Do the media and the left not understand how tax cuts work? Did they collude to protect Hunter Biden? Would you like to see just how much Iowa is improving its tax climate? Who is really to blame for the soaring prices we’re all paying these days? ITR Foundation sets the record straight below.
Let’s make something clear right away: Iowa’s state budget is going to continue to grow in the coming years, even as Iowa’s revenue begins to shrink, but it’s not because of a faltering economy. It’s the result of the first wave of tax cuts that will be delivered from this year’s historic tax reform package.
That’s how tax cuts work. The whole idea is the taxpayer gets to hold onto more of their hard-earned dollars while government gets a little less. Iowa can afford to bring in fewer dollars because our state budget has been running at a substantial surplus for several years now:
The Cedar Rapids Gazette published this piece by ITR Foundation’s John Hendrickson that explains the most recent forecast from Iowa’s Revenue Estimating Conference.
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You could be forgiven for forgetting that in October 2020 the New York Post ran a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop, since most of the media either ignored the story or claimed it was untrue. Greed, exploiting political connections, and nepotism are the exact things Americans of all political stripes despise, and they are the exact items we expect our press to bring to light. Only that didn’t happen in this case.
Traditional media publications seemingly joined forces with social media platforms and intelligence officials to hide the truth from the American public with no repercussions. It’s incredible, if not downright criminal or even treasonous, that our institutions plotted to hide the truth from us by pretending the truth just did not exist.
It is as if they have said, “we don’t trust the American people to act responsibly if we tell them what has really happened.” Why do they think that way? Is it simple elitism that believes they know best, and we the people do in fact need to be protected from ourselves?
See why ITR Foundation joins the Wall Street Journal in warning of the media promoting agendas and their pre-determined narratives.
Iowa has morphed into a national leader on state tax policy, but you don’t have to take our word for it. Jared Walczak, Vice President of State Projects at the Tax Foundation, wrote that the “transformation of Iowa’s tax code is certainly remarkable.”
Iowa’s rankings in the Tax Foundation’s Business Tax Climate Index (see table above) will improve. “Before the reforms of 2018 took effect, Iowa ranked 46th overall on our State Business Tax Climate Index, a measure of state tax structure. With the full phase-in of the newly enacted reforms, Iowa would rank 15th overall, an improvement of 31 places,” noted Walczak.
More work can still be done in improving Iowa’s tax climate (we’re not #1 yet!), but Iowa is now the gold standard example for tax reform in the Midwest.
Recently we lost a champion of liberty with the passing of Bob Williams. Bob served as a state legislator from Washington and he founded two state policy think tanks, Evergreen Freedom Foundation and the Washington Policy Center. As a lawmaker and as a public policy professional, Bob Williams was a budget hawk and a defender of fiscal conservatism.
The concepts that Bob developed and promoted have been woven into significant pro-taxpayer victories in Iowa and across the country. Bob Williams will be missed, but his legacy will not be forgotten.
By Patrick Barron, Guest Columnist
What almost everyone calls “inflation” is really a rise in the general price level. OK. But the real definition of “inflation” is inflation of the money supply. A rise in the general price level is a consequence of inflation of the money supply.
Technically, the price level is determined by supply and demand. However, the recent rapid rise in inflation is not a result of greed or supply chain disruptions but money created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve.
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