Same story, different economy

Since January 20th, Americans have become familiar with the liberal mantra "never waste a good crisis" (thank you Rahm Emanuel). But there is another leftist concept that utterly confuses free-thinking, right-minded individuals during a recession. It goes something like this: "If it aint' broke...tax it!" And North Carolinians will likely become more and more acquainted with the idea as our good Governor's term proceeds.

Case in point: the so-called "Sin Tax." Historically, when the economy has slowed, sales on tobacco and alcohol have remained relatively steady. Logically then (at least in the minds of democrats) State Senate Leader Marc Basnight (D-Dare) announced his support for the provisions in Gov. Bev Purdue's 21 billion dollar budget that call for a $1 per pack tax hike on cigarettes and a 5% surcharge on alcohol. They argue that the two increases on "discretionary purchases" will bring in an additional 508 million dollars for the state. Perhaps that would be the case IF the equation were as simple as higher taxes = higher revenues. Unfortunately, it's just not that easy.

It's hard to believe that our state's highest elected officials don't understand the relationship between taxes and employment. For those of us in the real world, it's pretty basic. The more expensive it is for a business to exist, the more likely it is for that business to fail. Bearing in mind that unemployment hit 10.7% last month (the highest on record for the state and currently 4th worst in the nation) the question becomes: why would Gov. Perdue raise taxes on the tobacco industry which employs about 65,000 North Carolinians? And with Dare Co. leading the way with 17.3% unemployment, why would Sen. Basnight support a tax increase on alcohol that would effectively raise the cost of business for a major portion of his county's economy,i.e., RESTAURANTS. Not to mention the "mom & pop" stores that are already fighting for their existence. Why now?

Democrats have always tried to find crafty ways to raise taxes in order to prop up failing sectors of government or to fill any budgetary gaps. This is nothing new. What IS new, however, is that due to the current state of our economy, they're running short on targets. Leaving many of their own constituents in the cross-hairs. It is times like these that illustrate one of the many fundamental flaws in the democrat agenda: It just doesn't pay to be a successful business under a liberal government. In fact, it can be down right expensive.

Neighborly concern or political grand-standing?

At the March 2nd BOC meeting, Commissioner Nelms volunteered to sacrifice $5000 of his (as well as his fellow commissioner's) yearly stipend in a valiant effort to prevent layoffs of county employees. What a guy... The thing is, according to County Manager Dan Scanlon, no county jobs are currently in jeopardy. Nor are there any plans to raise taxes.
In another statement, Nelms declared that members of the Board are "seven of the best paid commissioners" in the state. Well, not exactly. In fact, Chairman Etheridge later noted that some commissioners in other parts of the state are paid upwards of $30k per year.
In the spirit of unity and cohesion, one can assume that Mr. Nelms' suggestion was simply a misguided attempt to save the day and, in truth, it IS important that our represenatives on the BOC remain open to new means of saving our tax dollars and improving our community. However, one can't help but feel as though this was simply a public relations move and the cynic in me has to wonder if it was a round-about attempt to make a $5k personal donation to the commissioner's reelection campaign fund.