Maybe someday we’ll eliminate income taxes

So Gov. Bobby Jindal got some credit – – and some blame – – for supporting and opposing tax cuts in the current legislative session. He at first opposed cutting the Stelly bill income tax increase but then capitulated and supported it when legislators were considering eliminating all state income taxes.

Which isn’t a bad idea. Preparing income taxes is an expensive and exasperating task at the state and federal levels. As a result, people pay income taxes at different rates, depending upon how you figure them. There certainly should be simpler ways of taxing the public for government services.

Texas and Florida are usually cited as states that do not have state income taxes. But they recover most of it with high property taxes. But try and take away homestead exemptions to make up for any such cut in Louisiana and the politicos would be in trouble.

Consider Alaska. That state has no income tax and actually sends a check to each resident every year. That’s because the state is very large and produces a lot of oil.
But how about Louisiana? If we cut out our pork, perhaps our oil production could pay us a bit. And that would make every citizen very happy.

We wouldn’t close the door completely on eliminating income taxes entirely. It could very well be in our future.
It would certainly make paying our taxes easier. And it could be fairer since many folks with high incomes figure out how not to pay any income tax. Maybe someday Congress and the legislature will figure out how we don’t have to either.

Opposite philosophies are at stake

We can’t say it hasn’t been an interesting  presidential campaign. We’ve had a little bit of everything in it.
Of course, we’ve had a white woman opposing a black man for the Democratic nomination. And the expected Republican nominee is not in good graces with the staid conservative base of his party.

So it appears at this point that a black Democratic candidate will oppose the somewhat conservative but independent Republican nominee.

It has been enlightening, to say the least. We have learned from two different corners that government can’t do everything and that government can do everything. And those are the two political philosophies that have tried to rule the world for the last century.

So take your choice in this election. And in future elections, because it will be that way for quite a while.