NEWS UPDATES
Goddard Pushes Major Tax Increase
During the 1980's, Arizona suffered through tax increases under Gov. Bruce Babbitt. Arizona's economy also underperformed compared to the national average. In the 90's, things changed. Arizonans elected Fife Symington to be their governor, and between 1993 and 1997...
That’s the Plan
Charlie Crist, who switched from Republican to Independent when Marco Rubio was trouncing him in the polls, said at an editorial board meeting that being down 20 points to Rubio had nothing to do with his change of Party (or long-held positions, apparently). Next...
Non-partisan Pork
Pork plays no favorites. This ad is being run by a Democrat against a Republican. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLyeDD-xNv8
Arizona’s Baseline Spending Reductions
Real reductions in base spending do not add up to $2.2 billion as folks like to claim. More like $700 million. Thanks to JLBC for slide.
Bragging Rights
And the Texas legislature meets only every other year. Source.
Not Bored, Tired
Phonically, it's probably not the headline they intended: "Board trying to bring jobs to Arizona." But there is something to it. In the article that followed the headline, it was reported that Arizona's new Commerce Authority will make recommendations to the...
Hypocrisy Charge (updated)
Linda Valdez, the editorial board member of the Arizona Republic, was kind enough to respond to my question about her Quick Hit on Tuesday, click here for original post. Ms. Valdez explained that her aim was directed at Brewer and the GOP who rail against the federal...
Hypocrisy Charge Needs Context
Hypocrisy is defined as "the practice of professing beliefs, feelings or virtues that one does not hold or possess." I needed to double-check the definition after reading a Quick Hit from Arizona Republic editorial board member Linda Valdez who wrote that Arizona's...
Liberal Policy Group Diminishes State Corporate Tax Cuts
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a paper today saying that corporate income tax cuts don't matter much to a state's economy. We hear the same thing all the time: that taxes don't really matter except when they do. For example, industrial...
An Idle $50 Billion
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has a September 7 blog post arguing why additional government spending is arguably better than tax cuts to stimulate economic growth. I have actually never seen Krugman argue a case where tax cuts are preferred, but that's not...
A Recent History of K-12 Funding in AZ
Education Funding K-12 M&O only All funding sources (state, local, federal) Source: JLBC 2001 $3,899,678,400 2002 $4,437,848,500 +12.8% 2003 $4,749,655,600 +8% 2004 $5,076,776,500 +6.2% 2005 $5,397,481,900 +5.8% 2006 $5,825,724,000 +7.4% 2007 $6,416,123,000 +10.3%...
The Impending Tax Increase
The Goldwater Institute published a smart piece this morning highlighting the importance of two November ballot initiatives that need to pass in order to prevent an even bigger budget hole. You can read it here. Propositions 301 and 302 would take approximately $450...