Last week, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press released the results of its latest survey of Americans’ opinions about government. Washington fared poorly: the federal government’s 28% favorability rating represents its lowest reading since Pew began conducting the survey in 1997. In contrast, local governments fared quite well. Over 60% of Americans have a favorable opinion of their local government.
4:26 PM 02/11/2013
Ohio Governor John Kasich, a Republican, recently proposed taxing 81 services that are currently exempt from Ohio’s sales tax and using the new revenues to reduce income and sales tax rates. This is a great idea, and other Republicans should follow Kasich’s example. Almost alone among Republican governors, Kasich understands that, done right, taxing services is no revenue grab, but a way to create fairer, more efficient, and more modern state tax codes and finance massive cuts to tax rates.
4:20 PM 01/14/2013
Lately, there’s been a surge of optimism about the overall health of state and local governments. USA Today and Bloomberg report that government work forces are about to start growing for the first time in four years. The public sector will thus be a net contributor to national economic growth instead of a drag on it.
