Some times George and I disagree, and this is one of them.  Beebe made a point during the campaign to say he would not promise to eliminate the grocery tax.  He said he would try to do so if it were feasible.  Not painting yourself into a corner is the responsible way to governern.

Well, others have since suggested smarter options that would direct tax relief directly to those who need it.  Many poor people receiving food stamps do not even pay sales taxes on food.  The poorest of Arkansans will not benefit from the elimination of the grocery tax.   Why should the wealthiest Arkansans and tourists get a tax cut that the poorest will not get?  It just doesn’t make sense to me. 

Sometimes leaders must listen to others with better ideas.  The idea to provide tax rebates based on income is a better idea.  It targets relief only to those who need it.   This means either larger rebates (more tax relief for those who need it) or a smaller loss in revenue.  To not consider other options is irresponsible. 

As for George calling the so-called “brotherhood” greedy, I have no idea where he got that.  How is it greedy to want to be smart about tax relief to those really in need?  I have not heard of anyone being “greedy” on this issue.  Did I miss something?

The bottomline however is that there is no surplus anyway.  It doesn’t exist anymore than the trillion dollar surplus existed on the national level years back.  This state has more debt and spending obligations than tax revenue.  How’s that a surplus? 

I’m all for making our tax system more progressive, but we need to be smart about it.   We should never leave some options off the table.  Especially when they make more sense.

Richard Saunders