|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2006
Contact: David Strom
Ph: (763) 249-5952
Public TV Does Not Belong In Constitution
Amendment to raise taxes to fund arts and TV is ridiculous
PLYMOUTH—The Constitution is generally a bad place to make funding decisions. Once one spending priority gets picked out for special attention, everybody wants to get a slice of the pie dedicated to their issue.
That’s what has happened with the proposed Constitutional Amendment to dedicate a portion of the existing sales tax to environmental spending. In a version passed by the Senate, the sales tax would be increased by 3/8th of 1%; the money would be divided between environmental, outdoor sporting, parks and zoos, and spending on the arts and public television. It would raise $277 million annually, growing as the economy does. A similar Amendment is moving through the House.
“This proposed Amendment is absurd,” said David Strom, President of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. “Putting the arts, zoos, and public television into the Constitution doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“Essentially we are creating a Constitutional right to Public TV. Is this the ‘Elmo and petting zoo’ right that our Founding Fathers fought so hard for? The ‘interpretive dance and performance art’ right?
“Putting these things into the Constitution confuses the nice with the necessary. The Constitution is about the fundamental things that shape our society: the big stuff. Zoos, theaters, and Public TV don’t belong in our Constitution. Have they lost all sense of proportion?” asked Strom.
“This is just bizarre,” Strom concluded.
|
