Louisiana's revenue shortfall problem can be directly related to the $8 billion in lost revenue because of tax exemptions, credits and rebates that go mainly to business for so called job creation and other goodies that the business community lobby for. And of course, elected officials just can't pass up the campaign contributions that go along with their lobby friends.
That $8 billion give away of tax payers money represents 30% of the current $26.5 billion Louisiana budget. That is obscene to every person with common sense. Former governor Blanco not only balanced the state budget but left the Jindal administration a surplus of $1 billion when Jindal took office and a unemployment rate of 3.8%. Jindal and the state legislature has not balanced one state budget since Jindal took office over four years ago.
Here is how Jindal and the legislature has played the budget con game. Jindal announces the budget is out of balance and cuts need to be made. The legislature makes the cuts and then announces the budget is balanced and before the budget year is up, Jindal announces once again the budget is out of balance by millions of dollar and more cuts have to be made. That con game has continued into the past budget year and before this budget year ends Jindal will announce once again the current budget is out of balance by millions of dollars. In my previous commentary here in politidose, I pointed out the same con game would take place before the last fiscal year budget ended and it certainly did happen.
Now we read in the Times Picayune of 7/10/12 in an article by Ed Anderson that Senator Jack Donahue, sponsor of a resolution to create a panel to look into repealing or modifying some of the states tax breaks as a means of increasing revenue for the state. The article says state officials estimate the tax breaks could total $6.8 billion. However, District 102 representative Jeff Arnold in his news letter to the people he represents says the number is $8 billion.
What motivates the decision to look at this Corporate Welfare for business now and not the last four years of this budget con game. Have these elected officials finally seen the light or do they finally realize its time to find some character and courage and put a stop to this transfer of wealth from the middle class. All businesses should pay their fair share.
The last four years of the budget con game of cutting spending by this administration and legislature has gotten into the pockets of the middle class in a hundred different ways while those $8 billion in tax exemptions and etc., has not been touched. President Obama's stimulus has done more to create jobs nationally than Louisiana's $8 billion give away has done for the state. Mr. Anderson should write a commentary comparing how Louisiana's unemployment has done in the first three years under Jindal and compare that with how unemployment has done nationally under the first three years of President Obama. Better yet, Mr. Anderson can just log onto "politidose" and read this writers commentary about the subject matter only a few weeks ago.
The legislature's committee that is supposed to look into this tax exempt matter should remember what Warren Buffett has been saying all along. Taxes are not a burden to businesses making a profit or growing their business and that no good business man ever let taxes stop a new business adventure.
