Governor Bentley Crosses The Red Line

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Posted by: Jon B. Carroll
Date: Mar 25 2015 9:27 AM

MONTGOMERY - Governor Robert Bentley on Monday, during a speech in Birmingham said, that he will, ” get his tax hike proposals passed, even if he has to call for 10 special sessions of the legislature”.
In doing so he crosses a red line that violates multiple election promises to voters and those like myself that supported him.

The reasons why Mr Bentley says a tax increase is necessary proves the very reason why there should not be any. Bentley claims that there is a 700 million dollar shortfall with the budget. In April of 2014 the legislature passed a 7.8 billion dollar budget of which 1.8 billion was to go to the general fund and nearly 5.9 billion to the state’s education trust fund. By contrast the state of Tennessee spends less per citizen and seems to have better roads and a consistently higher ranked public school system. Many taxpayers desperately want to know why.  Despite Bentley’s anti-federal government campaign speeches, Alabama, under Bentley’s leadership, has relied on federal aid to balance its budget more so than 41 other states.  Sobering as this fact is, apparently this was forgotten during the campaign.

Even more disturbing about Bentley’s leadership is where exactly our tax money goes. A recent story by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer-focused nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., in its annual report on state transparency ranked Alabama poorly. The report, entitled "Following the Money," measured how transparent and accountable states are with regard to state government spending. Alabama received a grade of D and a numerical score of 55, stating Alabama was "lagging" in terms of transparency regarding state spending and not at par with other states in the south in being transparent and forthcoming about how the state spends its funds.

The bottom line in Alabama is we have to many people with a hand out. Those that should be rewarded are those that work and produce taxes and more importantly those that serve and protect us. This coupled with shrewd investments into our future infrastructure and education system.

Entitlements, whether politically taboo to speak about or not, are a huge issue in our state and a recent CATO Institute study revealed this startling fact. In Alabama recipients of welfare earn $ 23,310 per year, which equals a $ 11.21 per hour salary. Elizabeth Besmears at Yellowhammer wrote an interesting article about this yesterday. inspired by her article, I decided to push this analysis further and factor in the other entitlements that people in Barbour and Henry county frequently qualify for along with welfare and look at it on local level.

In Barbour and Henry counties these numbers will blow your mind. Males had a median income of $28,441 versus $19,882 for females. In Henry county it was not much better, males had a median income of $29,189 versus $20,827 for females. If you factor in this person who chooses not to work, qualifies for food stamps which are approximately $ 200 per month for Alabamians, and then additionally recognize they qualify for the section 8 housing program, along with medicaid, benefits the results are alarming.

People in Barbour and Henry county can get up to at times $400 or more per month for a single one unit dwelling. HUD guarantees 40% of this at a minimum, the state picks up the rest. In Barbour county the waiting list alone stretched back to 2013, so they are literally standing in line wanting free housing. What this means is, if you are a resident of Barbour or Henry county, you can choose to work…or accept a package deal of entitlements that includes, housing, food, health insurance and cell phones with a text plan that gives you 250 minutes per month. If my math is correct, the approximate value of this per year - $34, 656 dollars. How many people do you think want this ?

Read that very carefully, what I am saying is, if you do not work, plead poverty, and rely on the government, and live in Henry or Barbour county, you can get a job at the taxpayers expense DOING NOTHING FOR $ 34,656, tax free. Thats with a free Obama cell phone by the way to boot.

That kind of deal equals a value of $ 17.33 per hour job and for it you sit on your butt while others work to pay for it. 

By any stretch of the imagination this is a horribly dysfunctional situation that we did not get into overnight, but the Governor has refused to do anything to address it. Just like in a Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meeting, you first have to admit you have a problem. The Governor is simply asking for another drink to be put on our tab by promoting a tax increase. We cannot however blame it all the Governor, if we are radically honest with ourselves, the mentality is present in our region as we have elected a state senator like Billy Beasley (D) who makes his living off people remaining poor. Beasley operates pharmacies in some of the poorest areas in the nation, like Clio. Obviously if people get jobs there and have ways to earn a better living, he would face competition by Rite Aid or CVS. With an economy where the annual per capita income is 6 thousand dollars and real unemployment exceeding 40 %, it can appear hopeless to residents and they are not able to drive the 20 or so miles necessary to save money on prescriptions. Whether his supporters want to hear it or not, he profits from those in poverty, and where there is a huge personal financial incentive to keep people poor, common sense tells you that your more likely than not to do nothing. His long legislative record (or lack of it) documents this mentality. This coupled with family law firm that brags about suing every major industry who considers entering the district creates a climate of little to no economic growth. The economic statistics in places like Barbour and Bullock county speak for themselves and are on par with third word countries. The harsh reality is people here would starve if it were not for food stamps and be homeless were it not for entitlements. In places like Barbour county you are confronted with a reality that, even if one wants to work there are no jobs of any kind. We alone are the dummies who voted for him and put him in office, we have no one else to blame.

Contrary to what pundits like Yellowhammer will tell you, it is not a partisan issue. In stark contrast to Beasley, there are some democrats for example working in the trenches like Dexter Grimsley. Just having been re-elected to district 85, he has a increasing economic focus on "strengthening and further developing our existing industries of agriculture and forestry". Grimsley is looking for ways to enhance their profitability and expand the range of products from not just raw products transported out of the region, to creating opportunities to expand the range of finished consumer products here at home. "Peanuts, cotton, cattle and timber have long been our mainstays" he recently told me. "What products are made from these raw material elsewhere, that could be produced locally and reduce transportation costs and good economic sense?" Grimsley is asking "why can't we do what they do elsewhere with our base products we produce here at home?" My understanding is he is quietly researching and developing legislation on how can we get state and federal incentives to move that manufacturing here. Thats worthy of praise in my book even if he is a democrat. In doing so he is right, existing industries could become more profitable and more jobs in manufacturing become available. If he's successful its a win - win for the Wiregrass economy. None of this requires new taxes, in fact its an approach that is the polar opposite of the path Bentley is about to go down - it requires hard sustained work and long term strategic planning to create an environment rich in opportunities for growth. That traditionally means less taxes, not more on industry and those who create jobs.

Bentley said in his inaugural address, he “now works for you the taxpayer”. Their should be no doubt whatsoever Governor Bentley that the taxpayers of Alabama say NO to any new tax increase. WHAT WE WANT GOVERNOR BENTLEY IS YOU TO DO WHAT YOU SAID YOU WOULD DO AND GET RID OF PUBLIC CORRUPTION AND REFORM THE STATE, NOT RAISE TAXES SIR.

Have an opinion on this subject, willing to voice it on camera? I think everyone's voice should be heard by our governor on this issue.

Call me  334-521-2982 or email me at henrycountyreporter "at" gmail.com

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