If We All Own It, Why Aren't We Getting Paid For It?

        Don't taxes make you just mad as all get out? Even if you admit that without taxes, we'd all be in very bad straits, we still hate to think about taxes. So any source that helps to lower your taxes makes you a happy camper, even if you don't like the out-of-doors. Who wouldn't jump for joy to save a dime in taxes. You might even agree to vote for someone just because they promise to keep your taxes low and better yet to lower them even more.
       So that's why Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has put $225 million from the Tobacco Settlement Fund into his budget. Except he's using it to pay towards the State School Employee Retirement System. Now in case you don't remember, the Tobacco Settlement Fund came about because the tobacco industry got sued some years back and the fund was set up to pay for a variety of health-related and biotech programs.
       So the question is; Do Pa. Governor Corbett and, I'm sure, other states have the right to use these funds for purposes other than intended? I don't know about legally, but it can't possibly be morally appropriate. So even if it helps to keep your taxes a little lower, it's not doing the job for which it was intended. And this is just one example of  an election year budget line item. Are there others? Just read the newspapers to get a little in-depth reporting that TV doesn't have time to do.
       This information came from a Scranton Times editorial by Robert Swift in Harrisburg. And in the meantime the state continues to lose money year after year because Mr. Corbett refuses to tax the gas industry with a severance tax. His per-well flat tax misses by a mile because the wells continue to produce for many years. And remember that Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that doesn't tax the industry in this way. Why is it we're so dumb? Say, isn't Corbett running for office again this year? Ya know, that gas is owned by the state as well as the land owner.