re: #62 Lidane

A related anecdote from work: The other day I saw a press release laying around that had come out during the 2014 election. It was for a state proposition (which passed) that was concerned with additional infrastructure funding for Texas. I don’t remember the exact wording, but the press release whined about how the funding gap they were trying to fill existed because of “stagnant revenue sources” that haven’t gone up in over 20 years.

Gee. It’s almost as if no state income tax and a constant feeding frenzy of tax cuts would lead to a funding gap for basic services. Who knew?

That’s hitting home on Long Island in a big way nowadays - the Islanders, who have finally gotten back to being a real hockey team, are leaving the Nassau Coliseum and moving to Barclay Center in Brooklyn next season because the ‘don’t raise my taxes’ crowd wouldn’t spring for improvements to the aging Coliseum.

Nassau County itself has been so ineptly managed that despite having one of the highest median incomes in the country, it nearly went bankrupt in the 90s and financial oversight was taken over by the state in 2011 because even with all that money, the low-tax utopia was unable to balance its own budget.