It’s ‘raining.’ (About time to dig into Raleigh’s beloved ‘Rainy Day Fund’?)
The cost of just about everything one could possibly need is sky-rocketing. It’s tough economic times here in these United States.
Meanwhile, Raleigh politicians are boasting with pride about this $5 billion dollar surplus (aka “the rainy day fund”) they have stashed away somewhere in our capital city. Here’s Mark Robinson doing it just the other day.
Governmental budgeting is not like personal or business budgets. Government is meant to budget for just what the citizens need, and then provide just enough revenue to pay for meeting those needs. In personal or business budgets, surpluses are good things. A surplus in a government budget means the people have been over-taxed.
Here’s a report about senator Phil Berger, US senator Ted Budd, and lieutenant governor Mark Robinson powwowing with Americans For Prosperity (AFP) to bemoan the sad state of the national economy.
Of course, it’s ALL Joe Biden’s fault. (Never mind the existence of a record of all kinds of Republicans – like Thom Tillis – going along with Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer’s 
shenanigans.) We talked about this phenomenon in an earlier post. There is a lot of blame to go all the way around both sides of legislative chambers. Big spending, budget-busting bipartisan misconduct got us here, folks. Whether you want to hear it or not.
In case you forgot, AFP — the sponsor of the event pictured above — in recent years has been one of the most visible, most aggressive, biggest spending NeverTrump operations in American politics. They were the big money behind Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis‘s presidential primary campaigns. AFP is also incredibly weak on immigration and other things like trade with China.
I’ve just about given up hope on DC Republicans. Perhaps Raleigh Republicans can – with their supermajorities – act to give us some kind of relief during this economic catastrophe.
The aforementioned $5 billion has been labeled a rainy-day fund. I think it’s safe to say that it’s raining. Why can’t Jones Street Republicans send some kind of tax rebate back to the folks who have been over-taxed to create this surplus?
How about some at-least temporary relief from our outrageously high gas tax? At 40.4 cents per gallon, we’ve got the eighth highest state gas tax in the country. (We’re the highest in the south.)
Why not at least a temporary rollback of the gas tax until things get better in the economy? Use the ‘rainy day fund’ to cover stuff that would have been paid for with the revenue from our outrageous gas tax? Cheaper gas would help ease the pain of trying to make it in these tough economic times.
Check out the somewhat arbitrary system for taxing sales in North Carolina. (You can tell which industries had the best [best-paying?] lobbyists.)
Even slight, temporary rollbacks on these particular taxes could help ease the overall economic pain out there. Better yet – just give us back the $5 billion.
We are STILL the party of smaller government and lower taxes, right? (Right ???)
Those gas taxes you speak of. In the east, we PAY those taxes too. Our roads are broken, cracked, pothole filled. The state roads, county road and w/in towns, the worst. It’s like we don’t have any expertise in paving, constructions, etc any longer. We build bridges, for 2Y, then immediately close b/c they were constructed improperly. The bridge and the road leading up to the bridge don’t connect; gaps and/or the bridge has a lip that isn’t level with the road. I cannot keep vehicles in alignment and struts are shot. Again, we PAY the tax and no return.
3rd world country roads are no less quality constructed. Read an article last wk, the roads the Egyptians constructed in Biblical days would likely not be constructed today, even with our technology.
The MORE technology we have, the more costs we have, the less quality we have. DOT must not have very bright engineers cause the ‘good road state’ ain’t no more.
Quite sure Coop/dems/gop top dogs and likely Stein will find a home for the $5B.
How about cheaper energy prices? Repeal the NC Green New Deal, HB951 (a Berger boondoggle) and cut everything promoting expensive and unrealiable wind and solar energy from the budget and the law. Save our ratepayers by sending the wind and solar grifters packing.
Amen!!!! Reaganite on 951 !!!!!!