Douglas Alexander: “I wish to say a word about tax fairness. Last week, I joined Senator Hutchison, who has been the leader on this issue…”

“I wish to say a word about tax fairness. Last week, I joined Senator Hutchison, who has been the leader on this issue, Senator Cornyn, and Senator Corker from my home State of Tennessee in introducing S. 2233. Our goal with that legislation is to make the State and local sales tax deduction permanent. As a former Governor, I know States and cities have many different ways to raise revenues to support the services they provide. States usually provide about half the funding for elementary and secondary education. They are the principal funder of community colleges and universities. They pay for a good part of the roads and all the prisons. So most States have pretty big bills to pay, and they have a variety of taxes to raise the money to pay for those bills. Some States levy an income tax. Some use a sales tax. Some use a combination of the two. Some use some other taxes. In Tennessee, we have had a pretty good debate about this issue, and we have decided we don't want an income tax. I looked at the options myself when I was Governor in the mid-1980s and considered an income tax for Tennessee but decided it would be the wrong thing to do, to put a tax on work. We have done pretty well with low taxes and without an income tax.”