Liberals commies

They're at it again. The liberal commies in North Carolina are all up in arms again about poor old poor people. The Winston Salem Journal, via the Associated Press, has the story

Dozens of anti-poverty and special interest groups urged budget negotiators Tuesday to keep in place two "temporary" taxes, approve a tax credit for low-income residents and spend more on education, health and environmental programs.

"We urge lawmakers to adopt a progressive, forward-looking and fiscally responsible state budget. It's what we call a 'can-do' budget that aggressively engages the problems confronting the people of our state, particularly the most vulnerable," Bill Rowe with the N.C. Justice Center said at a Legislative Building news conference.

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Coalition members sent a letter to most House and Senate members asking them to keep in place what's left of two taxes first approved in 2001 _ a quarter-cent increase on the sales tax and a higher income tax rate for the state's highest wage earners. The Senate wants the taxes to expire, saying they've been on the books long enough. But House Democrats want them kept on, leaving the sales tax at 6.75 percent and an 8 percent income tax bracket in place until 2009.

Been on the books long enough? What the heck does that mean? The real question should be: How long has POVERTY been on the books? These temporary taxes shouldn't be repealed they should be made permanent. And Joe Hackney should start the negotiations by saying he wants to raise the tax on the highest wage earners by another half percent.

Easley agrees with the House on the taxes, saying that losing those revenues would make it harder for his gubernatorial successor to balance the budget in 2009. Easley and House Democrats also are pushing for tax relief for low-income taxpayers. The coalition wants an earned income tax credit it says would help 825,000 workers and their families.

The groups, which included the state AFL-CIO, N.C. Association of Educators and N.C. Council of Churches, also urged legislators to provide "adequate funding" for teacher assistants, dropout prevention grants and health care insurance for more children.

They also want to discourage the use of debt that doesn't require the approval of voters in a statewide referendum. The Senate budget would issue $1.2 billion of this kind of debt, while the House has about $450 million.

This is so right. Instead of paying for what we need with taxes, the so-called Democratic Senate wants to end-run the people by taking on more debt. It's bad fiscal policy and bad legislative policy.

With less than two weeks before July 1, lawmakers already are drafting a separate bill that would keep state government operating largely at current levels during the new fiscal year if a final deal isn't reached in time, according to House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange. But that so-called "continuing resolution" likely still would force lawmakers to vote on the sales tax issue, which could provide campaign fodder for Republicans next year.

If our elected representatives would just do the right thing instead of worrying about campaign fodder for Republicans, we'd all be far better off. North Carolina is at the bottom of so many lists that it's flat out embarrassing. Besides, Republicans from the Art Pope School of Politics won't give a second thought to truth in campaigning anyway. They'll come up with enough lies to fill all their cannons no matter what the reality.

More to the point, with all the news about the mind-boggling gap between executive compensation and workers pay these days, voters in North Carolina would have no problem keeping or raising taxes on the wealthiest in our state. They aren't all as dumb as the people they elect to the General Assembly.