There\u2019s gotta be a joke that fits this occasion, but I can\u2019t come up with it. Maybe I will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Idaho Republican Legislature is not a punch line. It\u2019s a simple fact. Nobody\u2019s laughing. But we voters keep returning these jokers to the statehouse. Maybe us voters are the joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six years ago, when the proposal came before the Idaho legislature to cap the homeowner exemption, there was good testimony that predicted where property taxes would be right now. A retired expert on taxes made some good graphs and analysis of the proposed law. He told the lawmakers that homeowners property taxes would start to climb, and commercial property taxpayers\u2019 taxes would level off. And his analysis didn\u2019t include dramatically rising home values. It just included a steady increase. So even if things had stayed the same, the local property tax burden was going to shift to homeowners. Well, home values did climb. In some places they have doubled in this short six years. Now, it seems, Idaho Republican legislators have decided there is a problem with property taxes. And they can\u2019t seem to find the right solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every Idaho Democratic legislator voted against this proposal six years ago. Less than a dozen Republican legislators joined them. I remember the Assistant Senate Majority Leader (now the Senate Pro Tem) even acknowledging in his debate there might be \u201csome shift\u201d in the coming years. But he argued this change was good for \u201cbusiness\u201d. I guess not your or my business. Somebody got a break on this shenanigan, and it wasn\u2019t Joe Homeowner. But Joe Homeowner probably votes Republican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So now, with many suggestions brought up to fix these skyrocketing property taxes, the Idaho Republican legislature can\u2019t seem to find the solution. It\u2019s not hidden. Why can\u2019t they see it? It\u2019s pretty obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Okay, here\u2019s the joke. I walk out to my old bicycle outside the Capitol to pedal home in the dark. Billy Republican is wandering around looking at the ground. \u201cCan I help you?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI dropped my keys, and I can\u2019t find them.\u201d Billy says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet me help\u201d I say. After some minutes I can\u2019t find anything either and I ask him. \u201cWhere did you drop them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOver there\u201d, he gestures to a darkened sidewalk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy are we looking here?\u201d I\u2019m perplexed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe light is better over here.\u201d Billy admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s hard to admit you made a mistake. It can seem very dark and foreboding to fess up. I have always found it a learning experience, not something to be avoided. I\u2019ve made lots of mistakes in my life, in my votes, in my diagnoses, in my relationships. Admitting mistakes is a sign of character, not weakness. Even in a politician, though all the experts tell politicians to never make such a confession. They think we want to vote for infallible representatives. There is no such thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Idaho Republican legislature made a mistake six years ago and we, the voters, have been paying the burden ever since. Property taxes have driven some fixed income elderly from their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s past time when the Idaho Republican legislature should have fixed this. So now they are wringing their hands and scratching their heads about a solution. Solutions have been brought up for the past three years. They don\u2019t get a hearing. I guess the Idaho Republican legislative leadership just wants to look in the comfort of a well-lit hallway and not really find the keys they say they lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this case, Idaho Republican legislators did not lose anything. They voted for this mess. Now they need to admit they made a mistake and man up to choose the simple solution. It\u2019s in plain sight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s gotta be a joke that fits this occasion, but I can\u2019t come up with it. Maybe I will. The Idaho Republican Legislature is not a punch line. It\u2019s a simple fact. Nobody\u2019s laughing. But we voters keep returning these … Continue reading