The Crisis is Want of Economic Growth
There are plenty of ways to criticize Governor Beshear's budget proposal, but the one with the most resonance seems to be its myopia.
Where the immediate needs of the budget present an opportunity to put forward a bold proposal that would help make Kentucky an attractive place for business growth and entrepreneurship, Beshear has proposed a stopgap that may not even address the spending crisis in FY 2010.
I mentioned this shortcoming in my appearance on Kentucky Tonight a few weeks ago. Since Beshear's proposal, it has been echoed by
Representative Bill Farmer, who has boldly proposed a repeal of income taxes in Kentucky:
"The Governor's proposal is horrible policy. It fails to address the underlying problem and if things don't get better immediately he will have used all of the tricks in the bag."
Secretarty of State Trey Grayson:
“I am not sure that there are any other ways to articulate that we are going to experience severe pain due to these proposed cuts. This pain should send a clear message to the Governor and Legislature that we must find a bi-partisan, long-term solution to this problem, not just a quick fix. Comprehensive tax reform that will reduce the tax burden on productivity, and thus allow our economy to grow, is the only real answer to this crisis. Until we face this fact, our Commonwealth will continue to bear these difficult decisions.”
Liberal columnist Larry Dale Keeling:
After Beshear made his plan public, Secretary of State Trey Grayson called it a "quick fix," adding that Kentucky needs comprehensive tax reform. Although we may not agree on what that tax reform should entail, Grayson is right about the need for it.
Speaking at a recent Kentucky Association of Counties conference, Beshear told a gathering of local officials, "The bottom line is that I have absolutely no intention, no intention whatsoever, of surrendering or retreating from the mission of government ... to improve the quality of life for each and every Kentuckian in each and every one of our counties."
He has delivered variations on those comments often during his first year in office, a year marked by budgetary woes. It's a recurring theme that suggests Beshear doesn't want to settle for being a caretaker governor. Frankly, though, what he offered Thursday in response to the current shortfall was the plan of a caretaker governor.
And Radio Host Leland Conway (from bipps.org):
"We need to make clear that this budget shortfall does not mean that the state is out of money. If you sat down and worked out a budget as though you earned $150K per year, while actually earning $75K per year, you would have a budget shortfall too. You’d have a budget that includes too much spending."
-snip-
"While many other states are begging for bailouts and raising taxes on everything under the sun, Kentucky could be building its future."
Earlier, we called this a Too-Much-Spending Crisis, and it is. But the real crisis is that Kentucky is unfriendly to entrepreneurship and isn't competitive with our southern neighbors because our tax and regulatory systems are too discouraging.
Now is the time to propose and champion real change, and instead our business organizations line up to increase taxes. This is Kentucky's dysfunction: the entire political system, outside and inside government, is overwhelmed with folks who prefer getting along with each other to challenging a system that everyone recognizes hasn't gotten us where we want to be.
