I am planning to vote no on Proposition 100 coming up on the May 18 election. I cannot believe that all avenues have been explored to balance the budget. I cannot believe that adding a tax will help speed up the recovery of jobs in Arizona.
What you you all think?
--Update 5-5-2010--
A couple more links
There are two video links here and one hours long audio one.
Here is one of the videos that hit me strongly.
--Update 5-11-2010--
Deciding how to vote on this proposition has been the hardest to decide in a very long time. I have 7 children in the public education system and two more that will be. I want the best education possible. I am pretty settled on voting no for the following reasons.
Washington DC has one of the highest per student spending in the country and among the worst results.
Maybe a better solution would be to cut out the education middleman.
Since the passing of proposition 301 in 2000, a smaller percentage of education money actually gets to the classroom.
"If passed, Arizona would have the 5th highest sales tax rate in the country" http://www.noprop100.com/
Even if the tax expires in three years, it will put the brakes on a not so vibrant AZ economy. I think there are better ways to reform the system to cut out waste and still produce excellent students.
--Update 5-13-2010--
My friend Jen is on the School Board for Dysart School District. I called her this morning after a few emails back and forth. I wanted to understand her position well. She is for proposition 100. I respect Jen. She has worked hard for 1 1/2 years on the board.
To me it has come down to what will cause the least short term harm, because both ways will cause that. What will cause the greatest long term good?
By voting no, I will not put a brake on the recovery of the Arizona economy. Ronald Regan reduced taxes in the 80s and increased tax revenue. See the Wikipedia article on the Laffer curve and some videos explaining it.
I am also very concerned that we do not go the same direction as California and Washington state. They have increased tax so much and are not willing to cut to have a balanced budget.
Also by voting no, more teachers will be laid off, class sizes will increase, some computer of other resources may not get replaced.
By voting no, I will provide a greater chance for reform in the school funding formula so that the full amount of funds per student follow the student. Perhaps there can be a reduction in administrative costs at schools so that more money gets to the classroom. I will not hinder the recovery of the Arizona economy.
2 comments:
This is something that normally I wouldn't probably have voted for. But, since our legislatures and governor decided to link it to education and public safety makes all the difference, which is why they chose to do it..a dirty way to do it.
I'll have to talk with you regarding it...too much to type, but without it, it will be a sad day for children, your children. And many people that you and I know personally will lose jobs.
It is a sad day for many people in our economy. I think raising taxes will do more harm to our economy than the good that would come from it.
I also think that if our legislators put more effort into this we can minimize the effect on K-12 funding.
Dean Martin has proposed an alternative.
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