To avoid that, the federal government is basically making us cut public school spending in the current fiscal year (something that no one planned to do) and surrender our state sovereignty. This is what's wrong with the stimulus package. It punishes sound fiscal behavior and rewards incompetence with more of the same.
(Note: For the last few weeks, we have been asking people with expertise and passion about free markets to write material for the Idaho Freedom Foundation. Today, we are pleased to present you the first of these articles from Dr. Peter R. Crabb of Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.)
By Professor Peter R. Crabb
Northwest Nazarene University
Years ago, someone told me that anecdotes make for great news stories but lousy legislation. With rare exception, that's true.
Once told to the media, stories about victims and the failings of "the system" become ripe for legislators to exclaim, "There ought to be a law!" But every time someone utters those six words, our liberties are threatened. The trick is to ask at what point a liberty should be surrendered for the common good. If we're lucky, the answer is "very rarely."
If you were angry about the bailout for Wall Street, if you were angry about the bailout for the Big Three automakers, you should be equally angry about the bailout now being considered for everyone else, including Idaho. Our nation's Treasury is being treated as if it is a magical fountain that spontaneously spews money, fulfills dreams and shields us from economic hardship. That was never the intent of the designers of our system of government.
The Ada County Highway District commissioners discussed transparency on Wednesday. The idea of posting line-item expenditures on the ACHD website was raised by the agency's newest commissioner, Sara Baker. She served on the Boise City Council for a number of years and conveyed the importance of providing data on the agency's website so that taxpayers could see every nickel being spent. There was a quite a bit of push-back and skeptisim.
The Idaho Freedom Foundation is available to speak to your group or organization about what we do, free-market principles and how you can be empowered to take back your freedoms. For more information, call Wayne at (208) 921-6749, or send an email.
Those of us who believe in limited government tend to get worked up when new government programs are proposed or when taxes are raised to accommodate some state objective. We also understand that government exists for a purpose, and sometimes those purposes require the creation of programs to benefit the general public and the collection of money to pay for it. Fine.