"Budget & Tax News" - September Issue

The September issue of The Heartland Institute's "Budget & Tax News" is now available. If you haven't checked it out before, it is a great national publication devoted to lower taxes and smaller government (two things we are all for here at VACostCutting!).

Of note, check out:

Expert Sees Problems with Drink, Rental Car Taxes, by Steve Stanek

"Any time you raise the price of something, you decrease its consumption." ... The taxes will take more money out of the local economy at an especially bad time, Gamrat said. "You're talking about delicate economic times at best right now," Gamrat noted. "The county executive [who led the fight for the new taxes] is encouraging those who live on the county fringes to buy elsewhere, and other people to spend less."

Budget Transparency Problems Are Identified in 50-State Survey, by Sheila Weinberg

Transparency is critical in each state's budget process, because that process is the principal vehicle through which state legislators and governors allocate resources collected from businesses and individuals.

Optimal, 'Right' Size of Government Provides New Political Paradigm, by Lewis K. Uhler and Richard Vedder

A growing body of research shows there is an "optimal" size beyond which government becomes a drain on a nation's economy. And government in the United States--local, state, and federal combined--has already grown far beyond that optimal size.

Enjoy!