“Many of our legislators subscribe to a questionable ideological assumption that government is just an impediment to the economy and that it should be shrunk as much as possible, even when your state already ranks dead last in per capita funding for higher education. They overlook the substantial amount of research across the globe that shows clearly that quality government, and especially public investment in brainpower, is critical to attaining a high standard of living. They are unwilling to consider this crisis as an opportunity to make Florida's state and local tax structure fairer.

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (www.itepnet.org), the poorest 20 percent of Floridians pay over 14 percent of their income in combined state and local taxes, while Floridians whose incomes are in the top 1 percent pay just under 3 percent of their income for taxes in Florida.

The ITEP researchers say Florida is one of the two most regressive states (placing the highest burden of taxes on the poor while taxing the richest the least). To get out of a recession takes smart investing. Investing in the future brainpower of our young people is the smart way to go.”

-- Earle Klay, professor in the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University, in a commentary in The Tallahassee Democrat.
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http://www.tallahassee.com/article/2009051...+heed+a+warning
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Thanks to Mark Pudlow for the clips and the lead.