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Wishing Gov. Fletcher Success on Tax Plan, UK President Todd Speaks to Louisville Venture Club, and Are the Feds Eating Mad Cow?

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

1.                 Wishing Gov. Fletcher Success on his Tax Plan – The Kentucky Governor’s tax plan would reduce income tax rates on individuals and corporations, while broadening the tax base.  It also would eliminate taxes on the poorest Kentuckians.  By substantially reducing income tax rates, Fletcher’s plan will make Kentucky a much more attractive place for businesses, which will especially benefit low and middle income Kentuckians by providing them better job opportunities.  In order to be revenue neutral, the Governor’s plan also increases taxes on tobacco and alcohol products and cable television.  While tax increases are never welcome, these tax increases are not large, and at least they are optional, in that people can choose whether to buy the products or services on which they are levied.  While the purchases of tobacco products are likely to decrease over time, making the tobacco tax increase a poor income source for the long term, the 26-cent tax will buy the state time during which the income tax reductions will allow the state’s economy to grow and generate additional tax revenue. 

Unfortunately, instead of working to make Kentucky more attractive to businesses, most of the Democrats in the Kentucky legislature are playing their usual class warfare card, saying that the proposed tax reductions benefit the rich and the proposed tax increases harm the middle class.  Apparently they are willing to pretend that taxes on corporations and high income people, which prevent businesses from starting, growing, and moving here, do not harm the average person.  Let’s hope Kentuckians are smart enough not to buy that worn-out line, and let’s hope the legislature takes this opportunity to improve the state’s economy.  If Kentuckians want better job opportunities for themselves, their children, and their grandchildren, at all income levels, then Gov. Fletcher’s proposed tax cuts are the right approach.

2.                 UK President Dr. Lee Todd Speaks to Louisville Venture Club

On April 7, Dr. Todd spoke about his experiences as a student, a professor, an entrepreneur, and now a university president.  Todd said that, when he was doing his graduate work at MIT, there was a real entrepreneurial spirit among the engineering professors and students, and he had the pleasure and privilege of working with professors, such as Dr. Bose, who developed technology and then established Bose Corporation to commercialize the technology, taking a year’s leave from MIT to get the company running, and then returning to his research and teaching.  When Todd was a professor at UK, and he was in the process of launching his own technology business, he did not find the same kind of support at UK that he had been accustomed to at MIT.  Todd said he is working to change that culture, and he hopes UK students will begin to think of their studies being not only to prepare themselves to become employees of existing businesses but also to prepare themselves to create businesses and jobs. 

Todd said that it is important for the state to support higher education in order to provide a platform for launching high-tech businesses that will improve the state economy.  He said that, before there was a “Silicon Valley” or a “Research Triangle”, there were strong universities in those regions that supported the growth of those high-tech businesses.  Similarly, Todd said Kentucky needs to support the development of strong universities in order to develop its own high-tech industries.  Dr. Todd did not say how he would propose to manage the state’s taxes and budget in order to provide strong financial support to higher education while still reducing taxes to a level that is necessary to encourage business growth. 

3.                 Are the Feds Eating Mad Cow?

Saturday’s C-J reported that Creekstone Farms, a Campbellsburg, Kentucky company, wants to privately test every one of its cattle for mad cow disease.  This would help the company, which is suffering from lost sales overseas, such as in Japan, where consumers are demanding testing of all beef products.  However, U.S. agriculture officials have said that 100 percent testing is not justified and apparently has refused to allow Creekstone Farms to spend its own money to test its own beef.  It makes me wonder whether the feds have been eating some mad cow themselves!  The federal government spends tons of tax money trying to encourage exports of U.S. products, but it won’t allow a U.S. company to spend its own money to make its beef exportable.  No doubt, if Creekstone Farms goes under, thanks to the government restrictions, and if many people lose their jobs, the feds will be right there supporting the bureaucrats in the unemployment and retraining industries!     

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