Tuesday's Janesville Gazette contained a stand-alone article promoting the opinions and position of the Finding Forward Coalition, an advocacy group pushing for a "yes" vote on an amendment to the state constitution that would fundamentally change the way tax collections are allocated.
Many supporters of FFC's segregated funds referendum claim the government is "stealing" our money from the transportation fund to pay for other purposes.
The fact is, is the money collected as taxes legally granted to state agencies and districts doesn't belong to any private or public sector interest groups but to only the people of the state of Wisconsin. Excluding growth accounts like pension funds, arbitrarily locking up or shielding specific tax collections ignores economic realities and will hamper state officials enough into budget micromanagement eventually forcing them to raise taxes and fees elsewhere. It's sort of like budgeting for only your cable bill while the mortgage bill is left shorted.
For Wisconsin or other states to approve of an amendment to constitutionally segregate tax payer collections for special interest groups whether it be for roads, schools or sports stadiums is downright criminal, and is integral if not a major part of what is wrong with our country today.
It also seems that the folks demanding smaller government, less taxes and balanced budgets are the same folks who will abandon those principles as long as they get a guaranteed share piece of the pie. It's bad enough government and special interests are hand-in-hand scratching each other's backs, but this referendum has the potential to constitutionalize crony capitalism. Voting "Yes" is just another small but alarming step in the wrong direction.
I'm also concerned about the language and wording in these referendums as they are almost always designed to coerce a "yes" vote from the electorate, even when knowing they will result in the most destructive and self-defeating interests of democracy. The American people are generally an affirmative people when it comes to considering even small incremental steps of perceived forward progress. It's obvious referendum authors are taking full advantage of voter's goodwill.
I urge my readers to vote "NO" on both referendums placed on Rock County's November 2nd ballot.
2 comments:
That is what I didn't understand about this referendum question, how is that a constitutional question?
keep up the good work
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