Starving the Beast Can Destroy Gov't Services

News and Opinion for Democrats Against Bush -- Part II

"Starving the Beast" Can Destroy Gov't Services

"There is a 'starve the beast' ethic, currently fashionable among conservatives, holding that the best way to downsize government and end the social safety net is to get voters to demand lower taxes. But before we hurtle any further in that direction, we should think hard about whether we want the whole nation to look like Alabama does this year or, worse, next year."

ABetterAlabama.org

What Alabama's low-tax mania can teach the rest of the country

New York Times Commentary by Adam Cohen
October 20, 2003

The complete article is currently (3/27/04) available on A Better Alabama's website at-- http://www.abetteralabama.org/news/news1_103003.shtml

Quotes--

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The budget ax is swinging in Alabama, and the carnage is piling up. A hundred and fifty fewer low-income AIDS patients will receive life-saving medicines from the state. Fifteen thousand low-income Alabamians may lose their hypertension drugs. ...

The cuts are reaching down to core government functions.
The court system is laying off 500 of 1,600 workers, from
clerk's office employees to probation officers. The health
department is losing investigators who track tuberculosis,
and sharply reducing restaurant inspections.

Alabama's huge budget gap is a result of the voters' rejection, nearly six weeks ago, of Gov. Bob Riley's tax reform plan, which would have generated an additional $1.2 billion, much of it from undertaxed timberland. After the
vote, Governor Riley was forced to cut most state agencies by 18 percent, and other recipients of state funds by 75 percent.... Next year agencies are bracing for a 56 percent hit. If the state cannot find more revenue - and Governor Riley is searching - it may be nearly impossible for basic services, including courts, prisons and police, to operate. ...

We should all pay attention, because if the "starve the beast" crowd continues to prevail in Washington, as goes Alabama so may go the nation.

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FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.