Letter: Tax policy won’t do much alone

Stephen Moret, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s secretary of the Department of Economic Development, said in The Advocate’s headline article Sunday that he is relying on help from The Tax Foundation to formulate a tax package that will improve our rating on their list and, supposedly, improve our business climate.

A brief internet search, comparing the top 10 states in The Tax Foundation list with other business climate lists shows how poor that correlation is.

Only the ninth and tenth states, Texas and Utah, on The Tax Foundation’s top 10 even appear on the CNBC, Forbes Magazine or BusinessFacilities.com lists of top states for business. Clearly tax policy is only one — and a minor one at that — of the factors affecting true business potential.

It would be better for Louisiana if our governor focused on improving our state rather than buffing his résumé with special-interest groups.

Carl Eyman III

business owner

New Orleans

Comments

1) Comment by Attila - 13/03/2013

Lil Booby's tax policy is designed to make sure that those that do not pay tax not will pay no tax in the future...those that are supporting the non producers will continue to get it stuck up their.....noses. So what is new about that.

2) Comment by postscript56 - 13/03/2013

agagent - You quote the Tax Foundation to support the Tax Foundation. The "one rating" you're talking about IS the Tax Foundation rating Bobby cares so much about. Try to understand. The Tax Foundation is a special interest group. They no more have the definitive say on tax environments than the Philadelphia Flyers (they're a pro hockey team). You keep quoting this same Tax Foundation report as if it's Moses coming down the mountain with the Ten Commandments. Dude, stop embarrassing yourself like that.

3) Comment by Buck - 13/03/2013

For folks who are feed up with the current administration developing policy based on guidance from such as ALEC, Koch entities and now another right wing group, The Tax Foundation , I would suggest the following: look at the results achieved, legislation that has been declared unconstitutional, attacks on professional educators and governmental workers and an underachievement in the State's fiscal management. To get some insight into this latest dysfunction as per tax policy, suggest the two following resources, a New York Times article of March 9. 2013, "In the South and West, a Tax on Being Poor", and an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, "Proposal to Eliminate Income Taxes Amount to a Tax Increase on Bottom 80% of Louisianans", itep.org/pdf/LaTaxSwapAnalysis. Note that the tax policy philosopy being proposed is nothing new, tax the poor for their own good. This goes back to Alexandria Hamilton, the first Sec. of Treasury and founder of what we now call the Republican Party and reached it's peak with Sec. of Treasury Andrew Mellon, who served under Presidents Harding, Coolidge some of Hoover's and left us with the tidy poem, "Mellon pulled the whistle, Hoover rang the bell, Wall Street gave the signal, and the country went to hell". Have we learned nothing?

4) Comment by DMJ - 13/03/2013

"Tax policy is one way..." Exactly. ONE way. Not the only way.

5) Comment by agagent - 13/03/2013

Tax policy is one way states can improve their standing in attracting and keeping businesses. While the State Business Tax Climate Index is based on 118 factors, the ten most significant factors, listed in the rank of importance, are: cost of doing business, workforce, quality of life, economy, education, technology & innovation, business friendliness, access to capital, and cost of living.

6) Comment by agagent - 13/03/2013

Tax policy can make a difference in a state’s competitiveness as a favorable place for businesses. Among the most important tax policies, according to the Tax Foundation and listed in the order of their importance, are: individual income tax rate, sales tax, corporate tax, property tax, and unemployment tax. One rating says Louisiana could move from its current 32nd rating to the top 10 among states in business tax policies if we make the change. That makes the proposal worth considering if you are interested in a better economy and in having more jobs for Louisianans.

7) Comment by DMJ - 13/03/2013

Exactly. People are acting like cutting income tax will be some kind of magic silver bullet. But what good is cutting taxes when doing so will also mean cutting education, health care and social services, all of which also contribute equally, if not more, to a company's or individual's decision to relocate somewhere? Oh right...I forgot... Jindal and Co. never pass up an opportunity to shift the cost of government from those with the most money to those with less.

8) Comment by swinham - 13/03/2013

Thank you, Mr. Eyman, for another attempt to confound ideology with facts. Maybe if another million or so Louisianians care enough to think for themselves and do a little actual research, change based on reality is possible.

9) Comment by postscript56 - 13/03/2013

The Jindal administration's shameless pursuit of special-interest group approval should be a source of voter outrage, especially among conservatives considering we just had an election where all of them voted for a candidate who accused liberals of giving "gifts" to special interest groups. I wish any of them could explain why that's bad government for Democrats but good government for Republicans.