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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal wants to eliminate all income and corporate taxes in his state. No, really:
Republican Governor Bobby Jindal said on Thursday he wants to eliminate all Louisiana personal and corporate income taxes to simplify the state's tax code and make it more friendly to business.
The governor did not release details of his proposal, but his office released a statement confirming that the taxes are targets of a broader tax reform plan.
"Our goal is to eliminate all personal income tax and all corporate income tax in a revenue neutral manner," Jindal said in the statement.
He did not confirm reports that he will seek an increase in sales taxes in order to offset lost income tax revenue, but said: "We want to keep the sales tax as low and flat as possible."
If we assume that Louisiana wants to maintain its balanced budget and keep program funding at its current levels, taxes are going to have to go up on someone, and without income and corporate taxes, the only other options are hikes to regressive taxes-like food, gas, and sales taxes-which fall hardest on workers and the poor.
Then again, given Jindal's commitment to gutting public services-from education to health care for the poor-I wouldn't be shocked to learn that he makes up the difference by making further cuts to social programs.
As for the why of this, the answer is simple: He's running for president, for pete's sake.
