Who can Democrats Blame

Editorial, Greenville Daily Reflector, July 19, 2013.

The tax plan agreement touted by Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday as “meaningful tax reform” may not live up to that definition for most North Carolina taxpayers, but it comes as no surprise. The plan shifts more burden of funding government to middle- and low-income taxpayers and reflects the Republican formula for inspiring economic growth by lowering taxes for corporations and the wealthy.

The plan also reflects the failure of North Carolina Democrats to define and enact any alternate formula for needed tax reform that might have averted the rise of GOP control in Raleigh.

One legislative analysis well illustrates the failure of this plan to provide even meaningful “tax relief” for middle-income households. It shows a yearly savings of $84 for married couples with two children earning $60,000, while a single person earning $250,000 saves $4,000.

That may be a simplistic snapshot of the overall plan, but it is nevertheless a statistic that challenges the sincerity of the party that purports to be supportive of traditional American families. The meager savings for lower-income families also does not factor in higher sales taxes on electricity, movies and service contracts.

But rather than get too worked up over this Republican version of tax reform, the Democrats in Raleigh have to know the plan now before them comes also from their party’s dismal performance in that arena. Advocates on both sides of the political aisle, including this newspaper, have long called for comprehensive reform of the state’s antiquated system of taxation. Yet Democrats under the two previous governors were too mired in power struggles and ethics violations to responsibly address what has arguably been the state’s most pressing challenge of the past two decades.

When the worst economic recession since the Great Depression struck early in Gov. Beverly Perdue’s term, the Democratic-controlled legislature’s best effort to bridge overwhelming funding gaps was to raid the so-called Education Lottery. That pathetic act of desperation set the tone for Perdue’s single term, shifting the tide of leadership in Raleigh to the GOP for the first time since Reconstruction.

Gov. McCrory was plumb giddy on Monday in assuring that his party’s tax plan will “spur economic development, create jobs and put more money into the pockets of hard working North Carolinians.”

He might also have said elections have consequences.

While the minority party can argue that the GOP tax cuts do not constitute fair or meaningful reform, it cannot deny its role in providing them.