Dear Mr. Carter,
You might want to do some research on the Tax Foundation, founded by corporate moguls of the day from Standard Oil, General Motors, and Johns-Manville. And, the Tax Foundation's reports are generally not reliable, according to this weblink: http://www.cbpp.org/3-27-07sfp2.htm
Thank you.

And Viola you may also want to suggest that the readers also research your source - "cbpp" the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities:

According to New York Times reporter Matt Bai, CBPP is one of three left wing think tanks funded by the Democracy Alliance. The other two are the Center for American Progress and the Economic Policy Institute. According to Bai's account, representatives of CBPP and the other two Democracy Alliance-sponsored think tanks attended the May 2006 meeting of the Democracy Alliance at the Barton Creek Resort near Austin, Texas. Their role was to "talk about the agendas they were busy crafting that would catapult Democratic politics into the economic future."

And who funds the Democracy Alliance you may wonder? Oh - the usual suspects: "Members of the Democracy Alliance include billionaires George Soros and his son Jonathan Soros, former Rockefeller Family Fund president Anne Bartley, San Francisco Bay Area donors Susie Tompkins Buell and Mark Buell, Hollywood director Rob Reiner, Taco Bell heir Rob McKay ... as well as New York financiers like Steven Gluckstern." No agenda there. NOT!!!

So instead of going just forward with a "pi**ing contest" over whose think tank is right or wrong - I mean left - let's just stick to facts.

Ok - Carter - of the five states in our region - which ones saw the highest growth in new businesses during the last five years or so? Might they be the ones with the lowest tax burdens or the highest?

It is noteworthy that Mexico (at 28%) has a lower corporate tax rate than any state in the U.S. Also, at 28%, are both Norway and Sweden. They are two of the most state-socialist countries in the western world. At least they have had the good sense not to throw their job creating industries overboard (or abroad) with punishing taxes.

Here in Montana the only industries we have are those that have to locate here because the resources needed are located within our borders. And of course the enviro-socialist complex is doing everything they can to make those resources off limits. We understand however that when industry leaves the state or closes down (think Bonner), its never their fault.

Viola,

I guess you could quibble on the methodology of some of the reports the Tax Foundation puts out, but this one is pretty cut and dried. They took the corporate income tax rates for each state, adjusted them to reflect federal deductibility, and sorted them from first to last. How can you dispute the credibility of that?

The main point here is that Montana's corporate tax structure is one of the reasons that Montana is not attractive to outside investment (and here comes the "what about the new wind turbine facility in Butte" argument. Get back to me when they actually open the doors). Corporate income taxes are just the tip of the iceberg. We're in a minority of states that places an additional property tax on business equipment, not to mention the other complex menagerie of property tax classifications for business in Montana. While the Gov is raising taxes on business in Montana, our other states are doing what they can to keep the tax structure competitive. Right now, the Idaho legislature making a move to eliminate their business equipment tax. Montana would be well served to do the same.

This is the second study from a fake think tank that's been trotted out here in two weeks. Nevertheless, when I look at the rankings on TF's website, it looks like Montana's in pretty good shape. Many of the state's the "better" rankings aren't in great economic shape either, while many of the lowest rank states boast economies that rival those of whole foreign countries.

The cutting of taxes for 16,000 small business is a very valid claim. Small business are what drive the economy of our state. Meanwhile, the largest operations in the state pay little to no corporate income taxes. Wasn't it just two years ago that it was exposed that 40% of the top 500 businesses in the state paid less than $500 in taxes? Meanwhile, we've got one of the greatest living capitalists Warren Buffet taking the time in his annual letter to shareholders year-in and year-out, to lament corporate America's lack of responsibility to the tax infrastructure needs of the places they do business.

My quick take: if a business doesn't come to Montana because they can abuse 3% less loopholes with a move to Wyoming, then we don't need 'em.

Clearwater - Cutting taxes for those 16,000 small businesses would have been fine if taxes hadn't been raised on all the other businesses paying the business equipment tax. Any economic gain that should have been realized by that tax cut was erased by raising taxes on everybody else. It's a pretty simple concept - if you increase the purchasing power of one person by 50% and decrease the purchasing power of another person by 50%, the net effect is 0. Schweitzer's claim that he cut taxes for business is all smoke and mirrors; he did cut taxes on some businesses, but he raised taxes on others!

Wasn't it simply a tax freeze rather than an uptick?

Clearwater - Would you clarify something, please? If a tax freeze is not a tax increase, does that mean a budget freeze is not a budget cut? Just curious.

Clearwater - The Business Equipment Tax was set to be eliminated a couple of years ago and the Schweitzer administration signed into law legislation that repealed that provision. That means they raised taxes on business property from the 0% that it should be now to 3%. So yes, it was an uptick.

What I'm curious about is the fact that state government has grown 20% so far diromg the Scheister Administration, so wouldn't it be safe to assume that cost is going to be passed on to the taxpayers. This isn't rocket science and I don't know about you all but I can't afford this nonsense.

Pollyanna, do you have a study from a think tank of some sort with a K Street address to confirm you 20 percent number? If so, I'd love to see it.

Dear Mr. Carter,
Pollyana should mind her manners. Her silly misspelling of our Governor's name does nothing for the interesting discourse on this post. Thank you.

Clearwater - It's actually a 40% increase in the growth of state government. I do not have access to the Montana Legislative Services report that figure is based on, but I have seen it.

Viola - lighten up.