SENATE BILL: Napoleon Tax Cut Bill (Vetoed)

[Marokai Backbeat]

I do not subscribe to the notion that, because we are in surplus, we should immediately cut taxes. I've never understood that idea, and it strikes me as a remarkably irresponsible thing to do, really.

On a related note, when did we decide to exclude Social Security from the budget? Oh well, that's neither here nor there, I just had a weird moment trying to match up where the hell Shua got the numbers for overall spending since they made no sense to me at first.

Anyway, because we had a 60 billion surplus projected for an entire year, we're talking about cutting revenue? A bit antsy to jump the gun on tax cut demagoguery, aren't we? We have massive debts to pay down, we have potential recessions to prepare for in the future, we have to be ready for disasters like Sandy that could strike any time and require immediate national responses, we should create a national rainy day fund and set money aside. Having a 60 billion dollar buffer each year is already modest; cutting it lower than that just to tinker with the tax rates and have something to brag about strikes me as incredibly short sighted.

Especially if it's meant as stimulus; if so, cutting taxes permanently seems like a silly way to do it, especially at most of the rates proposed here. Nix's proposal would be the most stimulative, but it is also costly. There would be a dozen other ways we could achieve greater economic stimulus at a much longer long-term cost.

Being in surplus is a good thing. It's not somehow a problem that needs to be corrected. Just because we now have money doesn't mean we should immediately blow it.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I think I would rather have some sort of very modest cut for the lowest bracket (~3% of a cut) and then setting up a national rainy day fund and putting 40% of all surplus funds into it every year, and sending the rest to pay down the debt.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I'll PM Griffin asking for an evaluation of the Sbane proposal before I pledge to support anything here.

[Marokai Backbeat]

The fact that everyone rushes forward with their own specific tax cut idea is why I'm loathe to have to sign any of them. This entire thing seems ill-advised. Sbane's or Nix's are the only ones that seem sensible, targeted, and leave a good surplus behind. Again: Surplus good, debt bad.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I am not a fan of this bill. First, I feel just inherently opposed to cutting taxes when we have a massive debt to pay and no rainy day fund set up to siphon some of our surplus into, and I tend to think this cut is shortsighted. I get that it's a very attractive notion to vote for a tax cut, but there have to be times where we do what is best for our finances.

This bill is exceptionally disappointing in how it's written, as well. The entire text is nothing but a list of percentages without any context; you'd only know we're referring to taxes because of the title of the proposal, but beyond that, this is not the best lawmaking I've ever seen. I would be willing to rewrite the bill, even if for the sake of argument I supported it's goals; but I don't, and I want a much broader tax reform bill that includes the establishment of a rainy day fund in the future. We are at the end of a Senate session, and I am not willing to bleed this bill into another Senate session to attempt a rewrite that we have never debated. I support a limited line item veto for minor omissions, such as the fusion voting bill, but any redraft would be a complete rewrite, and I am loathe to use that power.

A forty billion surplus is too small. Hell, I think a sixty billion surplus is too small, but it's at least what we have. Even if I agreed for the sake of argument that tax cuts like this for the best means of stimulus (and they are not) I couldn't support this. There are better things to spend our small reserves of money on than this. In the future, I would be more than willing to sign a better written, more responsible tax reform bill that preserves funds for a rainy day. But this bill is most definitely not that.

In accordance with my power in Article 1, I hereby veto this bill.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Thank you, gentlemen.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Resume debate.

I will not be supporting any sort of so-called rainy day fund that sucks capital out of the economy and actually creates the rainy day by doing so.

This is not a redraft, this is a straight-veto. Your options are either to request a veto override, or accept the veto.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Don't worry, Yankee. I can still count, and I'll coordinate with Duke now that your old age won't let you.