Don't Make Tax Cuts "Us vs. Them"

When it comes to politics, almost everything becomes a question of "who benefits more?" When a state is flush with money, it does not have to be a class-warfare battle.

This week, the Fargo Forum ran a story with a headline of “Which North Dakota tax relief will benefit you more? Here are some answers”. This is an important question, but it should not be an “us vs. them” or even an “either/or” situation.

Video: The Property Tax Discussion Governor Burgum Should Want

The finances are there to cut income taxes with a path to zero, as well as both reform and relieve property taxes. There just has to be the political will to get it done.

The state has plenty of money, so much money that in some ways it is struggling to find way to spend it (while also saying they can’t afford to do certain things that should be automatic - like paying for every child’s school lunch.)

We need our lawmakers to avoid falling into the trap of comparing what one group or another gets out of less taxes and focus on leaving more money in people’s pockets proportional to how much is being taken out of their pockets by the government.

For example, a lot of the push back on the Mobile Home Park Tax Treatment bill is that there is no way to en…