Politics: Wither Alabama
The voter of Alabama overwhelmingly turned down Republican Governor Riley's plan to reverse the wildly unfair tax system in the state and rescue it from a deel fiscal crisis. Riley, a conservative former congressman who had never before supported a tax increase, struck a recalcitrant note and decided to talk about how he was going to win back the people's trust, all while apparently cutting about $1 billion from the budget.
The vote was badly affected by wealthy people who were afraid of paying more taxes. Deceptive ads swayed public opinion against the plan, even though its centerpiece was to change this fundamental imbalance: In Alabama, a family of four making about $4,700 a year pays about 12% state income taxes, while a family of four making, say, $200,000 a year pays about 5%.
Roll tide.
This morning on NPR, the education supervisor for the state, Ed Richardson, stated some jarring statistics, ones he has mentioned throughout the futile battle to get this plan by voters: Next year, Alabama will lose 4,000 teachers and 2,000 support personnel in the public schools in an effort to make the budget cuts necessary to keep schools open at all. These cuts will be part of a 20-30% reduction in the funding for schools in the state.
Here's to the future.
The voter of Alabama overwhelmingly turned down Republican Governor Riley's plan to reverse the wildly unfair tax system in the state and rescue it from a deel fiscal crisis. Riley, a conservative former congressman who had never before supported a tax increase, struck a recalcitrant note and decided to talk about how he was going to win back the people's trust, all while apparently cutting about $1 billion from the budget.
The vote was badly affected by wealthy people who were afraid of paying more taxes. Deceptive ads swayed public opinion against the plan, even though its centerpiece was to change this fundamental imbalance: In Alabama, a family of four making about $4,700 a year pays about 12% state income taxes, while a family of four making, say, $200,000 a year pays about 5%.
Roll tide.
This morning on NPR, the education supervisor for the state, Ed Richardson, stated some jarring statistics, ones he has mentioned throughout the futile battle to get this plan by voters: Next year, Alabama will lose 4,000 teachers and 2,000 support personnel in the public schools in an effort to make the budget cuts necessary to keep schools open at all. These cuts will be part of a 20-30% reduction in the funding for schools in the state.
Here's to the future.
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