2008
Missouri LP
Candidates

Ferguson Answers Some of Cook's "Unanswered Questions"

(Belton) -- Mike Ferguson, Libertarian Candidate for
Missouri Lieutenant Governor, challenged former
Missouri Secretary of State Bekki Cook's support for a
tax increase proposal today.

Cook states on her website that she supports bringing
back a tax hike referendum that Missourians have
already defeated. In an article entitled "Unanswered
Questions", Cook says she wants a sales tax increase
on tobacco and alcohol put up for a second statewide
vote in order to raise additional revenue for public
education.

Ferguson points out the two main flaws with this
proposal: the people of Missouri have already said
"no" and the answer to the education funding mess is
fiscal responsibility, not more economy-draining
taxes.

"We already said 'no' to this tax hike in 2002"
Ferguson pointed out, "this kind of disregard for our
economy and our taxpayers is one of the reasons our
economy is in bad shape in the first place."

Ferguson went on to say that Missourians are already
overburdened with high taxes and that further harming
our economy will do nothing to improve funding for
education.

"Raising taxes significantly, like this proposal
would, will only send consumers and their sales tax
revenue across state lines to gas stations,
convenience stores and grocery stores in Illinois,
Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee
and Kentucky, taking gasoline and other purchases with
them. Those Missourians who do not live near a state
line will simply be stuck paying more in taxes. That
is bad economic policy."

Mike Ferguson went on to offer a proactive solution to
the problem: cut spending in other areas. We must cut
the waste and bureaucratic expenses in Jefferson City.
One way to do this is to provide real financial
incentives to move social welfare from the government
and into the private sector. Another is to put an end
to corporate welfare on a statewide basis. The state
government could easily save tens of millions of
dollars by providing Missourians with a 105% tax
credit for contributions to private social services in
exchange for phasing out the expensive and inefficient
government social service bureaucracy we deal with
now.

"That money we save would quickly shore up the gaps in
education funding, provide better social services for
those in need and even allow for a reduction in our
tax rate."

Form more information about Ferguson's 105% plan,
along with his other "Solutions for Missouri", visit
the Ferguson for Lt. Governor website at
http://www.mikeformissouri.com/