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DEL.ICIO.USThe Speaker throws a Laffer curve
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Macon Telegraph is out today with more of House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s thoughts on changing Georgia’s tax structure.
Richardson goes into a little bit more detail than he did last month.
Says the Telegraph: “Current school and property taxes would be replaced with a flat income tax of 5 percent to 5.5 percent and a ‘consumption tax’ or sales tax of about 5 percent, he said. The rates would apply to everyone, regardless of income.”
The news is that the House speaker said he’s hired as a consultant the economist Arthur Laffer, who introduced Ronald Reagan to the concept of cutting taxes to increase economic activity — and government revenue.
“What we’re doing is hiring Dr. Laffer to analyze every single governmental system in the state, every county, every school board, every city and say, ‘here’s how much money you generate right now, here’s how much money will be generated if you do this, and it will be more than you get right now.’ And we’ll have to guarantee that,” Richardson said.
We’ve been told Laffer will make at least one appearance in Atlanta during the coming session of the Legislature.
Don’t expect any tax reform legislation this year, though. House Republicans intend that to come in ‘08.
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Comments
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By RJ
January 5, 2007 12:31 PM | Link to this
I admit not knowing much about Laffer but I am sure he is no more talented than what we already have in Georgia in both our private and academic arenas. This choice is just another in a series of examples of how the current Republican leadership looks to the national level for guidance rather than using what we have in Georgia.
By snd
January 5, 2007 1:46 PM | Link to this
More smoke and mirrors. ‘House Republicans intend that to come in ‘08’
What a coincidence, the Tax cut meme just in time for the 08 elections.
By jack abney
January 5, 2007 2:29 PM | Link to this
I think the state of Ga has had enough high level studies on the(fair tax). remember last session when Gov. Perdue commissioned an educational study to find a new funding source for the educational system, no report of that failed mission headed up by the dept. of education has ever surfaced in the public. This is just another way to waste money. Jack
By South Columbus Boy
January 5, 2007 4:56 PM | Link to this
I don’t think we have anyone in Georgia on the level of Arthur Laffer. He is an economist educated at the very prestigious University of Chicago School of Economics (home of Milton Friedman and many other Nobel Prize winners) and he could get the Nobel Prize for the Laffer Curve, that demonstrated that tax revenues will fall if taxes are too high. If the Speaker hired him, that shows that House Republicans are serious and smart.
By Uh-oh
January 7, 2007 1:52 AM | Link to this
Richardson has other things to worry about…
http://www.atlantamagazine.com/blogs/entry.php?id=459