| The Expense of Ignorance |
15 Aeptember 2003
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Alabama Votes Against Education Spending
Alabama's Republican Governor Bob Riley may not be a profile in courage, but his attempt to increase taxes to improve the state's schools comes awfully close. Voters rejected the idea on Election Tuesday last week, proving that democracy does not necessarily result in wise decisions, merely popular ones.
Governor Riley had proposed a $1.2 billion tax hike, $675 million to cover the expected budget deficit and the rest to go on such things as a longer school year, college scholarhisps, and distance learning that, given Alabama's rural population, might benefit the state. The poor would have gotten off pretty lightly as the threshold for income tax in Alabama would have gone to almost $20,000 per year for a family of four -- it's currently around $4,600. The rich would make it up with higher income and property taxes.
Some 66% of the people voted against the measure, so now the state legislature will come to grips with the state's biggest deficit since the Great Depression and a fiscal year starting October 1. The vote last week puts pressure on them to cut spending (read reduce services and pay) to balance the budget.
Americans hate paying taxes, but they also love government services. Conservative commentator George Will has often said that the American people consume far more government than they wish to pay for, and he is absolutely right. That is the beauty of democracy -- the people, in their infinite folly, vote for programs, they vote against funding those programs, and then, they vote for politicians whom they blame for the mess. Perhaps the government should simply choose a more competent electorate.
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