All eyes are on the GOP House and Speaker Kevin McCarthy these days. After all, there was a much-ballyhooed and protracted fight for McCarthy’s position, and out of the gate, the House has tried to defund last year’s allocation of cash to the IRS and plans to vote on abolishing the agency. It is also going to vote for legislation to get rid of income tax, and Jim Jordan will chair a select committee to investigate alleged abuses of power by the Biden administration.
Since the bills have to go through a Democrat-dominated Senate, the chances of anything serious happening to the IRS or your tax bill are slim to none. And no doubt Democrats have been working overtime to head off or discredit anything that Jordan’s committee uncovers. But at least all of this makes for entertaining reading.
However, as they say, all politics are local and what the governor of your state does will have more impact, at least in the short term, than what happens at the federal level. Although that will trickle down to you eventually.
For example, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, has been crystal clear that the chance of a flat tax being enacted in his state is off the table, and he is not very friendly to the concept of school choice. Just the News had this quote from Evers: “A flat tax, if that’s part of the budget, that could end it. If it’s universal school choice across the state for education, that could be a killer too. But we’ll see. I don’t think any of those things are going to happen, so I’m planning on signing a good budget.” Evers has said that he wants more cash for local government and public schools. He has been accused of accepting thousands of dollars and endorsements from the state’s teachers’ union. For reference, the numbers for donations to Evers from teachers’ unions from 2001 to 2017 can be accessed here. In addition to clamping down on school choice, Evers wants increased access to abortion. He has also indicated that he would like to legalize marijuana, and at least some Wisconsin Republicans are amenable to abortion exceptions for rape and incest and appear to be sympathetic to the use of medical marijuana.
So, business as usual in a progressive state.
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Contrast Wisconsin with Arkansas. Newly minted Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has big plans for that state. Education is a priority for Sanders, but in this case, she is talking about reform. Fox News quoted Sanders on education:
“I’ve made no secret that the biggest priority I have for this session is a large-scale education reform package. I am really excited to work with our legislative partners to bring about education reform that, I think, will have a generational impact on our state. I am living it every day with a fifth-grader, a third-grader and a first-grader, and I feel the impact of education and what it means and what it means to each kid,” Sanders said, noting they “all learn differently and all need different things.”
She also wants to increase training and resources for law enforcement and take steps to ensure that violent criminals are not set free to offend again. One of her more ambitious goals is to phase out the state’s income tax.
A “progressive” governor who wants to maintain the status quo, and a “conservative” governor who is ready to move forwards. Savor the irony.
Speaking of the status quo, the once-and-future candidate, Stacey Abrams, has said that, like the Terminator, she’ll be back to try for the governor’s seat next time. I guess the third time is the charm. Unless it is a strike, in which case I still doubt Abrams will be out. Abrams was on a daytime talk show hosted by Drew Barrymore and said, “I will likely run again. If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. If it doesn’t work, you try again.” Despite her ability to raise cash and her voting rights efforts, Abrams has lost her gubernatorial bid twice.
Abrams and Evers have one thing in common with other Democrats: there is a system that works well for them, and that includes Abrams, who has failed twice in her election bids. She will no doubt enjoy more infusions of cash up to and during her next campaign, along with the support of the national and local media. Theoretically, she could campaign for the rest of her career. Or now that she has the chance to do two post-game reviews, she may be better equipped to notch a win the next time. So in blue states a least, the system needs to be propped up and perpetuated so the same laws and policies can continue and the same people can prosper.
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