Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Shorter Idaho: Kill the Poor

Idaho's response to its budget crisis:

But one other option that Popkey reports is under contemplation is cutting tax credits that help Idaho’s poorest residents afford food:
One possibility, though no legislators want their name on it yet: Ending the grocery-tax credit, which saves taxpayers $100 million. That would mean conflict because it would hit the poor hardest during hard times.
The credit is intended to refund some of the state’s sales tax to its poorest residents, as, unlike in many other states, the Idaho sales tax is levied on groceries. In an editorial, the Lewison Morning Tribune slammed the notion of cutting grocery credits, writing that “when it’s time to cut taxes, it’s Idaho’s wealthiest who get the breaks. When there’s a tax to be paid, it’s the people on the bottom rungs who get soaked.”
This will surely solve the state's problems.....