There was a time when Republicans were willing to approve modest tax increases to balance the budget. I happened to run across this actual article in the Centre Daily Times of Sept. 30, 1967, about Republican Gov. Raymond Shafer (1966-70) of Pennsylvania and his attitude toward raising taxes. Read it and think about Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to gut public education and his refusal to even consider an extraction tax on Marcellus natural gas:
Shafer OKs Corporate Tax Boost
HARRISBURG (AP) - Taxes went up in Pennsylvania for the first time in four years Friday, as Gov. Shafer approved a 1 percent increase in the corporate net income tax.
Shafer signed two bills that raise the tax from 6 to 7 percent, retroactive to Jan. 1. The tax will climb another 1/2 percent next January, and is expected to add $60 million to the current fiscal revenues.
While the governor undoubtedly welcomed the increase as more ballast for his $1.8 million budget, he signed the bills with a note of remorse.
"It is not an easy thing to ask for new revenues in these days, when costs are rising throughout our economy, but it is our responsibility to do so," he said [emphasis added].
He said that the revenues from the corporate tax hike and other sources he is seeking "will mean better schools, better jobs in new and expanding industries, better treatment for our infirm, the mentally ill and retarded, better housing and better cities."
Shafer has a tax program in the legislature totaling $285 million, but so far the corporate net income tax levy, affecting only big business, has won approval from both House and Senate.
The House passed a 5-cent increase in the cigarette tax, but Senate Democrats have managed to block passage of the proposal. In the meantime, several appropriations, which Shafer contends are essential to the well-being of the Commonwealth and its citizens, have been stalled for lack of revenue
The governor postponed signing a $34.7 million appropriation to finance college scholarships until next week. Democrats had agreed to provide votes for the corporate net income tax so that the scholarship bill could clear the legislature."
Wow. If you think this is some made-up, Bizarro World story, e-mail me and I'll e-mail you back the actual article. And if you're voting Republican because you've always voted Republican, remember it's now a completely different political party than what you grew up with.
"...And if you're voting Republican because you've always voted Republican, remember it's now a completely different political party than what you grew up with..."
ReplyDeleteAs is the Democratic party, which used to represent the working class of my JFK-loving grandparents and great-grandparents. The Democrats are now the bi-coastal intellectual elitists, pandering to the inner city poor, because they are a powerful voting bloc (when paid to do so), but keep them out of "my" toney neighborhoods. They house the fringe homosexual and atheist/secular humanist lobbies, and eschew traditional mores of what surely was a better time. None of my deceased relatives would be a Democrat today.