Tax cap opponents recognize futile fight

From the minute Hoosiers heard the phrase “tax caps,” the limits on property tax seemed destined for the state constitution – even if they aren’t really caps, and even though it changes Indiana’s long-held requirement for equal taxation.

The end to equal taxation especially upset the Indiana Farm Bureau and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, whose constituencies face higher tax limits than homeowners do. Those groups were perhaps best positioned to lobby for defeat of this November’s referendum to put the caps into the constitution. But both decided it was a losing battle and are not actively campaigning against the issue.

Without their involvement, it will be more difficult for Hoosiers to learn that if it’s passed, the tax cap referendum will forever give unequal taxation constitutional protection. And the other dirty little secret about the caps is that No. 1, they don’t prevent taxes from going up, and No. 2, special building projects approved in special referendums are not included in the tax limits.

Those two reasons should be enough for Hoosiers to be skeptical of giving the caps constitutional permanency. Still, it’s difficult to blame either organization, which apparently view the caps as unstoppable and a waste of both resources and good will.

A structurally sound proposal

Many conservatives, and more than a few moderates, will likely view President Obama’s call for a $50 billion transportation plan as just another deficit-deepening stimulus plan that won’t do much to revive the economy. Indeed, many voters will likely see his proposal as a desperate attempt to do anything to help jump-start the economy two months before the elections.

Sadly, that may well be the case. But behind the proposal is an innovative idea to target one of the nation’s most significant festering problems: Deterioration of its transportation infrastructure. Among the Republicans who approve is California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Obama wants a government transportation bank to finance road and airport runway projects. The idea would be to replenish the bank, so many of the projects would require tolling or user fees, the kind of financing Republicans such as Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels prefer. One project likely would be making progress on the long-delayed, much-needed next generation air-traffic control system.

Given the highly partisan divide of the day and the backlash against almost any new program, Obama’s proposal may not go far. But the nation’s infrastructure needs will have to be addressed on a more comprehensive basis sooner or later, and sooner is almost always less expensive. With luck, after the congressional elections, the president will work with leaders of both parties to advance his proposal in a way that will not add to the deficit.