Pope's Icy Feet

Art Pope yesterday: "A gross transaction tax [by which he appears to mean an across-the-board sales tax on all goods and services], without any regard to whether you're actually making any money, not a tax on net income, I think that's going to hurt the economy," Pope said. "It is regressive in nature, no doubt about it."

Some are suggesting that this stance by Pope, as opposed to what Republican leaders in the General Assembly have been saying, is just shadows on the wall, that their real goal has never been the elimination of the income tax but just a further flattening of rates on high earners and corporations. And that they can achieve that best by whipsawing the public between the extremes and then "compromising" on making life much jollier for the rich.

That's a conspiracy with too many moving parts, IMHO, though the predicted ultimate outcome seems very likely. But I still think it might be a case of cold feet.

Art Pope, Disagreeing with Himself?

The first mention we saw of this very curious example of cognitive dissonance was just before noon today on WRAL reporter Mark Binker's Twitter feed:

#ncgov Budget Dir Art Pope talking to journos at UNC. Says he doesn't think eliminating personal/corp income taxes is a good idea #ncga

This is more than just passing strange, since it's been the Pope-funded "think tank" Civitas Institute that has been promoting the idea that North Carolina would be brimming with fiscal health if we could just eliminate the income tax on the wealthy and on corporations and shift the burden to sales taxes, including most notoriously taxes on groceries and services, like lawn-cutting and hair-shearing.

Art Pope

It's also more than just passing strange, because the GOP-dominated General Assembly of North Carolina is in office largely because of the accumulated expenditures of Mr. Pope, who has drawn his money from five & dime stores across the state (often located in the poorest neighborhoods). Mr. Pope's combined contributions to conservative causes and conservative (Republican) candidates is currently estimated in the $40 million range. Leaders of the GOP in the General Assembly, Mr. Pope's obedient brigade, have already opened up a call for eliminating the state's income tax even before the legislature has actually convened.

The brains behind that state income tax elimination meme is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which is funded by the Koch Boys, who are closely tied to Mr. Pope. If any one of them gets an itch, they all scratch simultaneously.

So ... was Mr. Pope experiencing a fugue state this morning? Did Mark Binker just hear him wrong? Or is he dissembling because (a) Deputy Governor Pat McCrory is getting cold feet or (b) Art Pope Hisownself is getting cold feet? (He has of late complained that he's being personally attacked.)

We'll wait with impatience for Mark Binker's full report on that curious scene at UNC this morning.

John Cole, for NC Policy Watch

Gerrymandering Won't Save Gov. McCrory

Republicans everywhere, including that genius of understatement Joe Scarbrough, are touting gerrymandering as the only reason Republicans still control the U.S. House of Representatives.

We hope they'll keep strutting that stuff, because more voters need to understand just exactly what Art Pope's computer achieved in North Carolina, which is a prime example of the corrosive power-grab that The Gerrymander actually is.

We thank NC Policy Watch for pointing out that "the 13 Democratic candidates for Congress in North Carolina received 81,000 more votes in total than their 13 Republican challengers, even though only four Democrats won their seats."

Maybe the voters of North Carolina will allow that situation to continue indefinitely, to their own detriment, or maybe not.

But those planning to "take out" Sen. Kay Hagan in 2014 might take note that a Senate seat can't be gerrymandered, and Gov. Pat McCrory, already in thrall to the most extreme elements of his party, might also want to pay attention. As a voting whole, North Carolina hasn't shown that much genuine affection for the new Republican "brand," and McCrory's idiot grin may begin to wear thin when he starts signing all that extremist legislation coming out of Raleigh.

Raleigh's "Food Tax Republicans"

A little historical perspective, along with a little economic reality, on the NC GOP's plan to eliminate income taxes on the rich while quadrupling sales taxes on groceries, from the Greensboro News&Record (hattip: Clayton Henkel):

In the early 1960s, Democratic Gov. Terry Sanford pushed for a sales tax on food to raise money for schools. His critics called him “Food Tax Terry,” or something like it, for the rest of his life. 

Today’s Republican legislative leaders should take care they won’t be remembered as “Food Tax Phil” or “Food Tax Thom.” They could be if they take tax reform in the wrong direction.... 

...how would the burden of paying taxes be redistributed? A sales tax is regressive because people with modest incomes are compelled to spend most of what they earn rather than save or invest it. Their taxes as a share of income would increase without some means of offsetting their obligations. Without income tax exemptions, such as for children, larger families could pay a stiff penalty. After all, they have to purchase more food, clothing and other necessities. Rather than pay less taxes with more children, they’d pay more. 

Raising the tax on groceries could be hurtful and unfair, particularly if it’s meant to help make up for revenue lost by eliminating income taxes on high earners. 

North Carolina must devise a tax system that raises enough revenue to fund critical services and make productive investments, and that also requires those who can best afford it pay the largest shares. A nearly 8 percent tax on groceries for the poor would earn the politicians responsible a bad name.

Who's REALLY Pulling the Strings in North Carolina?

The Koch Brothers

It's no accident that at the same time N.C. Senate Republican leader Phil Berger was trotting out his big plan (surprise!) to eliminate corporate and personal income taxes in North Carolina and shift the tax burden to the poor and middle class through big increases in sales taxes, the Republican governor of Nebraska, Dave Heineman, was advocating the exact same thing to Nebraskans in his "state of the state" address.

Lo and behold, Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Sam Brownback in Kansas are singing the same song. What's going on here?

It's the Koch Boys, acting principally through another of their "front" groups, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the outfit that pushed voter photo ID hard across the country, among other regressive measures that comfort the rich and afflict the rest of us.

'Course, in the dear old Tar Heel State, the Koches already had their Right Arm, Art Pope, who is now firmly in control of state government.

The ALEC philosophy for the Second Obama Term: Let the Muslim Kenyan have Washington. We've got the states, or at least some of them, and we intend to impose the Rich Man's Rule as quickly as possible.

(The connections between ALEC and NC Republican members of the General Assembly -- and some Democrats, bless their hearts -- is well documented and public. Phil Berger is on most of those lists, along with other Republican leaders in Raleigh.)

The War on Women in NC Will ACCELERATE

A Pew Research Center study released last week found that 63 percent of those surveyed don’t want Roe v. Wade overturned. Only 38 percent of Catholics -- Catholics -- favor outlawing abortion. Almost half -- 48 percent -- of Republicans favor keeping abortions legal (compared to 74 percent of Democrats).

Ain't no thang, though, to NC General Assembly member Paul "Skip" Stam, who promised an anti-abortion rally in Raleigh yesterday to expect more insulting road blocks for women in North Carolina.

Among other things, Stam said that a law will be introduced (and will undoubtedly pass) to exclude abortion coverage from federal health insurance exchanges, which is in itself kinda funny, since this same bunch also doesn't want anything to do with federal health insurance exchanges. But nevertheless, they'll OUTLAW THE HELL OUT OF ABORTION.

They are in control of women's wombs. Let's have no disagreement on that.

Kevin Siers, in the Charlotte Observer.