Ernie Goss is
an economist at Creighton.He also writes for the blog
Economic Trends.He wrote an op-ed for
our most beloved local newspaper.In this op-ed, Prof. Goss opined that Gov. Dave's idea to reduce Nebraska income taxes is better than the Democrat plan to reduce property taxes.
I don't have a dog in this fight. I''ll be happy either way.
Democrat blogger Kyle Michaelis, though, is very bent out-of-shape by Prof. Goss.
When I started blogging, I opined that Kyle Michaelis tended to an overheated rhetorical style. He relies on odd rhetorical flourishes at the expense of substance.
His current effort is a good example of this problem with his blog.
To begin with, Kyle repeatedly says that Prof. Goss is a liar. People lie when they deliberately state a falsehood. You'd expect some evidence for that. You'd be disappointed, though.
Kyle also says that the work of Prof. Goss is "academically questionable". That's a serious charge. You'd expect Kyle to be prepared to back such a serious charge up with some evidence.
Let's take a look.
FIrst, he quotes Prof. Goss as follows:
The 2006 ranks by the Tax Foundation placed Nebraska sixth-highest in the nation in terms of state and local tax burdens. The same rankings for Nebraska's geographic neighbors were as follows: Colorado, 38; Iowa, 26; Kansas, 18; Missouri, 34; South Dakota, 45; Wyoming, 33....
Nebraska politial leaders often place special emphasis on property taxes. However, policy-makers should keep in mind that, as a percentage of total tax collections, property-tax receipts in Nebraska (32.1 percent of total tax collections) are in line with those in Colorado (31.8 percent), Iowa (35.6 percent), Kansas (35.1 percent), Missouri (26.8 percent), South Dakota (36.8 percent), and Wyoming (30.6 percent)....
Kyle then promises us that he is going to rip Prof. Goss to shreds:
Quite frankly, Goss' column is so full of spin and so lacking in objectivity that any self-respecting economist should be embarrassed, if for no other reason than the sheer obviousness of these defects.
Let's have it.
Kyle starts out:
For starters, Nebraska's ranking by the so-called "Tax Foundation" as having the 6th highest tax burden comes in direct conflict with an alternative study Goss makes no mention of that put Nebraska's overall tax burden at 21st in the nation. Nothing to be proud of either way, but it's clear Goss would rather use the numbers that best serve his agenda without even acknowledging that other - less inflammatory - numbers exist.
The "so called Tax Foundation"? Here's their website. A self-respecting blogger, going the "so-called" route, could have at least bothered to include a link in his screed. The fact that Kyle didn't speaks volumes.
Study up on that that website and decide for yourself whether the folks at the Tax Foundation have some super secret special plot to try to make Nebraska's tax burden look bad. Clearly, they are simply applying the same measurements and standards to assessing relative state tax burdens that they have used for decades. Or maybe they took payola from 42 states?
What about that other study Kyle mentions? What's the name of the group that produced it? Where can we find a copy of it on the web? We don't know, since Kyle doesn't identify the study or give us a link.
Against that backdrop, consider Kyle's conclusion from this:
It's clear that Goss would rather use the numbers that serve his agenda.
Really? Maybe Goss has never even heard of this alternative study. Why assume the worst, and ascribe such dastardly motivations to Prof. Goss based on virtually no evidence?
Kyle goes on:
Then there's this matter of Goss playing the percentages game to make it look like Nebraska isn't so over-reliant on property taxes. After he's just admitted that our overall tax burden is too high, he then wants to undermine efforts to reduce the tax that is most responsible for our high ranking.
Goss "admitted that our overall tax burden is too high?" Huh? Goss expresses concern over this and Kyle takes him to task for using the Tax Foundation's statistics and one paragraph later, Kyle says that Goss is "admitting" our tax burden is too high. Like I said: Huh?
Kyle provides no evidence for his claim that our property taxes are the tax that is most responsible for our high-tax-state rankings. He might be right, but who knows? He doesn't offer any evidence. He just makes a bald assertion and goes blithely on to attack the motivations of Prof. Goss:
This is not legitimate criticism, and it pretty well establishes Goss as willing to say anything to advance the Goss/World-Herald/Heineman agenda focusing on cutting income taxes for Nebraska's wealthiest citizens.
Yes. Prof. Goss gets out of bed every morning thinking, "What lies can I tell today to achieve my life goal of reducing the income tax burden on Nebraska's wealthiest citizens?"
Man, you nailed him, Kyle! Someone finally had the nerve to tell the truth.
Worst of all, Goss is the one who obscures the truth about Nebraska's property tax burden by only reporting it as a percentage of our total burden without making any mention that, by the same per capita measure he'd just used for our overall ranking...
That would be the per capita measure that comes from that dastardly so-called Tax Foundation.
...the people of Nebraska face much higher property taxes than our neighboring states (which the people already knew, despite Goss' attempt at deception).
Comforting to know that the state's biggest newspaper, our governor and our most well-known economist actively working together in conspiracy still can't manage to fool the people.
Meanwhile, Goss again attempts to deceive with his call for a more equitable distribution of the tax burden. Why doesn't Goss just come out and say what he really means with that statement? He wants the poor and the working class to take on more of the tax burden so the corporations and the wealthy will pay less.
Yes, Kyle. That's exactly what Prof. Goss wants. And he will do anything to get it. Anything. Lie, cheat, steal. He'll even quote studies from the so-called Tax Foundation. He is a despicable bastard and we are just so gosh-darned lucky to have you to tell us the truth.
