Do We Really Need To Raise Taxes?

Do we really need to raise taxes? Can’t our governor, legislators, and bureaucrats find a better way? Let’s see what Harlan Boyles and North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry had to say about our current budget challenges.

“It shouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist to know we were headed for problems financially,” said retired State Treasurer Harlan Boyles. “We were so carried away with the prosperous economy that we assumed all would be well. In 1991, the economy was our problem. In 2001, spending is our problem. We are our problem.” (Charlotte Observer, 2/11/2001)

“If North Carolina is collecting a record amount of tax revenue – most months it takes in more than $1 billion – why is the state facing its worst budget crisis in a decade? State tax revenues are higher than they’ve ever been; through six months of the current fiscal year collections are 2 percent ahead of even last year’s blistering pace. Trouble is, state spending also is increasing at a breathtaking rate. The budget adopted last July approved an 8 percent increase in state spending, a figure that now looks like so much pie-in-the-sky.” (North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, Legislative Bulletin, 2/2/2001)

North Carolinians pay over 40 percent of their hard earned money in taxes, the highest taxed state in the southeast. NC CSE clearly opposes tax increases in any form: local option sales taxes, state sales taxes, and any other cleverly disguised and hidden taxes. NC CSE its supporters and over 18,000 activists statewide want to know why they cannot find another way!

Our governor, legislators, and bureaucrats need to do what the families of North Carolina do when faced with money problems? They live within their means. Enough is enough!