It was too late to get it into this article, but county administrator Jeremy Willmoth said that the county basically held the same position as city officials in opposing concealed carry into public buildings. Ditto the proposed state tax plan that would cap the amount of property taxes local governments could collect, without a public vote.
The sales tax exemption on food that legislators are also contemplating is not going well over at City Hall, either. Indeed, it would feel like a bit of a sucker punch from state lawmakers because the public voted for those sales tax increases to pay for road improvements and debt financing on the new hospital, and now Topeka would shrink those funds.
This really is meddling with the tax code in a short-sighted zeal to cut taxes. State lawmakers, it seems, don't really know what they want because they claim they want to balance the budget and build a reserve, yet are proposing all these tax breaks and cuts they "hope" will spur growth.
Growth actually is occurring right now and being frugal with spending and creating a reserve fund over time seems like the prudent thing to do, not handing out tax cuts that could blow bigger holes in the budget.
And it hampers local government, which is closest to the people and the one that can suit its community's needs the most.
But City officials won't get much support on this, or the concealed carry issue, from our local legislators. They pretty much are fervent anti-tax pro-gun lawmakers.
It will be interesting to see whether the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida will push the dial back, away from concealed carry and looser use-of-force laws for citizens. This article inthe National Review probes the question well.
A novice's take on the local, state and national political scenes
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David Allen
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2 comments:
Two things I find interesting:
1. The media has all ready tried and convicted the person involved in the shooting in Florida. The police and DA haven't even finished the investigation, but our impartial media has deemed guilt.
2. A few months ago when five black males in KC poured gasoline on a white male and set him on fire, there was no cries of racism. Even though witnesses reported them saying "that's what you deserve whitey.."
Now in Florida a black male is shot by a Hispanic male and there are massive protests and even Obama has to weigh in on the subject. The impartial media feeds the flames, by only showing pictures of the victim when he was 10 or 12. The media also conveniently forgets to mention the shooter was Hispanic.
Violence, crime, and murder is a tragedy, regardless of race, or religion etc. However it appears that the media considers some events "more tragic" than others...
I agree that the gun thing is not the right direction to go. HOWEVER when is putting more money into people's pocket such a bad thing? The cost of groceries and gas have skyrocketed.
There are only two people in my house and I spend $75 to $100 a week and I'm not even buying meat. That is not including household items such as laundry soap, paper supplies and such. To cut sales tax on groceries is awesome and I hope it passes. Think of the low income people that could really use that extra few dollars a week in their pocket.
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