Jindal calls for elimination of all Louisiana income and corporate taxes

[TechAlum05]

Good post. But, we're going to see Ronald Reagan next year?

I meant Chris Christie heading the RGA next year. Although, seeing Reagan again would be great.

[CajunRebel]

Rebel, we probably agree on a lot of tax reform concepts (although I believe the Feds are incapable of achieving any of it). I very much want a simplified tax code. I like exploring national sales tax - consumption taxation is simple and equitable. The "prebate" to ease the pain on everyone's "necessity spending" is sound.

I'm afraid, however, everything in the US economy, including and especially politics, revolves around the current Federal tax code in such an intentionally massively complex spider web, there's no way we will ever get the political foxes to change the locks on the public hen house... short of a bloody revolution. Neither party, even in complete control of both houses and the White House, will take on this task and see it through. They'd never do it with split party leadership.

As for state university athletic budgets and the "feel good" talk... the state does not mandate universities have to have athletic departments any more than they mandate they have to have student unions, covered walkways, research centers or professors that publish. They force a cap on universities' athletic spending, but UL could forego athletics and the state would not take that money away. Just like the university makes decisions that a student union is something other competing universities have, and that provides students a gathering place for a variety of functions, so too does the university realize the necessity to have university athletics as part of the complete university system offering.

If all state schools eliminated, or even massively scaled back athletics, from the extremely low budgets we currently have, they would all shrink in enrollment, lose a great deal of their community tie, lose a huge amount of alumni connections, and all of that would have an enormous overall negative impact on the university's academics.

You need to stop referencing athletics in your comparative arguments. I believe you think you've made several sound arguments on this topic. You simply have not. You fail to accept the relationship aspect of athletics and academics in their healthy cohabitation. You think one penalizes the other, monetarily, when in fact they are inseparable from each other's welfare. Take away the $6 million going to athletics, give it strictly to academics, and watch the systematic collapse of the entire university is all you will accomplish.

It wouldn't be hard to change the tax code and curb spending in Washington. We just need for the American people to vote for more candidates who would actually be willing to reform it. Conservatives specifically need to realize that the party they support has actually done just as much to expand entitlement spending than the party they hate so much because they expand government. Putting a libertarian in the White House would instantly put a stop to the shenanigans.

And I'm just not going to get into the athletics vs. academics argument with you again. I can only beat my head against a wall so many times.

[TechAlum05]

Yes it would, but it won't because it is not about a simple swapping of taxes. This needs far more than a bill, it takes a complete remake of the entire local, and state revenue, and expense streams.

The biggest problem with this state is not income vs sales taxes, it is too much state control of what should be local money and local expenses. This would require something that nobody will ever vote for elimination of the homestead exemption, and locals taking over much of what the state currently pays for. We cannot simply pretend we are Texas, Tennessee, or Florida with no income taxes.

All these states have incredibly high local taxes borne by the locals, not so much by the state. The locals determine how much they can afford. Right now the legislature gets to divvy the money to help them get re-elected. Trading sales taxes for income no income taxes is a shell game.

It will require a long process for Louisiana to transition from a state where most power is concentrated at the state government level to where power is better distributed to the governments at the state, parish, and local levels.

The state government must enact policies that will promote freedom and opportunity for the prosperity of individuals and businesses in Louisiana without obstacles, oversized bureaucratic agencies, or complex tax systems standing in their way. Eliminating the individual and corporation income taxes will not be the magic bullet for Louisiana, but it will remove a sizable obstacle that hinders economic growth and business development in the state.

Tax reform will be Jindal's big crusade for the 2013 Regular Session. The governor could make the devolving of state government powers and responsibilities to the parish and local governments his crusade for 2014. It would help the state, and serve as another example of what he could do as U.S. President in 2017 (devolving powers of the Federal Government back to the states and the people).

[Just1More]

It wouldn't be hard to change the tax code and curb spending in Washington. We just need for the American people to vote for more candidates who would actually be willing to reform it. Conservatives specifically need to realize that the party they support has actually done just as much to expand entitlement spending than the party they hate so much because they expand government. Putting a libertarian in the White House would instantly put a stop to the shenanigans.

And I'm just not going to get into the athletics vs. academics argument with you again. I can only beat my head against a wall so many times.

No, no... do not keep banging your head against a wall... the damage is already noticeably profound. And I request if you aren't going to argue your favorite points, please don't keep repeating them in a hopeless attempt to convince others they have merit.

I suggest you find a soft spot to imitate your head banging ritual while your Liberatarian candidates fail to accomplish anything except the offering of great ideas that will never see the light of day. Oh, and if one did manage to get in the White House, but the party doesn't control both houses of Congress, you wouldn't even put a dent in the shenanigans, ever, much less instantly.

[CajunRebel]

No, no... do not keep banging your head against a wall... the damage is already noticeably profound. And I request if you aren't going to argue your favorite points, please don't keep repeating them in a hopeless attempt to convince others they have merit.

I suggest you find a soft spot to imitate your head banging ritual while your Liberatarian candidates fail to accomplish anything except the offering of great ideas that will never see the light of day. Oh, and if one did manage to get in the White House, but the party doesn't control both houses of Congress, you wouldn't even put a dent in the shenanigans, ever, much less instantly.

Why do you feel the need to throw in personal insults against people who disagree with you? Grow up.

As to your other statement, a libertarian president would happily veto any bill that increased spending or contained pork. He'd stop a republican controlled congress from pushing through their unethical crap and he'd stop a democrat controlled congress from pushing through their unethical crap. He'd make an enormous dent in the shenanigans.

[Just1More]

Why do you feel the need to throw in personal insults against people who disagree with you? Grow up.

As to your other statement, a libertarian president would happily veto any bill that increased spending or contained pork. He'd stop a republican controlled congress from pushing through their unethical crap and he'd stop a democrat controlled congress from pushing through their unethical crap. He'd make an enormous dent in the shenanigans.

You didn't disagree with me. You refused to. And I did not insult you. You got sarcastic and I gave it right back. And again, unless you are female and we sleep together, stop expressing your opinion and expecting a free pass. I substantially dislike your argument on college athletics low value. You are the one that maligned it with "feel good crap".

Veto power doesn't change Federal Tax Code. Obviously, this subject cannot be discussed short of insulting someone's political views. I doubt our political views are as different as it appears. Keep this for future reference... there is no political party devoid of shenanigans. None. I choose to use one as my pack mule that has the ability to get in office... and at the very least follow the Constitution and respect States' Rights. I'm not voting or supporting fringe characters that have no chance. And for whatever is wrong with the party I use as a pack mule, the other one has veered so far off course that I can't possibly entertain a conversation with them anymore... much less hold out hope that they'll do anything but carelessly destroy anything that impedes them... regardless of the damage they cause.

[cajunhawk]

If only.

Yes, because that TEFRA thing he passed made the tax code so easy to follow. I wonder who began the process of escalating our debt in the first place in the 80's? Keep idolizing a puppet. Starve the beast...baby.

[cajunhawk]

Why do you feel the need to throw in personal insults against people who disagree with you? Grow up.

As to your other statement, a libertarian president would happily veto any bill that increased spending or contained pork. He'd stop a republican controlled congress from pushing through their unethical crap and he'd stop a democrat controlled congress from pushing through their unethical crap. He'd make an enormous dent in the shenanigans.

You just answered your own question there...why won't we ever elect a Libertarian or a radical candidate that wants to make wholesale changes to the way the government works? Because they would throw a wrench in the works. Our government is basically a political version of the WWE. These politicians who slang partisan barbs at each other in the media, are having beers and palling around after the cameras go off. Don't believe that...guess who John Boehner plays golf with regularly...his middle name is Hussain. Want to know who is the best candidate for you to vote for? Find out who no one wants elected. The media massacred Ron Paul. They knew who they wanted to win. Obama or Romney...that's like saying do you white or eggshell.

[Just1More]

Yes, because that TEFRA thing he passed made the tax code so easy to follow. I wonder who began the process of escalating our debt in the first place in the 80's? Keep idolizing a puppet. Starve the beast...baby.

Pretty funny. The mistake of TEFRA is identical to the grand bargain of this past fiscal cliff. Reagan agreed to raise taxes/close loopholes on the agreement that Democrats would accept spending cuts... he signed it and they reneged on cutting spending. Our debt/GDP ratio has gone up and down through both party presidents and both party congresses. I guess we can say that Libertarians and Klingons wouldn't allow that to happen... until they actually lead the country and prove it.