"Dog Don't Hunt"

Today's "editorial" in the Osceola News Gazette shows that the periodical has once again slipped into a state of nonsensical babel surrounded by advertising. In today's Gazette editorial called "Reform needed for state taxes," they express dismay that the talk of raising taxes in the state during tough economic times is considered heresy. They believe, just like many of our local politicians believe, that raising taxes should be on the agenda for legislators this year. "Our legislators and local elected officials – as well as their constituents – have to be open-minded on the issue of raising more revenue," championed the editorial staff. Well, as some of those "constituents", the WayneWho staff thinks "Dog Don't Hunt."

First lets start off with the most simple of discussions so that the Gazette's editorial staff can keep up. If state officials have learned anything over the past year it is that tax revenue is not necessarily stable. While you might selectively raise taxes on some items and services this year, there is no guarantee that the income will be the same or increase the next. The taxes paid on gasoline are supposed to go toward fixing roads, but in a year where we have seen gas tax collections at their highest and lowest, the extra cash to fix the roads is non-existent. Why? Because as tax collections rose because the the price of gas went up, so did the cost to actually fix the roads and run the equipment fueled on 'gas' that are required to make the repairs. This past year has taught economist lessons on the inter-connectivity of economies. Or in the most simple terms, that we would be happy to chart in Crayon for our friends at the Gazette, economies are based on a zero sum gain. Even more simply, there is only a certain amount of cash and for the state to have more means that the people have less. It is a simple idea of balancing an equation. If you raise taxes on Internet sales or packs of cigarettes, you are taking money that people and business would use for a purchase on something else and giving it to the politicians. While many will easily point a finger at raising taxes on cigarettes as a way to increase revenue, how many convenience store workers will you put out of work because people will either stop buying cigarettes or the impulse buys that they once had the cash for. It is these incidentals that keep the convenience store industry moving forward. And for those politicians, and periodical editors, who say, "they won't stop buying cigarettes," aren't you the same people who told us the housing boom was going to go on forever? And the idea of raising taxes on Internet sales by targeting the hospitality industry is just moronic. While companies such as Expedia are probably making good money by not paying as much in Internet sales tax as a brick and mortar location, they are doing the one thing that billions of dollars lost in Visitor Bureaus around the state has not been able to do, they are bringing people to Florida and they are helping to keep the hospitality industry alive.

Which leads us to our final lesson for those who view raising taxes as something mandatory in a depressionary economy. Why should we give government more money? What grand thing has government done that is so wonderful that they deserve a raise? Between state and local governments we are not even sure who to point the finger at as far as who has screwed up the worst. Failing schools, failing roads, local businesses closing up leaving long stretches of strip malls vacant and millions unemployed, and the Gazette and local elected officials think that government deserves even more money. That is like giving a mechanic who you just paid to replace your spark plugs more money because he mistakenly replaced all of your tires. That dog don't hunt.

And for all of the scare tactics about cutting critical services coming from sources like the Gazette because some politician e-mailed them the information, knock it off. How can threats like this get put into print when we have the politicians pushing for spending our money on a project like the "Smog Line" heavy rail system that is supposed to move people to jobs that don't exist? Critical services are the basic function of government. This is their sole purpose. Critical services are not convention centers, sports arenas or even jello and coleslaw wrestling venues dotting the abandoned vine street corridor. Tax us for the services that you are supposed to provide and scrap everything else. That sounds like a great title for the Gazette's next editorial, and if nothing else, it is a dog that will hunt.