Lynch: "Fibbing" about his budget record

[KBCraig]

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Charlie+Arlinghaus%3a+Gov.+Lynch+is+fibbing+about+his+budget+record&articleId=d499d2dd-19ae-4338-b260-a61cceb9c6d6

Charlie Arlinghaus: Gov. Lynch is fibbing about his budget record

By CHARLES M. ARLINGHAUS

ELECTION SEASON is the best time to find misleading statements from politicians about state government.

Reading a fund-raising letter from Gov. John Lynch this week, I was astonished by a misleading statement he continues to make.

As the crowning fiscal achievement of his first term, Lynch constantly says he turned the $300 million deficit he supposedly inherited into a surplus and did it without new taxes. It sounds terrific, but neither part of that statement is actually true, and he should stop saying it.

First, he inherited from Craig Benson not a deficit, but the largest surplus in the history of the state. Not exactly the same thing. Next, in balancing his budget, he did it with an $87 million tax increase ? not without any new taxes.

So where does the misinformation come from and why does he persist in saying it?

The taxes are the easy part. Every politician likes to say he didn?t raise taxes. Lynch?s budget raised the existing tobacco tax by $43.5 million each year of the biennium. It was a tax hike but on something we already taxed. Some have tried to argue that an increase in an existing tax or an extension of that tax to other things isn?t ?new taxes.? At a minimum, to say an $87 million tax increase is ?no new taxes? is misleading.

But the really clever misstatement is the $300 million deficit because it sounds like a true story.

About six months before the election in which John Lynch was first elected, the state?s leading outside budget expert released a report suggesting a cumulative three-year shortfall of $300 million would occur if the economy remained flat and no action of any kind were taken. The report expected action would be taken and numbers would change but wanted to present current information. Reports like this are very valuable, but they present moving targets that are intended as a tool for politicians. By the time Lynch took office, the situation was drastically different and getting better all the time.

Instead of producing a $71 million deficit, Craig Benson produced an $82 million surplus, a swing of $153 million that erased more than half the $300 million. Between significantly higher revenue projections based on the current economy and his $87 million tax increase, Lynch didn?t face a deficit at all and was able to propose a modest spending increase.

Without raising taxes, Gov. Lynch would have had to cut state spending, but that?s not nearly as interesting a story to tell. Its only advantage is that it?s the truth.

The story that does give Lynch a significant fiscal advantage over his Republican detractors is one he doesn?t mention much: education spending. Of all the education funding plans considered this term, John Lynch?s was the least expensive. If it had passed, it would have committed fewer state dollars than any other plan. He deserves credit for moving both parties to the core principle that there is enough state aid for education, provided it is spent wisely.

Just as important as this element of fiscal restraint, Lynch?s plan was the only one that would have eliminated the shell-game statewide property tax.

An election is a rare chance for a political leader to speak directly to voters about the basic fiscal principles of government. John Lynch has a great opportunity to explain why spending more money at the state level is a bad idea. By talking about trying to do more with less money, he can force both parties to debate efficient fiscal management.

Eliminating the statewide property tax for homeowners and business owners would help local towns and economic development. As an advocate for that message, Lynch can use the election season to turn voters into believers.

The election season is filled with opportunities to debate and educate, but those opportunities must not fall victim to misleading polemics. John Lynch didn?t inherit a $300 million deficit. Craig Benson left him the largest surplus in state history. Lynch didn?t balance the budget without new taxes, he needed an $87 million tax increase.

[lildog]

Politicians lie????  Please say it ant true!!!  I mean if you can?t trust politicians who can you trust????

I suppose your going to tell me there?s no Easter Bunny next right?

[tracysaboe]

I suppose your going to tell me there?s no Easter Bunny next right?

??? ??? ???



Tracy

[Kat Kanning]

You've spoiled easter for TRacy, now 

[Pat K]

I shot the Easter bunny, he was tasty.

[Pat K]

By the way this why I like the Easter bunny better than christ= the easter bunny fried up nice is a tasty treat, while the body of christ is just a dry white wafer. 

[Dreepa]

, while the body of christ is just a dry white wafer. 

But you sometimes get wine.

[tracysaboe]

By the way this why I like the Easter bunny better than christ= the easter bunny fried up nice is a tasty treat, while the body of christ is just a dry white wafer. 

That's because He's not really dead, so you can only get a representation to commemorate His sacrafise -- but also his resurection. Not that we would endorse cannabolism if he really were still dead. Ewe. (I guess Calvanists do actualy believe it turns into the real bllod and body when you take it -- but there's not many of them around anymore.)

Tracy

[Dreepa]

(I guess Calvanists do actualy believe it turns into the real bllod and body when you take it -- but there's not many of them around anymore.)

I think many of the 'christians' believe this.

[tracysaboe]

Really?

I've been around the block -- so to speak.

Grew up in Assembly of God. Also was in a Free methodist church for a few years. Went to a Lutheran church the last have of my childhood as well as a Lutheran College. Currently attend Southern Baptist church. When to a Mininite school when I was in 7th grade. On top of that My dad was a gideon so we visited pretty much every other church in the area at least once a year while he delivered messages.  I don't know of any of those demoninations that actually believed that. It's a metaphore.

Maybe the East Coast is different.   But both Idaho and the midwest I'm not aware of many demoninations that believe that particular Calvenist Docteran.

Tracy

[Dreepa]

Catholic  -- largest 'sect' of Christianity
Mormon -- Fastest growing 'sect' of Christianity

[Braddogg]

Maybe the East Coast is different.   But both Idaho and the midwest I'm not aware of many demoninations that believe that particular Calvenist Docteran.

The Catholics hold fast to the theory of transubstantiation (that a priest says a blessing and the host becomes the literal body and the wine becomes the literal blood), and there are a lot of Catholics in the Northeast.

[lildog]

Catholic  -- largest 'sect' of Christianity
Morom  -- Fastest growing 'sect' of Christianity

With all this around you'd think I'd be able to get some once in a while... oh wait, you said sects, never mind.   

[KBCraig]

(I guess Calvanists do actualy believe it turns into the real bllod and body when you take it -- but there's not many of them around anymore.)

I think many of the 'christians' believe this.

That's a Roman Catholic belief in transubstantiation. The other "high church" denominations that practice centralized communion don't require any particular belief, beyond those beliefs of the communitant.

[Thespis]

Mormon -- Fastest growing 'sect' of Christianity

A lot of Christians don't consider Mormons to be Christians.