Democrats are starting to get it ... almost! I have listened to much discussion about the Youth Initiative and find the Democrats arguments interesting since they now seem to realize that the government burden of taxes can influence whether someone stays in this state or leaves. (Although, they seem to believe it has no effect for businesses.) With the budget shortfall, we are facing, I heard many of these same people say we may need to raise taxes to continue the current size of government, but they also want this tax cut for the youth.
The Youth Initiative is nothing more than a tax cut so you may wonder why most Republicans seem to be against a tax cut. Isn't that our issue?
The premise of letting someone keep more of the money they earn is a good one. But here is where they always seem to get it wrong. It is only for a certain segment of the population. The Democrat playbook is to divide and conquer. To pit the young against the elderly, the elderly against the young, the rich against the poor, the Indian and black against the white and on and on.
If it is a good idea to give a tax cut to the young, then it's a better idea to give one to everyone just as they should reduce the burden of taxes for business as a whole instead of choosing favorite industries. In both cases, by choosing segments of people or industries, they are trying to do social engineering.
So I congratulate the Democrats for finally learning what most Republicans have known for many years. Taxes are a hindrance to growth. Now that they understand that, they should be more willing to join the Republicans in our belief that the right thing to do is reduce a percentage of taxes for all working North Dakotans. That would be an incentive for all of us to be here without giving the perception that we need to pay people to stay here.
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Rep. Dan Ruby
R-Minot, N.D.
