I been reading and hearing about these tax cuts for weeks now and I still don't understand why exactly we need tax cuts. As it has been covered plenty in this thread, there are a lot of underfunded government agencies which has created an even more inefficient system. It drives me absolutely nuts that these wealthy politicians just want to cut taxes knowing that there are areas in the state that need more funding. We are in the 21st century with a booming population and we refuse to maintain the infrastructure and open spaces that promote a better quality of life for Texans. What's more stupid is we neglect things like roads, bridges, etc for years and years, and then we drop our jaw when we saw what it will cost to reconstruct. Same thing was happening here in Houston until finally someone woke up and realized that we needed to find a way to fund our aging infrastructure and implement a plan to maintain the infrastructure once it is actually in place to increase the lifetime of said infrastructure. I guess keep them stupid (keep cutting public school funding more and more) so they can become sheep and believe every idiotic word that comes out of your mouth. It's too bad, but unfortunately we have way too much stupid in this state to overcome the idiots running our state.
Elections have consequences unfortunately. If we are going to cut taxes, I really hope we take the option that to the least detriment of schools and schooling. Texas has such a large percentage of school aged Hispanic children who will need more investment in the education than the average child. We hurt ourselves more in the long run by siphoning money away from schools at a time when they are facing a tougher demographic situation than they ever have before.
Please, this is a subject I have studied extensively, posted my research paper here on the board. Feel free to counter with any legitimate study, I won't hold my breath, all you are is bigpuffery.
You don't understand why voters would want to keep more of their money? Thanks to withholding and our decrepit public school system, too many think tax cuts are the government dispensing wealth, rather than taking less of it.
Tell me this -- do lower gasoline taxes provide adequate funding for building and maintaining the highways and roads Texans use everyday? A transportation network that used to be the envy of much of the world? A transportation network that is in dire need of maintinence and expansion to service a state growing at an incredible pace? Doesn't it make more sense to increase the gasoline tax? A tax that hasn't been raised since 1991? A tax that in today's dollars amounts to 10-12 cents per gallon? What does spending a hour each way going to work, and that's what countless urban Texans have to do, cost Texas consumers? What is their time worth? What is the cost in gasoline consumption crawling along at a few miles an hour every morning and evening? Does it make more sense to fund Texas highways from declining state revenue, due to the tax cuts Republicans want every legislative session, rather than taxing Texans based on the gasoline they use with a tax that makes sense? A tax at a level that would adequately fund the Department of Transportation? A tax that would encourage the purchase of more fuel efficient cars and trucks? What say you?
Tell me this, do you know of any credible studies linking tax cuts with economic growth? That is what I asked you to provide, not some silly set of hypothetical situations. bigpuffery at his trolliest.
You're dodging my question. How about another one -- do you feel government employees and government departments are operating at 100% efficiency and productivity today? Zero room for improvement?
Says the guy refusing to provide evidence for his contention after claiming that the person who presented an academic paper detailing the complete lack of relationship between tax rates and economic growth had an opinion which was "hilariously ignorant." Cognitive dissonance much? Of course not, but I seriously doubt that there is a single organization on the entire planet which could claim "100% efficiency and productivity," so once again, you present a straw man instead of support for your argument. At this point, you're the one whose opinion appears to be "hilariously ignorant," care to support it or will you continue to avoid such a simple request? bigpuffery at his puffiest.
If people drive smaller cars they would save on gas and car note while reducing road damage. Not all problems have to be solved by the government. It's kind of lame for people to act like only the government can solve problems.
To be fair, Texas' debt/GSP ratio is very manageable at just over 18%. We would get much more bang for the buck with infrastructure projects for short term growth and education for long term growth. http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-texas-debt-clock.html
Straw man, not a single person in this thread, much less anyone that I know of in the United States, has claimed that "only the government can solve problems." Even Bernie Sanders, likely the most liberal person in Congress, doesn't claim anything of the like. Try again, rookie.
At somepoint in time, people have to start helping themselves out. Once you realize how empowering "being the change" truly is, you will begin to make your life more enjoyable. But if you keep asking the government for favors, don't act so dissapointed as you are now. You reap what you sow.
What kind of nonsense is this? People expect the government to fix the roads because that is its JOB (or part of it), not a f!%#ing favor. The biggest problem we have today is not over-reliance on government, but the generation of spoiled middle class conservative morons who bought into all the Reagan era propaganda that "government" is the problem and as a result, refuse to recognize the absolute necessity of government to handle matters that are too big/unprofitable for the private sector (like roads, education and other tangible and intangible infrastructure). it would be fine if they went off to their shack in the woods and left voting to the grown-ups, but instead, they've filled our institutions with pandering clowns like Cruz, Rubio and Ryan who are all too happy to promise a minuscule amount of extra pocket change and dismantle the government to pay for it. Grow up.
who do you think provides monetary incentives to those for buying fuel-efficient cars and puts in regulations to increase MPG requirements?
I'm echoing the words of Ghandi and JFK. If you don't understand what they meant by being the change and taking personal responsibility then that is solely on you and no one else.
