The original measure 47 was a classic matchup of the educational elite and their poor underfunded classrooms and kids and the beleaguered lower income taxpayers who were being taxed out of the very homes they had paid for. What a crock of horse manure! If funding were really so sparse, the first place to look for cuts would be at the high end of the income spectrum and not at the classroom level. On the other hand for every dollar of tax relief to low income elderly there were at least $20 of tax relief for wealthy corporations. We had a pretty good tax relief plan back in the 70s - HARRP - which provide needed tax relief to lower income people, but like all tax breaks for ordinary citizens, it was never kept up to date with inflation. We could have beefed up the plan as I earlier proposed - or we could institute residency exemptions for homeowners of $25,000 for adults [maximum 2] and $5,000/child with 1.5x or double exemptions for those over 60. If Bill Sizemore and his group of "tax reformers" were seriously interested in helping beleaguered taxpayers - insteading of exploiting them for votes - he would seriously advance something along these lines. That's only one reason why I consider him as "just another demagogue".
Feedback? 5/27/97