Jackson Free Press

State Treasurer Tate Reeves slammed President Barack Obama's stimulus plan on Monday, saying Obama had chosen to "outsource" the leadership on the package to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"You've got 12 years worth of pent-up, left-wing, nutty San Francisco ideas. Instead of an efficient law to jump-start the economy with tax cuts and shovel-ready, infrastructure spending … you've got government funding for STD prevention," Reeves told the crowd of the Stennis Capitol Press Lunch. "And now, instead of fulfilling the promise to rein in the entitlement programs that loom over the future of the present generation we get a budget proposal that is based on an economic philosophy that has proven to fail in virtually every nation in the northern hemisphere at some time or another."

Reeves, while distancing himself from controversial statements by conservative comedian Rush Limbaugh (who remarked more than once that he wanted Obama to fail), Reeves billed Obama's stimulus plan as "nothing more than a rewind to the fiscal approach of the (Jimmy) Carter administration."

"He's gutting the domestic oil and gas industry, reduced defense spending, added even more roadblocks to private investment in new businesses, throwing sand in the gears of a real estate industry … and building an even bigger government than any of us thought possible," Reeves said, without adding details.

Former Gov. William Winter, who attended the press event, dismissed Reeves' opinion outright.

"There are a lot of things that Reeves and I disagree on," Winter said.

Though Reeves was quick to criticize Obama's plan for treating the collapsing economy, he was in no position to deny the existence of the terrible numbers. Reeves praised the state's low debt, but predicted abysmal revenue numbers this year, as the national and state economy continues to tumble. He said he based his prediction upon corporate taxes.

Income taxes were actually up 14 percent, or $6.8 million, in February relative to estimates, with a year-to-date revenue falling $18 million below this years' estimate. Sales taxes in the state were down 1.2 percent lower than estimated, by about $1.6 million, according to Reeves, who framed the drop as less painful than that in other states.

"For the entire year, sales tax receipts are only down $28 million relative to our estimate, based upon an arbitrarily high number caused by people going out and buying new washing machines and things like that post Katrina," Reeves said.

The figures on corporate income tax, however, bode badly for the future. Even though corporate income taxes comprise less than 10 percent of the state's total budgeted numbers. The year-to-date revenue generated through corporate income taxes in FY09 fell $51 million below estimates.

"And in February we were $5.62 million or 71 percent below expected revenue estimates," Reeves said. "That figure tells me that as corporations are paying less and less taxes based upon their expectation that business is not good and their profits will not be there, ultimately that's going to flow to the other two areas that do comprise 85 percent of our revenue, which is sales and personal income."

"Our revenue numbers," he added, "are more likely to get worse before they get better."

Reeves said a committee to estimate the more dismal figures will be meeting this month to determine the new size of the shrinking pie for FY10, but added that "it's likely our revenue numbers, from an estimated standpoint, will continue to come down and will perhaps come down rather significantly."

Previous Comments

ID

144245

Comment

Instead of an efficient law to jump-start the economy with tax cuts and shovel-ready, infrastructure spending … you’ve got government funding for STD prevention And what's wrong with the government funding STD prevention? It cost a lot less to prevent a disease than it is to treat it.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2009-03-02T21:55:06-06:00

ID

144248

Comment

Hey, I have never been able to spend my way into prosperity. Why in the world do you think the Country can do it?

Author

Razor

Date

2009-03-03T09:26:29-06:00