Bringing home the groceries . . .

I called my state senator's office yesterday to ask him to vote for a couple of bills that would begin a process to amend our state constitution. You would think that would not be a particularly difficult thing to do, considering the hundreds of amendments that have been made to our constitution.

The amendments would remove the sales tax on groceries, and would remove the deduction for federal taxes in state income tax calculations.

The senator's secretary told me I was the first person to call her in favor of both bills. Many people supported the elimination of the sales tax on groceries, but most of them did not want to have the deduction for federal taxes abolished.

The folks who originally drafted this legislation did something kind of rare in politics and state government. They attempted to act responsibly and honestly. The abolition of the deduction for federal taxes would create enough tax revenue for the state to offset the loss of the sales tax from the groceries. I think it is called "revenue neutral". That is the responsible thing.

The honest part was telling the good people of Alabama that in order to bring overdue relief to the folks in our lower income bracket the folks in the highest brackets would have to pay more.

But we in Alabama are guilty of fraud. We learned well George Wallace's refrain that no pointy headed liberals from Washington could tell us how to run our state and are still whistling that tune. We are children of the South, the bastion of individual rights, where real men pull themselves up by the bootstraps and make it on their own. Wrong.

The Tax Foundation does a periodic study to determine how much federal money each state receives compared to how much federal taxes its people pay. In 2004 the study revealed that for every dollar paid by Alabamians to the federal government, we receive $1.73 in federal expenditures. Only five other states did better at soaking the rest of the country. Far from making it on our own, we receive almost twice as much money from the feds as we give to them. Not so independent, but a lot like children, calling on kind Uncle Sam to help us with our bootstraps.

What started out as an opportunity for a noble step toward fair taxation could easily become just another child-like refusal to take responsibility.

We really are good folks here in Alabama. It's time we started acting that way. Call your state senator and ask him to do the honest and responsible thing.

For more information go to: http://www.alarise.org/index.htm

A big shout out to Elwyn Thomas, representative from my district, who may have been the lone Republican to vote in favor of the bill. Excellent.