Cutting any tax is appealing - to any voter - just look at what President Bush has managed to do in the past few years on the national level. Hey, it's easy.
In North Dakota, the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, spurred on by the recent excess of state tax revenues, has jumped on the tax-cut bandwagon. Secretary of State Al Jaeger has given his OK for the group to collect 12,844 voter signatures to put a measure on the November 2008 election ballot calling for reduction of individual state income tax returns by 50 percent and corporate tax rates by 15 percent. They certainly won't have too much of a problem getting the signatures. Heck, I might even sign it. After all, aren't all Americans in favor of prosperity?
But first, I'd like ex-Gov. Ed Schafer, whose signature heads the new petition, and Duane Sand, the state director of Americans for Prosperity (and the perennial opponent of Conrad, Dorgan and Pomeroy), to tell us all what they would prefer to see cut from the state budget. The devil is in the details, and I think North Dakota voters should have a fair understanding of exactly what services these gentlemen would have the state Legislature eliminate or reduce. After all, the very deep tax cuts this measure would require would eliminate much more than the excess of taxes collected over last biennium.
So, gentlemen, what do you think should be placed on the chopping block? My vote awaits your answer.
