State Of The State. Any Thoughts

[sauerkraut]

Any thoughts about the  State of the state address? I thought it was very good, Fallin's  pressure to cut our state  income taxes is a good thing. Mary Fallin mentioned that Oklahoma's ecomony is the 4th strongest in the nation- that's pretty impressive.. Oklahoma's income tax is still very high Mary Fallin needs to work on getting rid of that tax totally. The State of Kansas is thinking about doing away with their state income tax, that would hurt Oklahoma if they do that. Anyhow I was very impressed with the State Of the State. The Governor has Oklahoma on the right course for a stong economy. The state of Oklahoma has attracted many new jobs.

[Townsend]

Any thoughts about Mary Fallin's  State of the state? I thought it was very good, her pressure to cut our state  income taxes is great. Mary Fallin mentioned that Oklahoma's ecomony is the 4th strongest in the nation- that's pretty impressive.. Oklahoma's income tax is still very high Mary Fallin needs to work on getting rid of that tax totally. The State of Kansas is thinking about doing away with their state income tax, that would hurt Oklahoma if they do that. Anyhow I was very impressed with the State Of the State. Mary Fallin has Oklahoma on the right course for a stong economy. The state of Oklahoma has attracted many new jobs.

Talking about yourself in third person is creepy.

[Conan71]

She is talking about cutting the income tax rate from 5.25% to 5%.  That is hardly enough to attract vast amounts of new employers to relocate here.

Of course that means less revenue which has to be made up by increasing "fees" or local and county sales taxes because we are doing nothing to decrease the size of government.  If Republican lawmakers and other elected officials would actually pair spending cuts with tax cuts, we would get somewhere.  Instead, we bump along from one financial crisis to the next, and on a national level keep digging a deeper pit of debt.

[Hoss]

Six words.

I voted for the other candidate.

[Hoss]

Talking about yourself in third person is creepy.

Sauerkraut talking has proven to be creepy.  Talking in the third person doesn't really change that.

[Townsend]

Sauerkraut talking has proven to be creepy.  Talking in the third person doesn't really change that.

What was GG's term for him?

If GG's got issues with him, you know Sauerkraut's a bad person.

[Gaspar]

She is talking about cutting the income tax rate from 5.25% to 5%.  That is hardly enough to attract vast amounts of new employers to relocate here.

Of course that means less revenue which has to be made up by increasing "fees" or local and county sales taxes because we are doing nothing to decrease the size of government.  If Republican lawmakers and other elected officials would actually pair spending cuts with tax cuts, we would get somewhere.  Instead, we bump along from one financial crisis to the next, and on a national level keep digging a deeper pit of debt.

Symbolic.  I'm disappointed. 

Drop to 3%, increase sales tax, and decrease spending significantly.

[swake]

Symbolic.  I'm disappointed.  

Drop to 3%, increase sales tax, and decrease spending significantly.

So you want to flip income taxes to a regressive tax that taxes the poor disproportionally? That makes good sense.

And decrease state spending on what? Roads? Prisons? Education is down $200 million from 2008 spending levels with thousands of additional students. Her proposal is to restore $13 million of that money. Is that where you want to cut? We could cut DHS, except for the lawsuits over our lack of spending there. How about we cut mental health services, how does that idea sound?

This is mindless posturing to further her political career. She also turned down Medicare funding, even though it was a 9-1 federal match program that probably would be tax revenue neutral with the additional economic activity from that additional healthcare spending. That's aside from the good of covering hundreds of thousands of the working poor that currently have no insurance. No surprise though, with her other proposals it's obvious how much she cares for the poor.

[sauerkraut]

She is talking about cutting the income tax rate from 5.25% to 5%.  That is hardly enough to attract vast amounts of new employers to relocate here.

Of course that means less revenue which has to be made up by increasing "fees" or local and county sales taxes because we are doing nothing to decrease the size of government.  If Republican lawmakers and other elected officials would actually pair spending cuts with tax cuts, we would get somewhere.  Instead, we bump along from one financial crisis to the next, and on a national level keep digging a deeper pit of debt.

Any cut in taxes helps. Fallin has to fight against some members of the state house who don't want to cut taxes. Oklahomas state income taxes are a bit on the high side compaired to other states  even after the new  tax cut, I'd also like to see the Oklahoma sales taxes done away with on all food items - like they say "Food Taxes are hard to swallow" Most states don't tax food. Oklahoma is doing good and on course, even with Obama destroying the national economy.

[Townsend]

Any cut in taxes helps. Fallin has to fight against some members of the state house who don't want to cut taxes. Oklahomas state income taxes are a bit on the high side compaired to other states  even after the new  tax cut, I'd also like to see the Oklahoma sales taxes done away with on all food items - like they say "Food Taxes are hard to swallow" Most states don't tax food. Oklahoma is doing good and on course, even with Obama destroying the national economy.

Making fun of this is like poking a legless pig in the eyes.  It's pointless and mean.

[Hoss]

Any cut in taxes helps. Fallin has to fight against some members of the state house who don't want to cut taxes. Oklahomas state income taxes are a bit on the high side compaired to other states  even after the new  tax cut, I'd also like to see the Oklahoma sales taxes done away with on all food items - like they say "Food Taxes are hard to swallow" Most states don't tax food. Oklahoma is doing good and on course, even with Obama Failin' destroying the national state economy.

FIFY

[Gaspar]

So you want to flip income taxes to a regressive tax that taxes the poor disproportionally? That makes good sense.

And decrease state spending on what? Roads? Prisons? Education is down $200 million from 2008 spending levels with thousands of additional students. Her proposal is to restore $13 million of that money. Is that where you want to cut? We could cut DHS, except for the lawsuits over our lack of spending there. How about we cut mental health services, how does that idea sound?

This is mindless posturing to further her political career. She also turned down Medicare funding, even though it was a 9-1 federal match program that probably would be tax revenue neutral with the additional economic activity from that additional healthcare spending. That's aside from the good of covering hundreds of thousands of the working poor that currently have no insurance. No surprise though, with her other proposals it's obvious how much she cares for the poor.

First of all, taxation on usage does not produce a disproportionate burden on the poor.  On the contrary.  Because it is far more difficult to escape taxation on usage than it is on income through deduction, and loophole, you end up taxing the wealthy at a greater rate and the poor at a lesser rate. It also creates additional revenue streams from commerce, tourism, and the millions of people that just simply pass through our state on their way somewhere else!

As for cuts, there are many areas that are attractive for cuts.  For instance, we will spend over a billion dollars on prisons by 2017.  That represents about an 70% freekin increase since 2012.  Why do we need to be a prison state? 



Because we are a prison state, our court system is backed up with legal cases coming directly out of our prisons.  When you have noting better to do but sit in a cell and think about the bag of weed that put you there, litigating on everything from crusts on your sandwiches to your right to smoke pot in prison becomes attractive.  We'll spend another half a billion on that.
http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=7868364




. . .and since you mention it, lets talk about education.  Is increased spending the answer?  It seems we are spending quite a bit more, and have done so for quite a while.  Is it producing the improvement and return on investment we hope for?  Perhaps we should take a more innovative approach and figure out why minimally financed carter and small private schools can produce higher test scores with similar per-student spending?  Perhaps we need to be selective and reward our teachers more, and administrators less? 



BUT. . .Cuts do not equal revenue as the Republicans and many Democrats want you to think (because government cannot help but spend more).  Growth is the only thing that actually creates lasting revenue, so our primary focus should be on growth, and that happens when our state is attractive for investment.  Our secondary concern should be on containing expenses.  For the life of me I will never understand how over the last decade the concept of operating a balanced budget became blasphemy.

[sauerkraut]

We can't tax & spend our way to a strong economy. Tax cuts make a strong economy by causing growth. We are not under taxed, the government is spending too much- both state & federal gov's. That's why Mary Fallin wants to cut taxes. Oklahoma needs to cut taxes and cut spending. IMO Fallin is not going far enough with tax cuts. If you like paying high taxes move to California or  New York you'll love it..

[Townsend]

We can't tax & spend our way to a strong economy. Tax cuts make a strong economy by causing growth. We are not under taxed, the government is spending too much- both state & federal gov's. That's why Mary Fallin wants to cut taxes. Oklahoma needs to cut taxes and cut spending. IMO Fallin is not going far enough with tax cuts. If you like paying high taxes move to California or  New York you'll love it..

I assume you don't like education.

[Hoss]

I assume you don't like education.

You owe me a soda for that one.