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Too Much Dust, Not Enough Results

Too Much Dust, Not Enough Results

Besides just bad philosophy, one of the worst contributors to government growth is our misplaced emphasis on defining success by activity. When you stand on the plains and look to the horizon, a great cloud of dust can be either an army purposefully on the move, or a lone idiot riding his horse in circles. 

Too often, we are just interested in seeing a great cloud of dust, and not interested enough in the results. In every debate in Austin (and in Washington) the discussion centers too much on "how much we have/are/will spend" and not nearly enough on "what we have/are/will accomplish."

Texas Hotel Taxes Enough to Make You Lose Sleep

Fhotelound this revealing tidbit on the Austin American-Statesman's entertainment pages: 

Those hotel occupancy taxes in Texas’ big cities are so high they’ll give you a nosebleed. Example: My $279 stay at the lovely Granduca Hotel in Houston a few days ago carried $46.93 in occupancy tax: That’s 6 percent for the great State of Texas, 7 percent for the city, 2 percent for Harris County and another 2 percent for the Houston-Harris County Sports Authority, the entity that builds stadiums.

More Taxes, Courtesy of Republican Fred Hill

There was once a time when Republicans were known as the tax-cutters; people who – if nothing else – would work to make sure the taxpayers’ money stayed in the taxpayers’ wallet (as State Rep. Rob Eissler likes to say).

That was then, this is now. State Rep. Fred Hill (R-Richardson) wants to raise your local taxes. Sure, he wants to start with the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But don’t worry; this new tax will spread like a virus to every city in Texas. He is pushing a bill to let those cities raise their sales tax to fund mass transit. (Never mind that mass transit is usually spelled “B-O-O-N-D-O-G-G-L-E.” or, in the original French, “P-O-R-K”)

Pork in the State Budget?

The McAporkllen Monitor reported that the new $150 billion House budget for the 2008-09 biennium includes some arguably pork barrel expenditures – most of those mentioned are earmarks for projects in the Rio Grande Valley. Among the taxpayer-funded projects mentioned are:

House Committee Unanimously Hangs Up on Telephone Tax

The Lone Star Report brings us the following good news:

The House Regulated Industries committee unanimously voted Feb. 21 to tphoneeliminate the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF). The tax on consumers’ phone bill was created in 1995 to help wire schools, libraries and colleges for the Internet. TIF was supposed to end after 10 years or after it raised $1.5 billion, whichever came first. However in 2005, the Legislature removed the tax’s expiration date. Since 2003, the tax was used to fund general revenue and is no longer used for its original purpose.

How much to keep Hollywood away?

The Austin American Statesman is calling on lawmakers to enact a slush fund that would attract more Hollywood liberals to Texas.

Lubbock Paper Calls for Surplus to be Returned to Taxpayers

Once in a while the malubbockinstream media hits the nail on the head and such is the case with a staff editorial in today's Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. This piece enclosed below in no uncertain terms urges the Legislature to return the surplus to taxpayers. Further, it points to the folly of simply shifting taxes and argues that rather than raise other taxes to pay for further property tax relief, the Legislature should simply utilize the surplus – the amount by which Texans have overpaid in taxes.

Only in Austin…

Governor Perry had a great line reported in the state's media outlets:
       "Only in Austin and Washington would returning $8 billion to citizens be considered spending."

That's a great point. The state's spending cap was called the "Texas Tax Relief Act," and was supported by an overwhelming vote of the people in a constitutional election. Most Texans probably assumed that if spending was kept under control, their taxes would be as well. It's doubtful any voter thought tax relief could be confused with spending, and it is reasonable to assume that they figured any overage would come back to them and not be used to grow government.

Dewhurst Questions Existence & Return of Surplus, But More Tax Cuts Now Can Help Avert Future Economic Slowdown

dewhurstyoungSpeaking at a Capitol news conference yesterday, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said "We don't have a 14.3 billion dollar surplus." He asserted that "when you look at promised property tax cuts out to 2011, we're looking at a balanced budget with just a modest increase in our expenditures." Dewhurst made similar remarks today at the Legislative Budget Board meeting where the LBB set the constitutional spending limit, which based on projected personal income growth, will allow a 13.11 percent increase in general revenue expenditures for the 2008-09 biennium.