Isn't this almost an exact copy of a Simpson's episode (substitute clean safe n*clear power for natural gas)? Life imitates art again, this time as farce.
I wrote this letter about education on Chris Potter's blog, but my family rides the bus as well as goes to school. So here's a slightly modified version.
Dear Legislator,
I’ve been reading the governor’s budget (Honest! It's at www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/do… if you don't believe me!) and have noticed that our state currently gives away more in special tax exemptions than we actually spend on education and public transit. I’m sure some of those exemptions are great public policy, but some seem stupid.
To keep things simple, I propose that you please choose one of the following two options. Either:
A) vote to cut $90 million from the education budget and $64 million from transit; or,
B) vote to repeal the sales tax exemptions for coal ($120M, p. D47) and candy ($90M, p. D43), eliminating roughly $100 – $200 million in stupid giveaways of state tax revenue, and use this recovered revenue to restore this year’s education and transit cuts.
It look like your current priorities are to take away our kids' music teacher and grampa's ACCESS so that we can buy them candy tax free.
Maybe there’s something I’m missing here, I’ve never done this before and I’m not a lawyer or a tax accountant. If so, please explain why candy and coal are tax exempt.
I'd be thrilled to know the opinion of Dennis or any reasonably good facscimile about the following letter:
Dear Legislator,
I’ve been reading the governor’s budget and have noticed that our state currently gives away more in special tax exemptions than we actually spend on education. I’m sure some of those exemptions are great public policy, but some seem stupid.
To keep it simple, I propose that you please choose one of the following two options. Either:
A) vote to cut $90 million from the education budget; or,
B) vote to repeal the sales tax exemptions for coal ($120M, p. D47) and candy ($90M, p. D43), eliminating roughly $100 – $200 million in stupid giveaways of state revenue, and use $90 million of this recovered revenue to restore this year’s education cuts.
It seems foolish that we take away our kids' music teacher so that we can buy them candy tax free.
Maybe there’s something I’m missing here, I’ve never done this before and I’m not a lawyer or a tax accountant. If so, please explain why candy and coal are tax exempt.
Sincerely yours, etc.
OTWFG412
ps: I give you permission to let any extra $$$ stick somewhere to your Velcro wall.
C'mon guys, I know it's hard not to indulge in rhetorical excess in a blog post (worse yet, commenting on a blog post! my pores must reek of loserdom), but let's leave the Governor's feet and Jessie's nails out of this. And let's not post under lame puns of Dennis's name. The real Dennis can e-mail Chris, we'll get an authentic Roddy post that we can trust (hint: it wouldn't have the typos), and we can get back to the issues.
Or, better yet, head over to Yinzercation and elevate the discussion to where it ought to be. Some teacher salaries and benefits are too high, and pensions are a ticking time bomb that need to be addressed regardless of where you fall on the issue at hand. There are solutions if we seek them together! Let's get to it!
OTFG412
ps: as far as I may have contributed to the degeneration of the discussion, apologies
I agree that scare-quoting "father" and "taxpayer" was a little gratuitous, but it's also true that Dennis is a very senior and public figure in the administration (his job description includes "giving advice to the governor").
I think the problem here is just two different worldviews: Dennis uses his name as his handle but doesn't give lots of details about himself (he's a public figure), while Jessie uses a pseudonymous handle, but provides sufficient details to those who seek them. It's all beautiful. Personally, I hide my identity -- it's the quality of the idea that matters, not who said it or what their bias might be (more important, it's what my WPP case manager has ordered me to do.)
Like Chris I have a very good opinion of Dennis (he did some great work at the P-G, and it's their loss that he's gone), and I'm pleased that someone of his caliber is in the governor's administration. I have a very good opinion of Jessie too -- there are some useful and informative posts over at her blog.
I respectfully disagree with Jessie that "diluting grassroots commentary with administration talking points" is a bad thing. This budget is a hard problem to solve, and we need all points of view to do it. Having one from the governor's office is good, even if it's biased. Keeps us on our toes, and in a way, is kind of a compliment.
It appears that Dennis and Jessie agree on one thing: we need to find the money, and it's a very good question where to look.
I respectfully disagree with Dennis though, that you can't find $5B, or for that matter that health and welfare make up 70% of the state's expenditures, but I'll post about that over on Yinzercation, where the policy action is at (that's http://yinzercation.wordpress.com -- call before midnight tonight!).
OWFG412
Apparently obligatory full disclosure: not only have I never met Jessie's brothers, I didn't even know she had them! I haven't met Dennis's or Chris's either. The only Bram I know is Stoker, and I'm pretty sure he's (un?)dead.
Recent Comments
Dear Legislator,
I’ve been reading the governor’s budget (Honest! It's at www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/do… if you don't believe me!) and have noticed that our state currently gives away more in special tax exemptions than we actually spend on education and public transit. I’m sure some of those exemptions are great public policy, but some seem stupid.
To keep things simple, I propose that you please choose one of the following two options. Either:
A) vote to cut $90 million from the education budget and $64 million from transit; or,
B) vote to repeal the sales tax exemptions for coal ($120M, p. D47) and candy ($90M, p. D43), eliminating roughly $100 – $200 million in stupid giveaways of state tax revenue, and use this recovered revenue to restore this year’s education and transit cuts.
It look like your current priorities are to take away our kids' music teacher and grampa's ACCESS so that we can buy them candy tax free.
Maybe there’s something I’m missing here, I’ve never done this before and I’m not a lawyer or a tax accountant. If so, please explain why candy and coal are tax exempt.
Sincerely yours, etc.
OTWFG412
Dear Legislator,
I’ve been reading the governor’s budget and have noticed that our state currently gives away more in special tax exemptions than we actually spend on education. I’m sure some of those exemptions are great public policy, but some seem stupid.
To keep it simple, I propose that you please choose one of the following two options. Either:
A) vote to cut $90 million from the education budget; or,
B) vote to repeal the sales tax exemptions for coal ($120M, p. D47) and candy ($90M, p. D43), eliminating roughly $100 – $200 million in stupid giveaways of state revenue, and use $90 million of this recovered revenue to restore this year’s education cuts.
It seems foolish that we take away our kids' music teacher so that we can buy them candy tax free.
Maybe there’s something I’m missing here, I’ve never done this before and I’m not a lawyer or a tax accountant. If so, please explain why candy and coal are tax exempt.
Sincerely yours, etc.
OTWFG412
ps: I give you permission to let any extra $$$ stick somewhere to your Velcro wall.
Or, better yet, head over to Yinzercation and elevate the discussion to where it ought to be. Some teacher salaries and benefits are too high, and pensions are a ticking time bomb that need to be addressed regardless of where you fall on the issue at hand. There are solutions if we seek them together! Let's get to it!
OTFG412
ps: as far as I may have contributed to the degeneration of the discussion, apologies
I think the problem here is just two different worldviews: Dennis uses his name as his handle but doesn't give lots of details about himself (he's a public figure), while Jessie uses a pseudonymous handle, but provides sufficient details to those who seek them. It's all beautiful. Personally, I hide my identity -- it's the quality of the idea that matters, not who said it or what their bias might be (more important, it's what my WPP case manager has ordered me to do.)
Like Chris I have a very good opinion of Dennis (he did some great work at the P-G, and it's their loss that he's gone), and I'm pleased that someone of his caliber is in the governor's administration. I have a very good opinion of Jessie too -- there are some useful and informative posts over at her blog.
I respectfully disagree with Jessie that "diluting grassroots commentary with administration talking points" is a bad thing. This budget is a hard problem to solve, and we need all points of view to do it. Having one from the governor's office is good, even if it's biased. Keeps us on our toes, and in a way, is kind of a compliment.
It appears that Dennis and Jessie agree on one thing: we need to find the money, and it's a very good question where to look.
I respectfully disagree with Dennis though, that you can't find $5B, or for that matter that health and welfare make up 70% of the state's expenditures, but I'll post about that over on Yinzercation, where the policy action is at (that's http://yinzercation.wordpress.com -- call before midnight tonight!).
OWFG412
Apparently obligatory full disclosure: not only have I never met Jessie's brothers, I didn't even know she had them! I haven't met Dennis's or Chris's either. The only Bram I know is Stoker, and I'm pretty sure he's (un?)dead.