Trumping the bond issue

by | Mar 18, 2016 | 2016 Elections, Editor's Blog, NC Politics | 40 comments

After the Connect NC bond passed by a large margin Tuesday night, conservative analyst John Davis wrote that its success gave Pat McCrory the advantage heading into the General Election. John is usually is on the mark. This time, though, he’s grasping at straws.

Davis opines that the success of the bond will give McCrory the signature accomplishment he needs in a re-election campaign. The election will be a referendum on McCrory, his reasoning goes, and the bond will be the crowning achievement of a long list of accomplishments. “Under McCrory’s leadership,” Davis writes, “The unemployment rate has steadily improved, taxes have been cut, a $2.5 billion unemployment insurance debt to the federal government has been paid, a $1 billion rainy day fund has been set aside, and K-12 funding has been increased.”

Unfortunately, not much of that is hitting home for most North Carolinians. The unemployment rate may be down since McCrory took office but it’s been flat for the past year and is considerably higher the nation as a whole. Besides, the jobs people are finding pay less and have fewer benefits. Despite Republicans crowing about tax cuts, the vast majority of North Carolinians aren’t seeing more money in their wallets, which to them means either the GOP is lying or they gave those cuts to somebody else. The only people who know about the unemployment debt or rainy day funds are wonks, and anybody who has kids in schools knows that either K-12 funding has been cut or it’s been squandered because it certainly hasn’t made it into the classrooms.

But let’s get real. None of that really matters. This election is most likely going to be about one thing—Trump. The Donald will dominate the headlines all the way until November. The GOP can steal the nomination from him, but if they do, the base will stay home. If he’s the nominee, McCrory will have to hide from him or embrace him. If he hides from him, he risks being insulted like Trump belittled all of his Republican opponents. If he embraces him, he alienates a middle that will not support Trump’s bullying ways. Trump is the shadow over this election that could tear the GOP apart.

And even if McCrory does somehow avoid being wrapped around Trump, his accomplishments are thin and he’s been tainted with the smell of corruption and dishonesty. His administration has been rife with cronyism and special treatment for his biggest donors. He’s repeatedly said things that just aren’t true. Now, it appears that McCrory was using the bond issue to campaign for re-election on the taxpayers’ dime.

Pat McCrory has had trouble getting his numbers in positive territory. He’s been a weak governor who ran as a moderate but got rolled by the legislature and now owns a bunch of unpopular conservative policies. He’s been less than honest throughout his tenure and the smell of corruption has followed his administration from the mysterious resignation of his Secretary of Public Safety after only six months in office to large public contracts for big campaign contributors. This election is not going to hinge of the success of a bond measure.

40 Comments

  1. Post New Jersey Stress Disorder

    Yep, I remember when the Republicons stole money from my children’s future with a big 2 billion dollar bond issue, back in Joisey. Actually, it didn’t start out that way. It was your standard Tax Cuts For The Wealthy program, you, know the one where you get 3 dollars extra a week while the Well Larded Opulent Minority get 5 or 50 thousand a week. It was accomplished in 3 tranches across two Repub admins, and then, lo and behold! Suddenly not enough income to run the government, and certainly not enough to fund state worker’s pensions! So then the regressive tax was applied in the form of Bond Payments.
    Fast forward to NC and the same sort of razzle dazzle is occurring. If you want something supposedly for the people, and most think it’s beneficial, you collect MORE revenue. If it is beneficial, and reasonable, people will pay. Pay as YOU GO. You don’t steal money from your children via bond issues which have the nasty side effect of enriching some bloated banker whose services were not envisioned as part of the original GOOD INTENTIONS.

    • delow241

      So your suggestion is that we skip the part where everyone gets to save taxes and fast forward to a high tax environment. Well we know the second version NEVER works…otherwise why would everyone be running away from all the progressive nirvanas like Detroit, New York, and ……New Jersey. DNJSD, you knew (or should have known) what you were coming into down here. If you don’t like it there are plenty of other states that you can move to that will more likely meet your desires. You might even find some of us life long NC citizens willing to throw in a few dollars to help you get there.

      • Post New Jersey Stress Disorder

        Oh no. Don’t be confused. We didn’t leave NJ because of some high tax environment. Not at all. Actually, the sad reality is, wages are lower, the cost of EVERYTHING is higher here (except Real Estate tax, which NJ used to leverage revenue from those who could MOST afford it, and I’m renting right now so no bonus there; we never heard of anything as ridiculous as a yearly property tax on a 5,000.00 auto being recast by the greedy state as an 11,000.00 car), there’s NO safety net here (apparently republicons want you to move or die). Income tax here is an absurdly regressive flat tax… I paid less on 75% more income there. You’re a joke and an idiot. You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. Actually I left for employment reasons that have to do with an enormous influx of interlopers from Asia taking jobs in a certain job fields, the effects of which are not yet fully felt here. But if we let the opulent minority swap out Americans for foreign scabs eventually that will be the story here also. And they tell me The Triangle is already like that.

        • Post New Jersey Stress Disorder

          Oh, and by the way you had nothing to say about the real problem, which is not higher taxes, but much higher taxes tomorrow because you want to escape responsibility for things you want today. This is the crux of the problem with people who do not have well developed Concrete Operational Reasoning. Kind of like the bonehead congress we have that votes expenditures into the budget, doesn’t fund them, then wonders why the cumulative deficit has to go up. Braindead.

          • delow241

            Oh, I got you. Leave a high cost environment, much of which is due to taxes as we all know for a lower cost of living state. Tomato, tomahto however you want to say it. All of your points are pretty much wrong. There is no way I could buy my house and lot up in NJ for the same price I did here, a simple real estate search proves that. If you need a “safety net” then go back up there if their unemployment and food stamps are that much better…we all have the same programs you know. Otherwise your reasons for moving all validate my points. Oh…and the county sets your tax value on your car, which you can easily appeal just by printing off a few research pages on the internet which I have done a couple of times.

            As far as escaping wants today….have you noticed that the rainy day fund is much higher than it ever was under the democrat rule? Even while we are paying for all the things we “want” today. The real problem is we are inserting too many “wants” into government spending…..kind of like that $2 billion progressive pork bond that I am sure you voted for. (Which for a transportation bond has little actual transportation in it…which is actually a true need rather than another building at a university that is used only 25% of the time) Or did you even notice that we have lowered taxes AND increased tax receipts AND unfortunately increased spending while increasing our reserves. Your “concrete” reasoning is more like clay.

            I do agree on US Congress. We are saddled with too many mandates with funding that magically disappears saddling states with liabilities that are unsustainable. We have too many people in DC who are dead set on giving out “free” stuff and the low information crowd does not understand that they will have to eventually pay regardless of their means to do so.

  2. Russell Scott Day

    I have severe doubts that the Bond will award to those people who voted for it the things touted as the reasons for it. Labs in the Universities? Or the National Guard? When I read it it pointed to plenty of ways that all the promises made could be broken. Hey, It Goes into the General Fund!
    Give all the money away in tax breaks for the wealthy or as incentives to special interests, and big surprise you need to borrow it back from the people you gave it to.
    Of course it really isn’t how much money you have, but what you do with it.
    I’d be fine with vouchers if it was simply for a student to go from one public school to another, but that isn’t the name of the game. The game is privatization.
    Mission and mission goals matter. Here to educate, or here to make a profit?
    NC is to be turned into a transients state.
    The land itself is the draw, there simply isn’t any better. If we can wrangle the money paid in taxes into the Federal Transportation Department funds and see that superhighway from Morehead City to I-40 & I-95, we will see all manner of advanced opportunities. The way the ports operate matters, time to either go back to really fighting to Civil War, or get with the Union.
    Great leaders ask their engineers to give them the solutions for their most pressing problems. Engineers will be more realistic than the politicians in this state. I found out that it is from the Gulf Stream that we ought be getting the energy to run the legacy electrical grid, instead of drilling for oil.
    Energy is the number one factor enabling civilization. No matter how much we talk about sneaky numbers the things written and said make the place feel meaner. It is enough to make one want to go somewhere where else just on that score.

  3. Ebrun

    Your doctrinaire complaints about NC government and politics under the GOP would make a Socialist like Bernie Sanders and his supporters proud, D,g. But given the results of the recent NC Democrat Presidential Primary, it seems most NC Democrats aren’t avid fans of Bernie and his radical left positions. Perhaps you should take your soapbox to a more liberal friendly locale.

    • Ebrun

      There you go again, D.g., resorting to personal insults when you lack a relevant rejoinder.

      • Ebrun

        You vitriolic rants speak volumes about your character. If you would focus on substance and suppress the urge to hurl insults, your comments would be much more germane.

      • Ebrun

        Oh my, such hostility. If you are right, I will congratulate you. If you are wrong, I will remind you. In the meantime, try to chill out.

  4. An Observer

    “his (McCrory’s) accomplishments are thin and he’s been tainted with the smell of corruption and dishonesty. His administration has been rife with cronyism and special treatment for his biggest donors. He’s repeatedly said things that just aren’t true. Now, it appears that McCrory was using the bond issue to campaign for re-election on the taxpayers’ dime.”

    That statement, is a truthful campaign commercial that could work wonders for Cooper.

  5. Ebrun

    This essay should be subtitled “Daydream Believers.” Left wing pundits are so frustrated with the success of the McCrory Administration that they’re willing to believe their own lying eyes.

    Statistics from nonpartisan state and federal sources clearly show that state taxes have been reduced for the vast majority of North Carolina taxpayers, that funding for public primary and secondary education has substantially increased since the GOP took control, that employment and personal income growth in NC has outpaced the national averages and that the state is enjoying a tax revenue surplus since income tax rates were cut for ALL NC taxpayers.

    While it’s true that the average Democrat is much more interested in more government handouts than in good government measures like retiring a huge debt to the federal government or bolstering the state’s rainy day fund to help us combat the next economic downturn, these measure play an important role in bolstering the private sector that is primarily responsible for the creation of new jobs and personal income growth.

    In addition, Census Bureau estimates show a continued net in migration of people to NC from other states and countries. If NC was doing as poorly as the left claims, there would be little or no incentive for new migrants to move here as the state is not noted for overly generous social welfare programs.

    So NC while liberals will no doubt continue to present a false narrative of gloom and doom under Republican control, these disingenuous claims will likely fall on deaf ears. McCrory’s prospects for re election continue to improve with every new job, every new resident and every new dollar of increased personal income earned by NC citizens.

    • Robert

      Sounds like you got the good Koolaid. My work compadres who are upper middle class. all got state tax increases last year. The fees for my boat went up 400%. my car fees doubled. City taxes went up. My teacher friends didn’t get a pay raise. All the new jobs in town are min wage or less except for Hobby Lobby’s 50. The service economy is going underground, which means they all qualify for either obama care or Medicare, while making a better living than the honest economy. The local schools do not have the books they need. All those surpluses are from not spending on the things we need. Which by the way helps the economy. Poor people spend all their money on stuff. Rich people don’t. Thus rich peoples investments are worth less.
      Take another sip of the Koolaid and see what happens next.

      • Ebrun

        Looks as if you’ve undertaken some very scientific research. Poll the staff in your office. Wow, that’s a novel approach. Problem is, just about any “upper middle class” worker who’s state taxes increased no doubt enjoyed an increase in their annual income. When you make more, you pay more taxes, even with the GOP reductions in overall tax rates.

        And my o my, your “boat taxes” increased? Bummer! I thought Democrats were complaining that it is the wealthy who benefitted the most from the Republican tax cuts.

        In 2014, NC public school teachers received an average 7 percent pay raise. Maybe your “teacher friends” should ask the NCAE if their union dues were increased. And if you want to cite some legitimate research, check out the state personal income data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce and the state employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Seems your claims that the only new jobs are “minimum wage jobs” resulted in an above the national average increase in personal income in NC.

        And while it may be that those who can get away with it do hide their income from federal and state taxing authorities to qualify for Obamacare, Medicaid and other government handouts, that’s the price honest, hard working taxpayers pay for the expansion of the welfare state. (BTW, only those 65 and older are eligible for Medicare no matter what their income level.)

        • Troy

          Spokesperson for the entire “upper middle class” now?

          I’m in that tax bracket of which you speak. Our income stayed static during the years immediately before and immediately after the tax cut. Our tax bill increased to the state by approximately $2,500.

          I don’t need scientific method, statistics, a calculator, or a Republican prole telling me what that is. It’s a tax increase.

          • Ebrun

            Troy, if I were you, I’d double check with another CPA. My income increased while my total income tax bill was $265 less when figuring 2014 income under 2103 tax rules.

          • Troy

            Rather than another CPA, perhaps the Department of Revenue should check with you and your CPA.

          • Ebrun

            I doubt my income is high enough to justify an audit. My total state taxes aren’t as much as you claim your state taxes increased. Could it be that the GOP is socking it to the wealthy after all? More likely, Democrats are blowing a lot of partisan smoke about their taxes increasing.

          • Troy

            “…the GOP socking to the wealthy.” That’s very good!!!!! Jokes like that and you can do Vegas!

            If I were wealthy, I’m sure my tax bill wouldn’t have been quite so dramatic either. The elimination of deductions jacked mine up. Like fees, just a different method of taxation.

          • Ebrun

            The deductions you lost under the GOP tax reform increased your state income taxes by $2500? Wow, a rough calculation suggests that well over $40,000 had to have been added to your taxable income in the form of lost deductions. I doubt even most upper middle class tax payers could claim that much tax preferenced income under the old tax code.

            No wonder you’re so unhappy with the GOP tax reform. Do you think the Democrats would restore all those tax preferences if they get back in control?

          • Troy

            At the very least, if they do, I stand a 50/50 chance of those deductions coming back. As it stands right now, zero.

          • Troy

            And…are you naive enough to think that I’d put actual dollar amounts up here? But to clarify, we went from a sizeable refund the year prior to the ‘tax cut’ to owing DOR after it. Our gross income, before adjustments and deductions, was within $1,500 of what it was the year prior.

            Using the same tax preparer we’ve used for the last 5 years.

            So, right you are. I’m NOT happy with the “tax cut”. OR the tax on labor for services rendered. None of the new fees (I don’t own a boat either).

            As for the money being crowed about in surplus, how is that ‘helping’ anybody sitting in a bank? Oh, while I’m asking questions, since the debt was all nice and paid off in three years that we owed the Feds, why is it we need to float a bond? Why not pay cash? Paddy can’t crow about that? What I thought too.

          • Ebrun

            You did post actual dollar amounts here. You stated that your state taxes were approximately $2500 more on roughly the same income after the new GOP-sponsored tax rate reductions took effect. You further stated that deductions that are no longer allowed were the reason your state taxes increased.

            It’s easy to make a rough estimate of the dollar amount of deductions if you know how much the lost deductions cost in terms of additional taxes and the tax rates applied. Before the GOP cuts, the maximum marginal income tax rate in NC was 7.75 percent. Under the new tax code, the top rate was 5.8 for 2014 and 5.75 for 2015.

            The $2.7 billion NC unemployment insurance trust fund debt to the federal government was paid off through unemployment taxes, penalties and interest paid into the trust fund by NC EMPLOYERS. It was not paid off through revenues from the state’s general fund. Since 2011, NC employers had paid an extra $962 million alone in penalties and interest to the fund.

            BTW, I did not support the bond issue as it contained way too much pork. It was basically an attempt to appease supporters of the UNC system, which will receive the bulk of the funds for capital improvement projects. But it is fairly common for governments to finance long-term capital spending through bond issues. You should take refresher class in Public Finance 101.

          • Ebrun

            Troy, I hope you’re not making the mistake many taxpayers make by comparing the size of their tax refund from one year to the next and then thinking their taxes increased if their refund was smaller or if they got no refund but owed more.

            A large refund simply means too much was withheld from your salary or you paid too much in estimated taxes. Owing more tax when you file your return means not enough was withheld or you did not accurately estimate your income or your tax liability. That does not indicate the total taxes you paid in any one year nor does it tell you which year you paid the higher taxes. In other words, you need to check the bottom line–total taxes paid for the year, and then compare that with the total taxes paid the previous year.

          • Troy

            Is that all they paid? I saw an argument previously debating the employer contributions to Unemployment Insurance. That if the rate hadn’t been CUT in the first place, we wouldn’t have borrowed all that money from the Federal Government to begin with. $962 million in penalties and interest. Unfair practices? Not paying their unemployment contributions to begin with? Yes, those poor corporations again.

            I’m keenly aware of the reasons for floating bonds. I’m likewise aware that debt has to be serviced. What I asked was, if we’re so flush with cash, why issue the bonds to begin with? Why not just make the improvements and pay for them without the debt service?

            Yes I did put in an actual number; not an accurate one. I figured someone would run the numbers trying to establish an income just for the sake of doing it and then run screaming about it being off, false, or misleading in an air of intellectual superiority. You didn’t disappoint. Suffice to say, my tax refund disappeared from the year before the wonderful “tax cut” to the year of. Income stayed static within the $1500 (factual) number given previously.

            So if the finance class(es) you had equated negative numbers (that would be a reduction in a tax refund or your having to pay additional taxes upon filing) to positive cash flow in your pocket and you made essentially the same money from year to the next, perhaps you should ask the University for a refund.

          • Ebrun

            That $962 million was in penalties and interest in addition to their regular employer unemployment insurance tax. And I believe those “rate cuts” you cite were started in years prior to 2011. Interesting that you immediately equate the term “employer” with “corporation.” Classic liberal reaction. I guess it never occurs to a knee jerk liberal that there are thousands of employers doing business in NC that are not large corporations. But they all have to pay the tax along with the penalties and the interest.

            You obviously concocted a gross exaggeration when you said your taxes increased by $2500 with the same level of income. Now that that’s been shown to be pure hogwash, you claim you made the numbers up. LOL And if you think you can compare how much you paid in taxes from one year to the other by the amount of your refund, a Public Finance class won’t be of much help for you. You need to a refresher in Mathematics 101.

            And with regard to bond financing, the concept of inter generational equity is often applied to justify the borrowing. Long-term capital improvements are generally thought to serve several generations. The financing is spread out over a number of years to assure all beneficiaries of the funding pay their fair share. I realize that’s a difficult concept to grasp for someone not familiar of the basics of public finance. But I would recommend you bone up on your basic math before tackling more advanced financial concepts.

          • Troy

            I never said “large corporation” oh ye of little reading comprehension.

            Whassa matter Eb? Don’t like being baited? Shoe on the proverbial other foot? What I make is none of your business in the same manner as what I pay in taxes. The only thing “concocted” as you put it was the true dollar amount. All you’re doing is being pitchman for what has amounted to a tax increase. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by you hurtling those low brow insults to denigrate and insinuate.

            You need to smell what you’re peddling. Quite a concept that. Yes, let’s spread the payback over generations, who will in turn have to borrow more in order to make capital improvements. Doesn’t your party stand against that? Making future generations pay back money they didn’t borrow but are now responsible for?

            Nothing wrong with my math skills. I’m not the one trying to convince someone that less money in my pocket is a gain.

          • Ebrun

            I don’t care what you make. You claim you paid more state taxes after the GOP the tax cuts. Now you claim that was bait, but I suspect it was a —well, I’ll be polite and say it was probably a gross miscalculation. Again, bone up on your math skills before you try to understand public finance..

          • Troy

            Well now, you’ve certainly made a big to do out of not caring. And like every other Republican I see and hear, turned it personal rather than addressing the matter at hand. Nothing wrong with my math skills nor my understanding of public finance.

            Which is one of the many reasons why I’m not a Republican.

          • Ebrun

            Your income was never the subject of our conversation. I was only concerned with your obviously disingenuous claim that your state income taxes increased by $2,500 while your income, in your words, remained roughly the same. Now you seem to have backed off from that claim, which isn’t surprising.

            I suspect you made the same miscalculation that apparently thousands of other taxpayers have made. Since they didn’t get a big tax refund, they assume their taxes increased. But the size of a refund or the lack thereof says nothing about one’s total tax bill and provides no grounds for year to year comparisons. It only means too much or too little was withheld, or estimated tax payments were too high or too low, during the calendar year.

    • Ms. T

      Ebrun, what you are saying is not true – I used to work in a Wake County school as a special education teacher (until about a month ago when I left for a job in the business world). I can tell you from first hand experience, there is less money in the schools, not more. And my family’s taxes did not go down last April either. My company had to start charging a new tax on labor as of March 1 – that was fun trying to explain to our customers. I’m a registered independent and I always vote. I am not trying to push the democrats agenda but people in NC have reason to be concerned.

    • An Observer

      “In addition, Census Bureau estimates show a continued net in migration of people to NC from other states and countries. If NC was doing as poorly as the left claims, there would be little or no incentive for new migrants to move here as the state is not noted for overly generous social welfare programs.”

      “When we look just at movers into North Carolina, Virginia is the most common sending state: nearly 29,300 individuals moved to North Carolina from Virginia between 2012 and 2013 according to the 2013 American Community Survey. Florida was second, with just under 26,000 individuals moving from Florida to North Carolina. New York is third, with 24,300 individuals moving from New York into North Carolina over the same time period.”

      http://demography.cpc.unc.edu/2015/02/23/which-state-do-most-people-move-from-when-coming-to-nc/

      In the case of Florida, moving from a non income tax state to a taxing state is bewildering. If you’re sick of hurricanes and your social circle is from the same New York borough that you once attempted to disengage from; those are of relative importance.

      You’re being overly generous in your admiration for Republican leadership in NC. Their vacillation on issues affecting ….. all ….. North Carolinians has been the only constant.

      • Ebrun

        What I am saying, Observer, is that if the outrageous claims from the left about current social and economic conditions in NC were true, folks would be leaving the state in droves. Instead Census Bureau data show there is a net migration of people to NC from other states and countries.

        And I have not experienced any “vacillation on issues affecting” me. In fact, I am generally satisfied with the current state of affairs here, although I do think the current bond issue is loaded with way too many pork barrel projects.

        And speaking of campaign commercials, I suspect that voters will be reminded of Roy Cooper’s “vacillation” on the Charlotte LBGT public restrooms issue, which “could work wonders'” for McCrory.

        • An Observer

          The word “outrageous” is subjective. If you live in rural NC of which the majority vote “R”, there have been no demonstrable and or positive results from your time in the voting booth. Applying a service tax (fee) in lieu of a tax cut is nothing more than regressive, financial semantics. Glad to hear you’re “generally satisfied” with the current state of affairs. Being clouded by partisan politics versus reality are two entirely different things.

          I suspect anything Cooper has said regarding “bathroomgate” is inconsequential. This is a Charlotte concoction that legislatively, will never see the light of day.

          • Ebrun

            Your version of “reality” seems very subjective to me, Observer. Are you by any chance affiliated with that paragon of liberal propaganda, the Raleigh News and Observer? LOL

            You complain about regressive sales taxes applied to certain selected services, but no doubt you have forgotten that when the GOP took over the NCGA in 2011, they insisted on ending the “temporary” one percent state sales tax on just about all retail sales. And the General Assembly had to override a veto by the Democrat Governor to end this “regressive” tax.

            And your sense of political geography seems out of touch with reality, too. It’s not really the sparsely populated rural areas where the GOP is winning most of its support. It’s those counties dominated by small cities and larger towns like Hickory, Statesville, Lenoir, Wilkesboro, Concord, Hendersonville, Burlington, Asheboro. Salisbury, New Bern, Jacksonville, Goldsboro. Murphy et al. The NE rural counties along the Virginia border and the SE rural counties bordering South Carolina generally still vote Democrat.

    • delow241

      Brun,
      Your whole premise is unfortunately for the libs, based on facts that they did not create. To a progressive liberal the only thing that matters is the narrative. Nothing in progressive land EVER wins out over the narrative that has been laid down from the handlers to the low information crowd.

    • Gary Matthews

      Tax Cuts? Most of us have not seen them. My fixed income is the same this year as last. Tax Time: Last time Got back ~200: Same numbers this time, BUT this legislation removed a major state tax deduction: HAVE TO PAY +200;
      Net lost: $400. Tell me about the tax cuts for everyone. Lies.

      • Ebrun

        One cannot determine if their taxes increased or decreased by comparing a refund with at tax owed at filing. The withholding and estimated tax tables were changed last year to reflect the new tax rates. Only by comparing total taxed withheld or paid throughout the entire calendar year with the refund or tax still due for both years can one determine if their taxes were increased.

        I figured by 2014 income with the old 2013 tax instructions and determined I would have paid $265 more under the old rates vs the new rates, And the standard deduction was more than doubled so most folks no longer need to itemize.

  6. James

    “Despite Republicans crowing about tax cuts, the vast majority of North Carolinians aren’t seeing more money in their wallets, which to them means either the GOP is lying or they gave those cuts to somebody else.”

    This suggests that the two conditions are mutually exclusive. They are not. The GOP IS lying, because that’s what they do. And they DID give those cuts to somebody else… they just disguised them with an across-the-board cut in tax RATES, which were undone for all but a few by a corresponding elimination of deductions that ordinary working class taxpayers could benefit from. The real tax burden shifted even more heavily to the ones who can afford it least, and guess where the money to pay the interest on that “crown jewel” of a bond is going to come from. (Hint: it won’t be Art Pope.)

    More to the point, who do you suppose the interest on that bond is going to get paid TO? (Hint: it probably won’t be YOU.)

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