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Jeremy Pitcoff CSA Member Smithtown Republican Committeeman |
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The Futility Of Milking A Bull
May 21, 2010
Try as you may, you can't get milk from a bull; this old proverb reflects the inflexibility of natural law and the futility of attempting to alter it. Now let us presume the bull to be the Obama Administration and the milk to be a thriving national economy; the result remains the same. Americans are now coming to terms with the fact that it will most likely take a new Congress, Senate and President to initiate the types of policies necessary to reignite our economy and to reaffirm capitalism in our nation. In the meanwhile, however, there are many steps that the states can take to ease economic hardship and to promote regional growth. This November, New Yorkers will have a chance to reseat or replace elected officials at virtually every level of our state's government. From the Governor to the Legislature to the Attorney General, our citizens' decisions at the ballot box will likely decide between the future prosperity and the imminent degradation of our state's fiscal well being.
New York State is facing a $9 billion deficit, causing many conservative-minded candidates to focus on cuts in spending and reductions in waste to close this extraordinary gap. Some political aspirants are calling for reforms in our state's pension and Medicaid systems and for caps on property tax increases. These steps are both necessary and proper in reforming New York's economy, but more will be required to truly achieve a thriving and prosperous infrastructure.
Undoubtedly, the largest problem facing New Yorkers today is one that few candidates have addressed or have offered plans to remedy. This problem is that of jobs or, more precisely, a lack thereof. New York State's tendency to tax its businesses and corporations in order to quench its insatiable thirst for revenue is counterproductive and remarkable in its lack of foresight. Many of our elected officials possess a knee-jerk reaction to raise taxes on industry whenever they encounter an obstacle to spending. This "tax the rich" philosophy only serves to hinder business growth and to limit capital investment. It offers no prospect of future economic development. New York has become a state aloof to private sector expansion and to the needs of its investing class despite its reputation as the economic engine of the world. As businesses and corporations are forced to pay an ever-increasing proportion of the state's accumulating debt, they will inevitably pass down their costs to the consumers and to the shareholders they represent. As their profit margins shrink with impunity, they have no choice but to reduce wages, to downsize their workforce and to raise the costs of their respective products. This, of course, leads to less available capital for all involved parties and to a decrease in sales tax revenue. Because New York's business, corporate and payroll taxes have steadily increased over past decades, countless New Yorkers have migrated south in search of a better life. As these people leave the state, with them go their property and sales tax revenues. This drop in state funding is inevitably replaced with higher business tax rates. Any fair-minded observer will readily conclude that this vicious cycle of wealth reapportionment can only lead to the eventual insolvency of the state.
The elimination of New York's corporate tax, Mass Transit Authority tax and other payroll, investment and group-profit taxes is essential to its future prosperity. By removing the economic shackles from the state's industries and investors, our elected officials could instantly revive a faltering New York economy and reestablish its dominance in the world market. As our businesses grow, both in quantity and in scope, so would our jobs, our wages and our population. This, of course, would generate more revenue for the state than its current archaic arrangement.
We should no longer tolerate our politicians' claims of devotion to job creation as they pursue a course of action detrimental to those who create them. Our government's policy of extracting from businesses what is rightfully theirs is illogical and may eventually produce an incurable economic crisis. Conversely, if New York's election of 2010 ushers in a new breed of politician who is willing to truly reform our state, then our future opportunities will be limitless. Responsible spending, reductions in waste, reforms of antiquated state systems, and elimination of the corporate and the payroll tax, will enable New York to prosper in spite of our President's destructive agenda. Though many things are coming out of the Obama Administration's policy of fiscal malfeasance, none of it is milk; it falls on our state to clean up the mess. A choice between a greater, more prosperous New York and a federally dependent welfare state is upon us; all candidates for office should be carefully scrutinized for their dedication to New York and for their plans to revive its economy. If we are not mindful of whom we support this November, we will continue to be fed what we have already been subjected to for decades - just another line of bull.
