TSTA Poll: Improving Education Three Times More Important Than Cutting Property Taxes

Who is to say that the following session they won't then decide to use the new revenue somewhere else? Which is what they did with the Texas Lite-Up program which collected fees to help subsidize electricity bills for the poor. At first, it paid for a 17% reduction in bills. Then 10%. Then last year, the program was cut.  But guess what? We are still paying the fees. They cut the program. But not the fees that paid for it. The fees now go into the "general revenue fund."  The same bait-and-switch was used to get voters to approve the lottery. And to approve Metro in Houston.  Like PT Barnum said, there's a sucker born every minute. Apparently in Texas there's one born every second.

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It's one thing to propose all these things. Quite another to pay for them all. It would be nice to have someone propose alternative funding sources. So far no one has except for Kinky Friedman. All anyone proposes is cutting this tax and raising that tax. And in the end, raising taxes.  I don't know too many people who would approve a state income tax. Or too many people who approve increasing the sales tax.  Most would prefer that those who don't pay taxes start paying them.  And most would prefer that the legislature fund what it says it's going to fund. And then find a way to do so with what they have.  Not what they can get.

The state treasury has how much just sitting around according to the state comptroller's office? No doubt the legislature already has plans for it and will spend it very quickly during the upcoming special session.

And then issue press releases about their latest proposed scam to raise taxes to pay for public education in Texas. 

Why not commit that surplus into a "trust fund" like Kinky Friedman has proposed? 

Sure we are, goodhair...and we'd like leaders we can be proud of, too.

So let's have a tax bill that really asks everyone to pay their fair share, and use that bipartisan Hochberg plan from last summer to actually put some of those tax bucks in our schools instead of giving it all right back to wealthiest property owners to replace what they might have to pay - heaven forbid - in a state business tax.

By the way, you all may not be aware that the pollsters on this poll are bipartisan and two of the best in the nation. Ed Goeas is a respected Republican in DC, considered quite reasonable as such things go. And Democrat Paul Harstad does polling for the likes of Senators Ken Salazar and Barack Obama.

Funny how a really substantive poll by nationally recognized pollsters draws few comments here, but a two bit 400 sample poll for a D primary that has an uncertain electorate draws catfighters galore. But that's true of the mainstream press and public, too, not just BORland.

Politics by personality and scoreboard watching is an epidemic replacing real debate in our ever more fragile democracy. And it's so easy, so petty, so 21st Century Americana.

Keep up the good posts, Phil.

I support a variety Tax reforms that spread the burden as widely and thinly as possible.

A modest increase in Sales Tax that applies to a broader range of products and services.

Expanding the applicability of the Franchisee Tax to more businesses but at a lower overall rate.

Blending the retail Alcohol taxes into one rate. Currently the retail tax for selling Spirits, Wine and Beer is 14%. The tax for selling only Wine and Beer is 8.25%. I propose a single combined rate that would yield revenues slightly above current levels

Raising and Indexing the Gas tax to pay for road construction and maintenance. We have to pay for roads whether it is through a Gas tax or Tolls.

This combination would spread the burden over a larger population of tax payers while keeping the overall amount modest for each taxpayer.

These taxes already have established mechanisms for tax collection.

This new source of funding should be offset by reduced residential AND commerical property taxes.

I favor that Texas spending on public education be based on the national average of spending per student.  Then let school districts and Unions decide the best allocation of this money.
Perhaps as testing results exceed the national average we would raise the investment per student to reward the education industry.

Paul from "Austin Centrist" Blog

Austn Centrist