Hat Tip

Mike Kole over at his blog Kole Hard Facts has a nice piece this week on the failure of revenue collection in the new restaurant tax imposed on much of central metro Indiana to meet its revenue quotas. This after they left the mega-rich Colts talk the city out of a $3 ticket tax by thinking the restaurant tax would more than cover costs is even more of a knee-slapper. That such delicious irony befalls those who think more taxes are a good idea only sweetens the pot for me.

I'm reminded here again of the words of the immortal Ronald Reagan.

"The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it".

We're just in phase one with the restaurant tax. Continuing to tax an industry doesn't benefit the industry, especially with a tax that shows that industry no benefit. The "temporary" taxes on the hospitality industry, the very industry Brainard, Daniels, and many others cite as the beating heart of the central Indiana economy, will only seek to sicken, weaken and eventually help to kill it off. I make such a dire prediction because such temporary taxes are usually only temporary in the amount they tax. It typically gets raised. Expect in the next few years to see more of the same when they still can't come up with the money to build this new monstrosity of a stadium.