Riding the Log
The liberal-anti-growth-activists at WakeUpWake had an interesting election day. And a wake up call.
WakeUpWake’s been vociferously urging voters to 1) elect candidates who oppose growth and 2) support ‘transfer taxes’ (taxing property sales) to pay for growth.
Voters, apparently, saw the contradiction. They voted for slates of no-growth candidates – then they figured they could do without the tax increases.
Tax referendums lost in sixteen counties. By three to one margins.
The message is clear: If growth means higher taxes stop it.
Sometimes in politics folks, especially activists who are passionate about their causes, see themselves making a lot of progress, when, in fact, they’re like the frog riding the log down the river watching the scenery roll past, thinking he’s really got that log moving when it’s not him its the river.
WakeUpWake has been doing a lot of chest pounding about their victories in Raleigh and Cary. It sounds like they’re the new 800-pound political gorilla on the political block. But the defeat of the tax referendums show they don’t have as much clout as they may think. They’re riding the river on growth – but it’s not rolling their way on taxes.
Of course, they’re backpedaling, explaining the referendum defeats by saying the poor voters were misled by the wicked developers and just didn’t understand how much they’d gain from their property taxes going up. They’re also saying – more accurately – they weren’t involved in many of the elections. But in
In the broader sense WakeUpWake is sowing some dangerous seeds. For instance what are the economic results if their candidates cut growth 25% or 50% or just stop it? Growth is a primary way governments get more revenue without raising taxes. When growth stops – or slows a quarter or half – we may find ourselves with less money to pay for schools and roads.
At any rate – in part due to WakeUpWake – almost everything people hear these days about growth is bad: It clogs the roads, jams the schools, overburdens the Water Company and forces politicians to keep on raising taxes. Well, the schools are a liberal sacred cow and taxes are a conservative sacred cow, so on both sides of the spectrum people are voting against growth. Because it sounds like stopping growth will hold down taxes and relieve the overburdened schools.
The problem is it may not work out that way.
Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles.
Riding the Log
The liberal-anti-growth-activists at WakeUpWake had an interesting election day. And a wake up call.
WakeUpWake’s been vociferously urging voters to 1) elect candidates who oppose growth and 2) support ‘transfer taxes’ (taxing property sales) to pay for growth.
Voters, apparently, saw the contradiction. They voted for slates of no-growth candidates – then they figured they could do without the tax increases.
Tax referendums lost in sixteen counties. By three to one margins.
The message is clear: If growth means higher taxes stop it.
Sometimes in politics folks, especially activists who are passionate about their causes, see themselves making a lot of progress, when, in fact, they’re like the frog riding the log down the river watching the scenery roll past, thinking he’s really got that log moving when it’s not him its the river.
WakeUpWake has been doing a lot of chest pounding about their victories in Raleigh and Cary. It sounds like they’re the new 800-pound political gorilla on the political block. But the defeat of the tax referendums show they don’t have as much clout as they may think. They’re riding the river on growth – but it’s not rolling their way on taxes.
Of course, they’re backpedaling, explaining the referendum defeats by saying the poor voters were misled by the wicked developers and just didn’t understand how much they’d gain from their property taxes going up. They’re also saying – more accurately – they weren’t involved in many of the elections. But in
In the broader sense WakeUpWake is sowing some dangerous seeds. For instance what are the economic results if their candidates cut growth 25% or 50% or just stop it? Growth is a primary way governments get more revenue without raising taxes. When growth stops – or slows a quarter or half – we may find ourselves with less money to pay for schools and roads.
At any rate – in part due to WakeUpWake – almost everything people hear these days about growth is bad: It clogs the roads, jams the schools, overburdens the Water Company and forces politicians to keep on raising taxes. Well, the schools are a liberal sacred cow and taxes are a conservative sacred cow, so on both sides of the spectrum people are voting against growth. Because it sounds like stopping growth will hold down taxes and relieve the overburdened schools.
The problem is it may not work out that way.
Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles.