It is only an anecdotal observation; however, I notice the newspaper perpetuates stereotypes.
"In the heart of Dixie, Ala. still collects tax for Confederate veterans; Portion of funds go toward upkeep of memorial park" July 24, 2011|By Jay Reeves, Associated Press
MOUNTAIN CREEK, Ala. - The last of the more than 60,000 Confederate veterans who came home to Alabama after the Civil War died generations ago, yet residents are still paying a tax that supported the neediest among them.
Despite fire-and-brimstone opposition to taxes among many in a state that still has “Heart of Dixie’’ on its license plates, officials never stopped collecting a property tax that once funded the Alabama Confederate Soldiers’ Home, which closed 72 years ago. The tax now pays for Confederate Memorial Park, which sits on the same 102-acre tract where elderly veterans used to stroll.
The tax once brought in millions for Confederate pensions, but lawmakers sliced up the levy and sent money elsewhere as the men and their wives died. No one has seriously challenged the continued use of the money for a memorial to the “Lost Cause,’’ in part because few realize it exists; one long-serving black legislator who thought the tax had been done away with said he wants to eliminate state funding for the park.
These days, 150 years after the Civil War started, officials say the old tax typically brings in more than $400,000 annually for the park, where Confederate flags flapped on a recent steamy afternoon. That is not much compared to Alabama’s total operating budget of $1.8 billion, but it’s sufficient to give the park plenty of money to operate and even enough for investments, all at a time when other historic sites are struggling to keep the grass cut for lack of state funding....
Tax experts say they know of no other state that still collects a tax so directly connected to the Civil War, although some federal excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol first were enacted during the war to help fund the Union.
You know, it really is a war paper.
“Broadly speaking, almost all taxes have their start in a war of some sort,’’ said Joseph J. Thorndike, director of a tax history project at Tax Analysts, a nonprofit organization that studies taxation.
The Lord's Honest Truth from... Alabama?
Alabama’s tax structure was enshrined in its 1901 constitution, passed after Reconstruction at a time when historians say state legislators’ main goal was to keep power in the hands of wealthy white landowners by disenfranchising blacks and poor whites....
Yeah, well, WHAT IS SO DIFFERENT 110 YEARS LATER?
--more--"
And while the pro-tax paper is advocating on behalf of the Alabama taxpayer(?):
"Ala. county cancels bankruptcy talks to look at Wall St. deal" July 29, 2011|Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Leaders of Alabama’s largest county called off a meeting yesterday on filing a record-breaking bankruptcy to consider an offer from Wall Street lenders to settle debts in excess of $3 billion from corruption-tainted sewer deals.
See: Sweet Home Alabama
Jefferson County commission officials canceled their scheduled meeting, where they would have decided whether to file for bankruptcy, after creditors led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. responded to the county’s latest settlement offer.
Commissioner Jimmie Stephens, who oversees county finances, said the creditors’ response was “not real close’’ to the county’s latest proposal for paying down the debt. But he said it was within striking distance.
The county - Alabama’s historic economic hub with some 658,000 residents - has been trying to avoid filing bankruptcy since 2008.
The deal it offered last week would erase more than $1 billion of its debt with the promise of repaying the remaining amount through a combination of modest sewer rate increases and loans....
Are you flipping kidding?
Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight said yesterday that he is unsure whether bankruptcy or a settlement would be best.
“Bankruptcy is the great unknown. You go into it, and you don’t know where you might end up,’’ he said. “A settlement is certainty, but do you give away the farm?’’
There you go!
Municipal bond markets probably wouldn’t be affected if Jefferson County files for bankruptcy because many investors have expected it for years and previously factored it into their risk assessments, said Matt Fabian, managing director at research firm Municipal Market Advisors.
The benevolent bondholders.
--more--"
