United Liberty
How Well Does Your Governor Score? 2008 Cato Fiscal Report Cards
Fri, 10/24/2008 - 6:45am | posted by United Liberty Staff
While during these times of financial instability most of our attention turns to Wall Street and Washington, the fiscal policies that our individual governors persue can greatly lessen or worsen the situation within our given states. The Cato Institute recently released their 2008 Fiscal Report Card for American Governors. The criteria is fairly straight forward. Tax and/or spending increases lower the governors’ scores, while tax and/or spending cuts will raise them. For the complete policy analysis visit the Cato article & its accompanying pdf HERE.
2008 Cato Institute Governors’ Fiscal Report Card
| State | Governor | Score | Grade |
| Florida | Charlie Crist (R) | 84 | A |
| South Carolina | Mark Sanford (R) | 68 | A |
| West Virginia | Joe Manchin (D) | 67 | A |
| Nebraska | Dave Heineman (R) | 63 | B |
| Nevada | Jim Gibbons (R) | 60 | B |
| Texas | Rick Perry (R) | 60 | B |
| Utah | Jon Huntsman, Jr. (R) | 60 | B |
| Ohio | Ted Strickland (D) | 59 | B |
| Georgia | Sonny Perdue (R) | 59 | B |
| New Mexico | Bill Richardson (D) | 59 | B |
| Oklahoma | Brad Henry (D) | 58 | B |
| Maine | John Baldacci (D) | 56 | B |
| Minnesota | Tim Pawlenty (R) | 56 | B |
| Indiana | Mitch Daniels (R) | 55 | B |
| Rhode Island | Don Carcieri (R) | 55 | B |
| Tennessee | Phil Bredesen (D) | 55 | B |
| Missouri | Matt Blunt (R) | 55 | B |
| North Dakota | John Hoeven (R) | 54 | C |
| Hawaii | Linda Lingle (R) | 53 | C |
| Arkansas | Mike Beebe (D) | 52 | C |
| North Carolina | Michael Easley (D) | 51 | C |
| California | Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) | 51 | C |
| Arizona | Janet Napolitano (D) | 51 | C |
| South Dakota | Mike Rounds (R) | 50 | C |
| Massachusetts | Deval Patrick (D) | 50 | C |
| Colorado | Bill Ritter (D) | 49 | D |
| Vermont | James Douglas (R) | 49 | D |
| Washington | Christine Gregoire (D) | 49 | D |
| Wisconsin | Jim Doyle (D) | 47 | D |
| Kansas | Kathleen Sebelius (D) | 47 | D |
| Delaware | Ruth Ann Minner (D) | 47 | D |
| Michigan | Jennifer Granholm (D) | 46 | D |
| New Hampshire | John Lynch (D) | 46 | D |
| Mississippi | Haley Barbour (R) | 45 | D |
| Virginia | Tim Kaine (D) | 45 | D |
| Pennsylvania | Edward Rendell (D) | 42 | D |
| Wyoming | Dave Freudenthal (D) | 41 | D |
| Montana | Brian Schweitzer (D) | 40 | D |
| Connecticut | Jodi Rell (R) | 39 | F |
| Idaho | C. L. “Butch” Otter (R) | 37 | F |
| Alabama | Bob Riley (R) | 37 | F |
| Oregon | Ted Kulongoski (D) | 34 | F |
| New Jersey | Jon Corzine (D) | 32 | F |
| Iowa | Chet Culver (D) | 31 | F |
| Illinois | Rod Blagojevich (D) | 30 | F |
| Maryland | Martin O’Malley (D) | 23 | F |
| Average of 46 states | 50 |
I don’t think this is very meaningful. At least in Alabama, Gov. Riley is only as powerful as the state legislature allows him to be, which isn’t very much. The state legislature is the problem, not Gov. Riley. He’s one of the best governors this state has seen in years.
Bob Riley - 2003 - $1,000,000,000 Proposed Tax Hike. Income. Sales. Cigarettes. The works. He increased spending at over 8% per year since taking office, more than the 6% per year national average.
Luckily the voters, who in AL must approve such, knew better.
Oh and Bob has the power of the veto just like the President. Do we ever hear about him using that?
Sometimes a leader is more than the sum total of his tax policies. Who would you rather have had during Katrina, Blanco or Riley? (I couldn’t immediately find what I wrote about Riley’s leadership during Katrina.)
If you want to talk Amendment One, ok. Scroll down to “God’s vision.”
http://bamatone.livejournal.com/128616.html
Saying he wanted to increase taxes by x number of dollars doesn’t really explain it. His tax plan would have raised property taxes, which are by far the lowest in the nation. It would have helped the poor by reducing their income tax, and allow for a lowering of the sales tax. Even my father, who is as conversvative/libertarian as they come, was in favor of Amendment One.
And personally, I don’t give a damn if cigarettes are taxed 1000% more. Sure, there’s the “I can do whatever I want with my body argument,” which I support. But not when the cost of my health insurance skyrockets each year because we have to help everyone with smoking related diseases. Tax cigarettes out of existence for all I care. Either that or increase the cost of health insurance for smokers such that mine does not need to be increased.
CT…. F