The Star's editorial board is tackling the long-standing issue of sales tax on food in Alabama -- the removal of which could make a huge difference for our state's lower-income residents:
That point is what we are being led to believe when members of the task force suggest that the only way this measure might pass is if the deduction is removed gradually. As one member put it, “if we want to lessen the opposition, we have to lessen the immediate impact.” That’s probably true.
Therefore, we hope that when the Legislature convenes and the task force makes its report, senators and representatives will pass a bill that incrementally lowers and removes the sales tax on food while incrementally reducing and ending the federal income tax reduction.
We're also taking a look at the sniping between the state's GOP and Democratic parties over Gov. Riley's fund-raising efforts for the 2010 election:
And off we go down the slippery slope of fund raising for partisan purposes. It should remind us of how much it costs to be elected to an office which you could hold from here to eternity and never earn enough to pay those campaign bills on your own.
