by Tax Watchdog | Jan 9, 2006 | 2006 Enterprise Articles
by Howard Stephenson The years of tight budgets appear to be over for a while. But with good times come greater temptations for policymakers to use the largess to grow government. Thanks to the availability of significant rainy day funds and the ability to extend bond...
by Tax Watchdog | Jan 2, 2006 | 2006 Enterprise Articles
by Howard Stephenson The beginning of a new year provides a good occasion to learn from some of the dumbest and smartest things said by public officials during the past year. These were all published in the monthly Utah Taxpayer newsletter of the Utah Taxpayers...
by Tax Watchdog | Dec 26, 2005 | 2005 Enterprise Articles, Enterprise Articles
by Howard Stephenson Recently a proposal has surfaced to require the governor to include a “tax expenditure” report in his annual budget. At first blush it seems like a good idea, but under closer scrutiny it is clearly an attempt by the spending lobby to pit...
by Tax Watchdog | Dec 19, 2005 | 2005 Enterprise Articles, Enterprise Articles
by Howard Stephenson With Utah enjoying a billion dollars in state revenue growth, it’s time to do something about our unenviable position as 3rd highest among the 50 states in state and local taxes and fees. As a result of surplus projections, Governor Huntsman...
by Tax Watchdog | Dec 12, 2005 | 2005 Enterprise Articles, Enterprise Articles
by Howard Stephenson Last week in this column I discussed some of the points of Thomas Friedman’s book The World Is Flat. America’s crisis in science and engineering was described. This week I am writing about how this affects public education in Utah....
by Tax Watchdog | Dec 5, 2005 | 2005 Enterprise Articles, Enterprise Articles
by Howard Stephenson As one of the last persons on earth to read Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat, I have finally been jolted into the realization that the future of United States as the world’s leading economic power is more at risk today than any other time in...
