Thoughts from the 50th, Part II: Jim Demint

After we heard at length from T. Boone Pickens, we got to hear from our Senator, Jim Demint. Jim spoke on the challenges that face our party, including the energy challenge that T.Boone had just laid out...

Part I:



Part II:

Thoughts from the 50th Floor: Breakfast at the RNC

So breakfast this morning was on the 50th Floor of the IDS building in downtown Minneapolis: "Windows on Minnesota". This is the view out one of those windows, an iconic downtown Minneapolis office building on the right and the Mississippi River flowing on the left.

As we walked out of the hotel this morning on our way to Windows, we were immediately hit with the after-effects of Labor Day - Fall has fallen on Minnesota. The brisk breeze this morning was an amazing refreshment after months of heat and humidity, and served to wake us all up in a hurry, despite the early hour. (I was up working on the blog and still unresolved video issues from yesterday until about 2AM... 0730 meeting in the lobby came awfully early today.)

Our speaker this morning was also well worth the wait - one of America's finest entrepreneurs, T. Boone Pickens. Mr. Pickens is out working on promoting his energy program, which largely consists of expanding our domestic energy production, especially revitalizing our transportation infrastructure with natural gas and our home energy needs with wind, solar, and nuclear. The environmental impacts of this would be remarkable, but the key point, as you will see below, is removing America's dependence on foreign sources of oil. I suggest watching all five in order - this was pretty much the full speech, divided up this way so I could load on YT.

Part I:




Part II:



Part III:



Part IV:



Conclusion:

Reason #1 to cut (or eliminate) the income tax

The State newspaper this morning reports that South Carolina's per capita income continues to lag behind the rest of the country. This year our growth was 4.2%, a full point behind the national growth of 5.2%. South Carolina now boasts the 4th lowest per capita income in the nation, slipping from 6th worst a year ago. (Yep, another statistic to be proud of.)

I find it interesting (in a strange, crazy sort of way) that The State can report this statistic without bringing up the obvious reason behind the statistic - an income tax rate that ranks among the ten highest in the country. When you tax productivity and success, you lose business - it's really that simple. Yet we get caught up in the property tax debates and sales tax debates, and our legislature never gets around to cutting the one tax that has a direct impact on our ability to create wealth and jobs - the income tax.

Why do we think it is that we have none of the Top 100 companies in America headquartered in South Carolina? If we, for instance, want to become the haven for the energy companies, taking advantage of the Savannah River site's unique potential to generate hydrogen fuel, we have to have a tax structure that companies want to take advantage of. Or do you think Microsoft landing in Washington state was simply by chance? Washington state has no state income tax, preferring instead to rely on other, lower taxes and a robust economy. That's the formula for success.

What's worse, since no income tax cut is coming this year to stimulate our state's economy, we can already look forward to having this report be just as bad (or worse) next year. Hopefully those who are elected this fall will pay more attention next spring when this report resurfaces.

In the meantime, way to go guys, thanks for keeping us down - again.