About
Learn More about our progressive online community for the Granite State.

Create an account today (it's free and easy) and get started!
Menu

Make a New Account

Username:

Password:



Forget your username or password?


Search




Advanced Search


The Masthead
Managing Editors


Jennifer Daler

Contributing Writers
elwood
Mike Hoefer
susanthe
William Tucker

ActBlue Hampshire

The Roll, Etc.
Prog Blogs, Orgs & Alumni
Bank Slate
Betsy Devine
birch, finch, beech
Democracy for NH
Live Free or Die
Mike Caulfield
Miscellany Blue
Granite State Progress
Seacoast for Change
Still No Going Back
Susan the Bruce
Tomorrow's Progressives

Politicos & Punditry
The Burt Cohen Show
John Gregg
Krauss
Landrigan
Lawson
Pindell
Primary Monitor
Primary Wire
Scala
Schoenberg
Spiliotes
Welch

Campaigns, Et Alia.
Paul Hodes
Carol Shea-Porter
Ann McLane Kuster
John Lynch
Jennifer Daler

ActBlue Hampshire
NHDP
DCCC
DSCC
DNC

National
Balloon Juice
billmon
Congress Matters
DailyKos
Digby
Hold Fast
Eschaton
FiveThirtyEight
MyDD
The Next Hurrah
Open Left
Senate Guru
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo

50 State Blog Network
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin

"Taxophobia"

by: Jennifer Daler

Thu Mar 12, 2009 at 08:10:43 AM EDT


There is an   interesting column by Peter Harkness in the March, 2009 issue of Governing. One of the premises is that tax codes for states need to be analyzed and overhauled to reflect the change from an industrial/manufacturing system, to a post-industrial system based on a service economy. New Hampshire's reliance on the property tax seems to have skipped over the industrial era, but that really doesn't matter now as we are not alone: other  states have budgets with structural deficits. But none can keep going the way they have been if they want to stay economically viable.
more below the fold
Jennifer Daler :: "Taxophobia"
Harkness opens his piece by quoting President Obama urging us to "set aside childish things". Like expecting something for nothing.(bold in all quotes mine)

Pulling out of the economic muck isn't the only benefit that can stem from rethinking the tax question. States in particular need to modernize their tax structures so they can be assured of adequate revenues down the road. Many states are in structural deficit, even in relatively good times. Their tax codes were written decades ago, when manufacturing, rather than services, was the country's primary economic engine. Not only are many states depending on revenue from industries that no longer generate as much revenue as they used to, but the tax codes themselves are becoming a drag on economic growth.

Later in the article, Harkness, using California as an example, says cutting spending only goes so far

In a revealing analysis of the California budget crisis, the San Jose Mercury News noted recently that if the state, which is facing a combined two-year deficit of $42 billion, were to lay off every one of its 230,000 employees, it wouldn't solve even half the problem. So it's hard to see how the state can cut its way out of this mess. But since a two-thirds vote of the legislature is required to pass a tax increase in California, it's easy for the anti-taxers to block a solution that includes realistic revenue reform.

We are at a crossroads in New Hampshire, and have been stuck there for a very long time. Say, fifteen years or so. About a year ago, I had an idea that all constituencies in the state should come together and have an open discussion about this issue. My original thought was to focus on education funding, but it probably should be broader than that. There is a method for facilitating such discussions known as Future Search. Someone told me that the town of Harrisville successfully used this facilitation method with respect to planning. Anyone with experience please comment.

The bottom line is, we can't have public services without paying for them. It's funny how I heard no real outrage when gasoline prices were about $4.00 a gallon. (Big oil companies are the only ones in the black these days.)Health insurance premiums have skyrocketed out of control. One year, my family's premium went up 55%. If taxes went up like that, people would be headed to the barricades. One could argue that it is a "choice" to carry health insurance. But is it?

It is my hope that we can have a dialog and work through what services we want the state to pay for and how that should be done. First, we have to cure ourselves of "taxophobia". A phobia is an irrational fear. And there is a fear--a fear of even discussing the problem. A fear of the so-called "third rail" of New Hampshire politics. This phobia, like all phobias, is destructive. If it is not cured, there will surely be worse diseases of the body politic.

Tags: , (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email
"Taxophobia" | 10 comments
The Craig Benson Confiscatory Tax (4.00 / 1)
$1+ billion in new state revenue. Problem solved, justice served.

Seriously, I agree with every point this diary makes. It's time we paid for the government our society wants and needs.


Government does the thing every business advisor will tell you is suicide (4.00 / 5)
It sees every cost as an "expense" rather than an investment.

It's as if a company acts like the computer they bought the tech guy was a favor to the tech guy.

There's reform needed on the other side of the equation as well -- we need to spend less (or maybe the same) on traditional institutions, and more on the infrastructure that allows public networks to grow.

I've got some thoughts on how this applies to education here:

http://mikecaulfield.com/2009/...

The first 2 paras are inside baseball a bit from a roundtable I did in NYC, the key is the public/private | institutional/networked model that is down page a bit.



Thank you, thank you, thank you! (4.00 / 1)
Yes, we need to have a real conversation about this.  The agony for small towns of the school budget is getting unbearable.  We could do the town budget on property taxes, but the school is just getting impossible.  A few of us keep saying we can't go on this way, but no conversation, you just get ignored.  And where we are, if you run for state legislature on finding another way to raise money, you lose.



We believe in prosperity & opportunity, strong communities, healthy families, great schools, investing in our future and leading the world by example. We are Democrats; we are the change you're looking for.


if you can't get a conversation going now (0.00 / 0)
when real estate is in the tank, how realistic is it ever ?  

Annie 2012!

[ Parent ]
Wow, (4.00 / 4)
did we make the right choice asking you to come onto the FP.

This is fantastic, and a much needed discussion.

Phobias keep dysfunction in place.  You are right, the fear itself of even discussing it is destructive.

birch, finch, beech


Much Agreed (0.00 / 0)
Thanks for raising the bar, Jennifer.

[ Parent ]
New Hampshire's "taxophobia" is just an extension of a national issue. (4.00 / 1)
Public opinion matters, and sometimes, bad government is the fault of the people who demand it.

It'd be nice to wake up one day and see that people are ready to debate like grown-ups and accept that government actually does a lot of necessary things for us and we have to pay for it.

Also, in a democracy, "we the people", being sovereign, are responsible for the actions of government.  We have obligations, including the wars these tax cutting panderers started.  We have to pay our bills.

'But,' they protest, 'the issue is not that taxes are too low; spending is too high!'  Okay, fine.  Which entire programs, agencies, departments, and divisions would you like to cut that make up enough appropriation cutting to balance the budget?  None?  You just want to grandstand about drastically underfunding everything, and then about how a ridiculously underfunded government doesn't work? Got it.


right you are (0.00 / 0)
even though hunting and fishing are diminishing in our state, don't try suggesting Fish & Game be combined with Parks or something like that - you'll get a lot of hate mail.

It's all about the performance. Bellowing and howling are the substitute for discussion and logical thinking.  

member of the professional left  


[ Parent ]
Tax o phobia (0.00 / 0)
NEW HAMPSHIRE IS NOT A POOR STATE----IT IS A CHEAP STATE!-----------------THE NH TAX ADVANTAGE IS NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS THE MOST REGRESSIVE TAX STRUCTURE IN THE NORTH EAST------TIS A GREAT STATE TO BE WEALTHY BUT A POOR STATE TO BE AVERAGE!

"Taxophobia" | 10 comments

Connect with BH
     
Blue Hampshire Blog on Facebook
Powered by: SoapBlox