Comments on: State GOP Chair Mike Hubbard Visits the Parlor http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/ & Home of Lawn Mower Repair Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:06:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Trvld http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-13139 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:23:17 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-13139 By the way Susan, is it possible that if we had better educated students, we could have better paying jobs? If we had better paying jobs, wouldn't we have more tax money to fund roads, education, and the other services we rely on. Gosh, we might even consider cutting taxes if we had a higher overall per capita income....no, I doubt that last one. By the way Susan, is it possible that if we had better educated students, we could have better paying jobs? If we had better paying jobs, wouldn’t we have more tax money to fund roads, education, and the other services we rely on. Gosh, we might even consider cutting taxes if we had a higher overall per capita income….no, I doubt that last one.

]]> by: corporate tax planning http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-12011 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:13:26 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-12011 <strong>corporate tax planning...</strong> Once you fully appreciate this, you will be able to research more quickly.... corporate tax planning…

Once you fully appreciate this, you will be able to research more quickly….

]]> by: Mike Hubbard in the Parlor, Part Three » Doc’s Political Parlor http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11692 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:05:18 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11692 [...] Part three is below. You can find part one of our interview here. Part two is here. [...] […] Part three is below. You can find part one of our interview here. Part two is here. […]

]]> by: Trvld http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11639 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:31:15 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11639 To Danny et al., I understand the issues involved with earmarking. Furthermore, I do believe politicians need leeway in the budget process. However, the point of my post was not about earmarking. My post speaks to the language that politicians are allowed to get away with in an attempt to frame issues. An appropriate analogy would have been more along the lines of the "health care account." Using the word "vacation" trivializes the Education Trust Fund's purpose, where health would have been more appropriate. Apparently other commentors missed my point. I will attempt to be more clear in the future. To Danny et al.,

I understand the issues involved with earmarking. Furthermore, I do believe politicians need leeway in the budget process. However, the point of my post was not about earmarking. My post speaks to the language that politicians are allowed to get away with in an attempt to frame issues. An appropriate analogy would have been more along the lines of the “health care account.” Using the word “vacation” trivializes the Education Trust Fund’s purpose, where health would have been more appropriate. Apparently other commentors missed my point. I will attempt to be more clear in the future.

]]> by: Susan http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11603 Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:34:11 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11603 Beachcomer, Mostly because the highway department doesn't have enough money either. Besides, if you want to propose to risk people's lives by cutting money for road and bridge repairs so that Paul Hubbert can hoard even more of the state's growth revenues, go ahead, but I'm thinking most Alabamians will not want to risk their lives on the alter of Paul Hubbert's greed. Beachcomer, Mostly because the highway department doesn’t have enough money either. Besides, if you want to propose to risk people’s lives by cutting money for road and bridge repairs so that Paul Hubbert can hoard even more of the state’s growth revenues, go ahead, but I’m thinking most Alabamians will not want to risk their lives on the alter of Paul Hubbert’s greed.

]]> by: beachcomer http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11600 Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:08:07 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11600 Why does no one mention the earmarks on gasoline tax which goes to the Highway Department? Why does everyone think that in a good year when the Education Fund is growing that it ought to be used to fund prisons, milk inspectors or pay to pay for tax credits for hurricane proofing buildings on the Gulf Coast,but when the Education Fund is in proration none of these other agencies step forward to make up the shortfall. Schools are told to cut their budgets and get by the best they can until times get better. And they do. Maybe that's what other state agencies should do instead of whinning for more money from our school which are still among the lowest funded in the Nation. Why does no one mention the earmarks on gasoline tax which goes to the Highway Department? Why does everyone think that in a good year when the Education Fund is growing that it ought to be used to fund prisons, milk inspectors or pay to pay for tax credits for hurricane proofing buildings on the Gulf Coast,but when the Education Fund is in proration none of these other agencies step forward to make up the shortfall.
Schools are told to cut their budgets and get by the best they can until times get better. And they do. Maybe that’s what other state agencies should do instead of whinning for more money from our school which are still among the lowest funded in the Nation.

]]> by: Mike Hubbard in the Parlor, Part Two » Doc’s Political Parlor http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11594 Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:26:37 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11594 [...] Part two is below. Part one is here. [...] […] Part two is below. Part one is here. […]

]]> by: Jim http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11549 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:33:24 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11549 I believe that Susan had it right as to what Rep. Hubbard's analogy meant. However, I have concerns about the budgeting process she would have us have. I don't know the best answer, but look at what our national representatives did to Social Security. The SS Trust Fund was healthy in the early 70s until they borrowed from it (knowing the borrowed funds would not be paid back)to spend the money elsewhere and in their questionable wisdom eventually did away with the trust fund by putting SS into the General Fund where they could spend all the surplus that had been paid specifically for SS. Then they holler that something has to be done about SS. The bottom line seems to be that most elected officials will spend or steal all they can get their hands on and plead for more, all the while trying to make us believe that they are good stewards of our money. I should point out that in the previous sentence the finger is pointed at most Democrats and I'm not sure that some Republicans have not caught the spending fever from them. When will it end? It will go on as long as the people keep believing their lies. I think I just made a case for ethics legislation while airing my distrust of most politicians. I believe that Susan had it right as to what Rep. Hubbard’s analogy meant. However, I have concerns about the budgeting process she would have us have.
I don’t know the best answer, but look at what our national representatives did to Social Security. The SS Trust Fund was healthy in the early 70s until they borrowed from it (knowing the borrowed funds would not be paid back)to spend the money elsewhere and in their questionable wisdom eventually did away with the trust fund by putting SS into the General Fund where they could spend all the surplus that had been paid specifically for SS. Then they holler that something has to be done about SS.
The bottom line seems to be that most elected officials will spend or steal all they can get their hands on and plead for more, all the while trying to make us believe that they are good stewards of our money. I should point out that in the previous sentence the finger is pointed at most Democrats and I’m not sure that some Republicans have not caught the spending fever from them. When will it end? It will go on as long as the people keep believing their lies.
I think I just made a case for ethics legislation while airing my distrust of most politicians.

]]> by: Susan http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11545 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:12:33 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11545 I think Trvld missed the entire point of Hubbard's analogy. The whole point is that good budgeting allows for the flexibility to meet emergencies and changing needs. So let's say that our family has a savings account for health care costs and one for fixing the roof. At the moment, the roof is sound and won't need repairs for awhile, but someone in the family is desperately ill. There is a lot of money in the account set aside for the roof, but medical expenses have drained the account that covers health care costs. The wise thing to do would be to adjust the budget so that money is shifted to meet the family's needs--in this case, money could be shifted out of the "roof" account and used to pay medical expenses. Alabama's budgeting process does not allow for the flexibility to meet our needs. No one, especially Mike Hubbard, is arguing that education is unimportant. But it is insane to perpetuate a system where all of the funds go towards meeting only one need and ignore all the rest. The record economic growth of the past few years provided enough money to meet the needs of both education AND our general fund, but because of earmarking, the education trust fund was grew by leaps and bounds while general fund services have been barely scraping for enough revenues to provide level funding of services. I think Trvld missed the entire point of Hubbard’s analogy. The whole point is that good budgeting allows for the flexibility to meet emergencies and changing needs. So let’s say that our family has a savings account for health care costs and one for fixing the roof. At the moment, the roof is sound and won’t need repairs for awhile, but someone in the family is desperately ill. There is a lot of money in the account set aside for the roof, but medical expenses have drained the account that covers health care costs. The wise thing to do would be to adjust the budget so that money is shifted to meet the family’s needs–in this case, money could be shifted out of the “roof” account and used to pay medical expenses.

Alabama’s budgeting process does not allow for the flexibility to meet our needs. No one, especially Mike Hubbard, is arguing that education is unimportant. But it is insane to perpetuate a system where all of the funds go towards meeting only one need and ignore all the rest. The record economic growth of the past few years provided enough money to meet the needs of both education AND our general fund, but because of earmarking, the education trust fund was grew by leaps and bounds while general fund services have been barely scraping for enough revenues to provide level funding of services.

]]> by: Danny http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11544 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:06:38 +0000 http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2007/10/19/state-gop-chair-mike-hubbard-visits-the-parlor/#comment-11544 Trvld, The last figures I have seen show that Alabama earmarks around 90 cents of every dollar of revenue that comes in. By comparison, Georgia earmarks around 6 cents a dollar, and the national average is about 22 cents per dollar. (Those are 1997 figures. I haven't seen more recent comparison figures.) That means the legislature has very little discretion with how to budget the money. If a fund has a surplus, the legislature may not have the ability to use any extra money where it is most needed. If a fund has a deficiency (for example, when the Education Trust Fund goes into proration), the legislature has limited options to meet the needs. I did not understand Rep. Hubbard to be likening the Education Trust Fund to a vacation savings account as much as he was contrasting the way the state has to budget with the way families and others budget. If I budget $1000 for car repairs for an old car, and my furnace goes out, I wouldn't leave the furnace unrepaired saying that the other $1000 was "earmarked" for car repairs. I would put the money where the greatest need was. That's the kind of flexibility other states have and Alabama does not. And the Education Trust Fund gets its revenue from taxes that are more dependent on the economy - sales and income taxes. When the economy turns up, the ETF tends to do better than it was projected. Trvld,

The last figures I have seen show that Alabama earmarks around 90 cents of every dollar of revenue that comes in. By comparison, Georgia earmarks around 6 cents a dollar, and the national average is about 22 cents per dollar. (Those are 1997 figures. I haven’t seen more recent comparison figures.)

That means the legislature has very little discretion with how to budget the money. If a fund has a surplus, the legislature may not have the ability to use any extra money where it is most needed. If a fund has a deficiency (for example, when the Education Trust Fund goes into proration), the legislature has limited options to meet the needs.

I did not understand Rep. Hubbard to be likening the Education Trust Fund to a vacation savings account as much as he was contrasting the way the state has to budget with the way families and others budget. If I budget $1000 for car repairs for an old car, and my furnace goes out, I wouldn’t leave the furnace unrepaired saying that the other $1000 was “earmarked” for car repairs. I would put the money where the greatest need was. That’s the kind of flexibility other states have and Alabama does not.

And the Education Trust Fund gets its revenue from taxes that are more dependent on the economy - sales and income taxes. When the economy turns up, the ETF tends to do better than it was projected.

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