David Streifford: The Senate’s big ruse

The N.C. Senate recently passed a bill to cap income tax rates. Then senators had the gall to sell it as a “taxpayer bill of rights.” It is a miserable idea, as the Aug. 27 editorial “A failed idea passes N.C. Senate” made clear.

The Senate wants to promulgate this in a constitutional amendment and put it on the ballot. If someone hates government and everything it does, it would get their vote.

Why does the Senate likes it? Claimed to be a reasonable limit on bloated government budgets, it handcuffs legislators from responding intelligently to any emergency, let alone making good public policy on all matter of vital services – education, health, infrastructure, etc.

So, let’s call it what it really is, a transparent attempt to shrink government. And who will bear the burden of this shameful and regressive move? North Carolinians in all walks of life but especially lower- and middle-income individuals and families, with the greatest impact felt on school spending and health insurance for poor children.

This is no bill of rights. It is merely a ruse to deny basic services to those who need it most.

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "David Streifford: The Senate’s big ruse."