Sunday, June 28, 2009

If I Told You...

We all know the old joke that goes, "If I told you, I would have to kill you". Well, that's a little like the last few days in the legislature. Suffice it to say that DSEA is working very hard to reduce the impact of budget cuts on your salary and that furthermore the politics have been harsh.

In terms of grassroots engagement that can be helpful, I would recommend contacting your legislator and letting them know that taxation is preferable to budget cuts and cuts to state employees salaries. Moreover, it is better for the economy. Modest taxation takes less money directly out of the economy than does a salary cut to a working class state employee.

Also, taxation at upper income brackets redistributes wealth. Yes, I said it, "redistributes wealth". It has very much fallen out of fashion to say that about taxation these days. However, progressive taxation does redistribute wealth and that is a good thing. It is better to have 10 people earning $50,000 a year than to have one guy earning $500,000 a year. And the one guy making $500,000 should give back more to the commonweal. We have forgotten that as a state and a nation and now we are paying the price.

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Today, yes on Sunday, was Bond Committee. There were two items of note. First, most school construction projects will be able to move forward in 2010. Second, this state should take a strong look at the Strategic Fund. This is the fund which supports economic development projects. The problem is that sometimes this amounts to attempting to entice corporations into Delaware with corporate welfare. Sometimes that game has to be played nowadays. However, there should be full transparency about the Strategic Fund. We should also have corporate accountability. If a corporation receives taxpayer money, they should produce the jobs they promise, the jobs should pay a livable wage with health benefits, the employer should have a record of obeying labor laws and environmental laws.

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