State revenues are up - some 12.7 percent for the first half of the 2007 budget year - so why not give that money to big, profitable corporations instead of the people of Mississippi? It's not a point you're likely to hear made on the campaign trail. No matter. Actions speak louder than words anyway.
Mississippi's revenues are up, yet its mental health centers went under-funded by an estimated $20 million this year. Gulf Coast residents are still struggling nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina. Every year public education officials have to beg for cash. By the way, weren't gambling casinos supposed to solve our public education woes?
Mississippi has always prided itself on being the most Southern of states. However, what's so "Southern" about a state whose political leaders refuse to reform a tax code that punishes the poor and rewards the rich? Even Alabama last year approved a long-overdue cut in its taxes on the poor, raising the threshold in which a family of four begins paying income taxes from $4,600 to $12,500. Arkansas recently agreed to cut its sales tax on groceries from 6 to 3 percent.
It is entirely irresponsible to buy into the extortion system of attracting big employeers. Most job growth comes from new independent businesses while large ones just consolidate in one place. Money would be far better spent creating platforms for Mississippians to sell their goods in the broader market and helping to educate folks so that they can be good employees or start their own businesses.
The Hattiesburg American Link
One thought about the deal about Casinos funding education.
ReplyDeleteBlame the legislature. All revenues go into the general fund and are not dedicated. This the general fund can be divied up as the legislature sees fit. This is one reason for the fiscal mismanagement and irresonsibility we have suffered from in our state finances for a long time.