2012-06-12

Rightward movement continues in American Midwest: taxes may be abolished; cops can be shot

First, in the mother of all tax revolts, North Dakota is considering the elimination of the property tax. A property tax rebellion in the late 1970s California is often credited as a sign of or a spark for the deregulation and tax cutting of the Reagan era.

North Dakota Considers Eliminating Property Tax
“I would like to be able to know that my home, no matter what happens to my income or my life, is not going to be taken away from me because I can’t pay a tax,” said Susan Beehler, one in a group of North Dakotans who have pressed for an amendment to the state’s Constitution to end the property tax. They argue that the tax is unpredictable, inconsistent, counter to the concept of property ownership and needless in a state that, thanks in part to wildly successful oil drilling, finds itself in the rare circumstance of carrying budget reserves.
This paragraph explains most of the force behind the move. North Dakota is reaping tax windfalls from the energy sector and doesn't need to rely on property tax. More importantly though, is something that has been going on across America: property taxes have been increasing, even though property values are falling. The government decides the value of a home for tax purposes and in many areas of the country, they have refused to account for the popping of the real estate bubble. When times were good, they were quick to adjust higher and take in more revenue. As prices fall, they are slow to adjust, if at all, and raise property tax rates to maintain revenues. In this light, the move to ban property taxes in North Dakota is not unlike the battle over collective bargaining in Wisconsin: it's about the cost of local government.

North Dakota voters to decide on abolishing property tax
North Dakota voters will decide Tuesday on the ultimate tax revolt: abolishing the property tax altogether. A citizen-led petition drive has put the daring, all-or-nothing proposal before the voters in a state flush with tax revenue, jobs and prosperity generated by an oil boom.

If the property tax is eliminated, it would be the first time since 1980 — when oil-rich Alaska got rid of its income tax — that a state has discontinued a major tax, reports the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan research group. North Dakota would become the only state not to have a property tax, a levy the state has had since before it joined the union in 1889.
In all of the talk about the U.S. national debt, one threat that's seldom mentioned is the risk that, contra what everyone expects, the taxpaying public revolts and causes the crisis. Just about everyone I read expects tax hikes, some spending cuts, economic stagnation and/or inflation. A tax revolt is a fringe idea at this point, but these battles could spread nationally. A tax revolt is interesting to consider because as the articles point out, there isn't enough money to cover existing spending in North Dakota. However, if the public becomes angry enough, it may not care. Also, taxpayers wouldn't feel the most pain, that would be spread across millions of people receiving welfare, entitlements, corporate subsidies, defense contracts, etc. But in the political scheme of things, the taxpayers hold asymmetric power because if they choose to revolt, they don't need to do any violence or even protest, they only need to stop paying the bills.

Meanwhile, Indiana is the first state to allow citizens to shoot the police. That is not a typo.

Indiana First State to Allow Citizens to Shoot Law Enforcement Officers
Police officers in Indiana are upset over a new law allowing residents to use deadly force against public servants, including law enforcement officers, who unlawfully enter their homes. It was signed by Republican Governor Mitch Daniels in March.

The first of its kind in the United States, the law was adopted after the state Supreme Court went too far in one of its rulings last year, according to supporters. The case in question involved a man who assaulted an officer during a domestic violence call. The court ruled that there was “no right to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police officers.”
Citizens can only shoot officers who are acting illegally, but this type of law is a strong counter to growing authoritarianism. The main question is whether Indiana expands the scope of a legal entry into a home, or whether the law serves to curtail police abuses.

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