Hawaii is actual number 1 for something. According to Fitch and Moody’s Hawaii is number 1 when it comes to debt as a percentage of GDP. Somehow I don’t think it’s a good sign to be number one in this measure.
According to Hawaii Reporter:
According to newly released Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Services, Hawai‘i ranks first in the amount of debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product and second in debt per capita: almost $8000 for every man, woman and child in the state.
Wow! $8,000 for every resident of the state and this doesn’t count all the debt imputed to us at the federal level. I sure hope that interest rates don’t go up.
The article also quotes Bob Marx who is running for congress:
Speaking to a group of students near the University of Hawai‘i – Hilo, Marx stated: “I stand with former Governor Cayetano in his opposition to the proposed Honolulu Rail Project. Increasing the debt for Honolulu and writing it off on rural Oahu, the neighbor islands, and our future generations is not only fiscally irresponsible but impractical.”
“As usual, the City of Honolulu will again ask the rest of the State to pick up its tab on bloated spending projects. Importing steel from Europe will not create jobs for Hawai‘i. Working class people on Oahu have been hit hard enough already by the economic downturn, and raising taxes on them is not the solution. As a small business owner, I know the devastating effect that even a 1/2 percent excise tax increase can have on a business.”
General excise taxes are paid by businesses on gross receipts, not on revenue. Therefore, even businesses that are losing money would be asked to pay more. Documents presented by former Governor Cayetano and his supporters at a press conference yesterday outlined the questionable nature of the project’s proposed job creation statistics.
I don’t get it. I don’t live in Honolulu and I won’t benefit from the proposed rail system, yet I still have to pay tax to help fund it?
Don’t even get me started on the GE tax. Even if my business loses money I still have to pay tax?
Doesn’t it make more sense to have a consumption tax? Say we exempt the first $25K of spending and then tax the rest. This way people with low incomes who spend primarily on necessities aren’t taxed. And people who have the money to spend on luxuries are taxed more. Sounds a lot fairer to tax people when they have the money to spend. Than to tax businesses even if they are struggling and not making money. After all if we tax businesses that are struggling and they then shutdown, what happens to all the people working for them?