This is delicious

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by David Safier
Here's a marvelous quote from a budget update by Jennifer Loredo that I found on R-Cubed:

One interesting thing happened on the flat tax proposal. Senator Huppenthal amended the bill to create a new tax credit program for teachers for the purchase of classroom supplies. The tax credit would be in an amount up to $1,000 per year for classroom supplies and materials that were purchased by teachers in grades K-12. The stated purposes is “to provide income tax relief for teachers who personally purchase school supplies and materials for use in the classroom.” Before anyone gets excited about this, you need to know that this amendment is nothing more than a political ploy at this point. The flat tax proposal is said to be dead in the water when it goes to the floor for a full Senate vote. This proposal was amended to the flat tax proposal, thus if that main bill fails, the whole flat tax and income tax credit also fails. Keep in mind that Senator Huppenthal has announced his intentions to run for Superintendent of Public Instruction and how better to appeal to teachers to be able to say he personally amended the budget to give them a $1,000 tax credit. It’s the whole bait and switch…be weary and see it for what it is.

Let me pull this apart. Huppenthal is running for Ed Supe. He doesn't want teachers to hate him. Remember, there are lots of Republican teachers in this state and he needs their support. And he doesn't want thousands of teachers out in force going medieval on him during the campaign.

So he says, "Teachers, I feel your pain [which Republicans only do for people who are like them and people they're courting during an election]. Let me make things easier on you. Spend up to $1,000 on classroom supplies, and you'll get it back as a tax credit."

But it will only pass if the flat tax passes. And the flat tax is dead in the water. Which means he can tell people he supports teachers without having to worry about the bill passing.

Loredo has a misspelling in her last sentence which Freud would love. She meant to write "wary." Here's what she wrote instead. "It’s the whole bait and switch…be weary and see it for what it is." Yes, Jennifer, we agree, we're all incredibly weary after the never ending budget battles.

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