Will It Be Business As Usual With The Budget Games?

January 8, 2003

They’re back, people.   The budget crisis crowd has returned with a vengeance and we haven’t even started the 2003 legislative session.   Sundquist’s last slap in the face to the Tennessee taxpayer was to form a tax study commission chock full of pro-income tax folks like former state senator Bob Rochelle.   Governor-elect Bredesen is filling his cabinet with pro-income tax advocates like Dave Goetz, who has been named his finance commissioner, in charge of putting together budgets and managing the state’s finances.

I had predicted that Matt Kisber, the pro-income tax legislator who retired after this last session, would join the Bredesen administration.   I thought it would be as finance commissioner but apparently there was too much heat on him for that.   He had to settle for the economic and community development spot.   Still, this stacking of the deck with pro-income taxers is not consistent with Bredesen’s campaign pledge that he will balance the budget without an IT, nor does it bode well for the taxpayers of the state.  

The foxes are now inside the henhouse.

However, Mr. Bredesen’s comments in recent days still lead one to believe that he will cut the budget instead of raise taxes.   I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.   I sincerely hope he’s successful as governor.   I’m not one of those wanting to merely score political points with this issue.   There’s far too much at stake for our state.   If Governor-elect Bredesen can solve the budget problems without raising taxes, I will be his loudest cheerleader.

He will have to overcome the dogged determination of the pro-income tax movement.   They’re already twisting the new revenue numbers to make it appear that we have no option but to raise taxes.

Let’s look at the facts.

Sundquist, Naifeh, et al gave us the largest tax increase in the history of the state this past summer, an almost $1 billion increase.   Tax revenues for the first two months of this fiscal year were up 9.2 percent each month over the same period last year.   Collections for September were up 16.8 percent.   October, 14.7 percent.   That’s an average increase in revenue over last year of 12.5 percent!   Yet all you hear about is that we’re facing another budget crisis.   You know why?   Because the bozos running things down at the Capitol predicted a larger increase than 12.5 percent and spent accordingly.  

The fiscally responsible thing to do would have been to increase spending at a moderate rate but this government knows no moderation.   They screw things up year after year with rosier than realistic revenue predictions then come back to us and tell us we have a crisis.   Well, they created the crisis!

It burns me up that this state government can’t make do with a 12.5 percent increase when inflation is running around 2 percent.   It infuriates me that they tell us they need an 8 to 10 percent increase in the budget therefore they need to raise taxes, we give it to them and they outspend even that generous tax increase.

I’m sick to death of it.   This goes beyond incompetence, although there’s plenty of that going around.   This is malfeasance and it should not be tolerated any longer.   Do you realize how many states would love to have had a 12.5 percent increase in revenue this year?   Many were cutting services instead.   Now it’s time we do the same.   The only way to solve this problem is to starve the beast.   I hope Mr. Bredesen has the courage to do it.   If he does, we should back him all the way.   If not, it’s Sundquist Part II.   I prefer the former to the latter.