Democrat Jim Hood is offering lofty promises to Mississippi voters that he knows he can’t pay for. Hood is stealing a page from Bernie Sanders’ book by proposing sweeping plans for free government benefits with no way to pay for them. Recently released independent analysis pegs the price tag of Hood’s plans at nearly $1 billion a year, resulting in an annual increase of nearly $800 a year on Mississippi taxpayers.
Hood is refusing to offer details about how any of his proposals will be funded – although clear that taxpayers would ultimately have to fork over the cash.
According to the Associated Press, Hood’s education plans alone would increase spending by more than $500 million a year, or nearly a tenth of the state budget. The Clarion Ledgerreported that when pressed “Hood offered few specifics and acknowledged that funding for his plans are contingent on a Legislature.”
In the same article, Hood ultimately dropped the charade and admitted that in reality, he has no idea as to how he would finance his plan:
“To sit here and tell you exactly what the Legislature would do and how much we would get and where the revenues would come from, I don’t know the answer to that,’ Hood said. ‘It’s not that I don’t have a plan. I’m going to look at what’s out there first.’”
What Hood knows but doesn’t want to say is that he would pay for his big government plans by raising taxes on hardworking Mississippians. Hood’s tax hiking tendencies should come as a surprise to no one, as he’s been critical of massive tax cuts enacted by Governor Phil Bryant and supportive of efforts to find new avenues to collect more taxes.
“Jim Hood is just another tax-and-spend liberal Democrat who is trying to sneak a $500 million tax hike past the people of Mississippi,” said RGA Communications Director Amelia Chassé Alcivar. “Jim Hood can duck and dodge questions all he wants; it’s obvious that hardworking taxpayers would be on the hook for thousands of dollars in tax increases to fund his big government agenda.”
RGA Press Release
10/8/2019
