Does America Want Another Cup of Joe?

On Thursday, Oct. 11^th, 2012, on The TexasFred Blog, in a post titled, “My Take on the Joe Biden– Paul Ryan Vice Presidential Debate” TexasFred says that, “Joe Biden was argumentative, rude, he interrupted, he was a disruptive force and he had an ally in Martha Raddatz.” And TexasFred states that, “Joe is just being Joe.” TexasFred says the reason Biden plays the joker and acts clownish with his body and facial expressions is because Joe has no credible response to any of the questions given to him, which does nothing to gain anybody’s confidence in him, should he one day become our President. Additionally, TexasFred believes that Biden has an ally in the moderator, Martha Raddatz. Not only is Ryan debating Biden, but Raddatz as well saying, “When Ryan was making a telling point Raddatz would interrupt, question Ryan herself, actually challenge him or change the topic and move back to Biden."

According to TexasFred, Ryan did a good job, but he kept letting Biden talk over him, saying,“Paul Ryan was trying very hard to use facts and figures but he was allowing Joe Biden to interrupt.” And, TexasFred thinks Ryan is too nice, because he allows the interruptions and challenges, even from Martha Raddatz. He credits Ryan for being professional, and for not getting into any heated arguments with Biden. Above all, TexasFred applauds Ryan’s performance, and while he doesn’t believe Ryan helped Romney that much, he feels that Biden hurt Obama.

TexasFred’s intended audience is his conservative followers. Perception is the key here, and one’s perception of which candidate won this debate depends on their party alignment. Democrats recognize Biden’s buffoonish behavior, but they like it and expect it from him (“Joe being Joe”). Republicans, such as TexasFred, also recognize Biden’s buffoonery, but they criticize him for being a Joker when the country is in such serious trouble. I watched the debate, and I believe that TexasFred’s assessment is spot on and credible. I don’t think one has to be a republican to recognize that while Ryan is professional in his presentation and knowledgeable with his facts; Biden acts like he is better suited to be making balloon animals at a kid’s birthday party. And, although Ryan allows Biden to talk over him, it could be Biden’s inferior intelligence revealing itself, as compared to Ryan’s. Biden is like the bully who is having an argument with someone smarter than him, and just can’t seem to think of the right words to say, so he resorts to telling his opponent where to shove something, or simply punches him. Perhaps the saying, “In a Battle of Wits, You’re an Unarmed Man”, applies to Joe Biden in situations like this.

What do you think? 

The Tax Man Cometh!

In a post on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012, from the Opinion section of Statesman.com titled, "Lavine: Don’t abandon Texas property tax", Dick Lavine of the Center for Public Priorities Policy, argues against doing away with the current property tax program, and replacing it with a sales tax program. He says that placing the tax burden solely on a sales tax program would be too extreme, and would require at least a rate of 18%. Additionally, he states that it would damage the community’s relationship with the schools, because the schools currently look to property taxes for their revenue. He also claims that we might see taxes on many items that we are not accustomed to being taxed on, such as food and utilities. Furthermore, Lavine argues that by switching to a sales tax system, the tax burden would be higher for those making less than $125,000 a year.

Lavine’s target audience is low to moderate income households, and those households earning less than $125,000, and he says that these households would see an overall increase in their tax burden. Lavine has a valid argument, because homeowners carry the lion share of the burden when it comes to taxes, and simply erasing their contribution overnight in exchange for a sales tax might be disastrous. Think about renters who may not directly pay property taxes; however the tax on the property they rent is factored into their price to rent that property. Introducing a sales tax would definitely increase their tax burden; possibly disastrously since their landlord is not likely to lower their rent equal to his decrease in property taxes. We can look at a modest example on the other end of the spectrum for a comparison. According to the Travis county Appraisal District, the 2011 total tax rate is approximately 2.4%. Take a homeowner who lives in a $250,000 house in Austin. The homeowner’s tax burden is $6,000 a year. Based on the proposed sales tax rate of 18%, the increase is 11.75% above the current sales tax rate of 6.25%. They are already paying 6.25% in sales tax, so they would only suffer the 11.75% increase in new sales taxes. Based on the 11.75% increase, this homeowner would have to spend approximately $51,000, in order to equal the $6,000 he was paying in property taxes. This household may spend $51,000 per year on consumables, but not likely, so they would see their tax burden go down significantly. This is just a $250,000 house, so one can see how the divide would grow as the property values increase.

Since homeowners currently pay the school and city taxes, they are most likely the ones to decide on issues regarding the taxes which affect the schools, but renters have kids too. A good solution might be to keep the current property tax system for now, and implement a small sales tax to supplement property taxes. Over time, the divide between the two tax sources could be balanced out, and both homeowners and renters can be a part of the decision process regarding school taxes, and neither side would be robbed or become fat in the wallet overnight.

What do you think?