brucemaples dot com

If you were listing characteristics of a well-designed tax system, what would you include? In today's Courier-Journal, Rep. Jim Wayne gives his list, and I think it's a good starting point:

Fairness. The tax code should promote justice, with every Kentuckian paying their fair share, including the wealthiest.

Adequacy. The revenue stream should be stable enough to support schools, social services, prisons, law enforcement, environmental protection and other programs and services people depend on.

Elasticity. Revenue should grow as the economy changes. If a certain section of our economy is expanding, as our service-based sector is, tax revenues should reflect that.

Simplicity. The system shouldn't be too complicated to understand. Taxes should be as low as possible — with everyone paying their fair share — and the tax base should be broad.

I've been yelling for months about the lack of leadership in Frankfort. Why? Because all the people in Frankfort know that our tax system fails ALL of these tests, and has for years -- and yet they have done nothing.

Here's what the cowardice in Frankfort has gotten us:

Click to read more ...

I was listening to NPR this morning and heard an interview with John Barry, the author of The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History. It was a fascinating interview, full of details and anecdotes that make me want to purchase the book.
One on-air observation, though, struck me as so important that it deserved to be pulled out of the interview and talked about on its own:

Click to read more ...