OPINION: Hey Target, take a fresh look By STEVE WILSON Executive Editor Notes on the news: Last week reporter David Zoeller and I met with Scott Darnell, CEO of Paducah Economic Development, to talk about a couple of big retail projects that may be coming soon. We asked if one of the retailers might be Target, the store thats long been high on this communitys most wanted list. Darnell said no (which we confirmed in a call to the company) partly because Target was currently preoccupied with its recent expansion into Canada. Make that its failed recent expansion. Target announced Thursday it will close all of its 133 Canadian stores to stop snowballing losses and take a $5.4 billion write-down. By most accounts, Target has written a textbook case in how not to expand. The Canadian Targets didnt carry some of the most popular brands sold in the U.S., prices were higher than at its U.S. stores and supply chain problems left many shelves empty. Maybe, just maybe, this costly blunder will lead the company to take a new look at its growth strategy and reconsider its reluctance to come into healthy, smaller markets where other big-box retailers keep racking up strong sales. --- I dont like tax increases any more than most people, but Im surprised to see so much resistance to a modest increase in the gasoline tax. With pump prices down more than 40 percent since June, there could not be a better time to shore up on the funds that keep our roads and bridges safe to drive. In Kentucky, the debate isnt really about increasing the tax, its about not letting it drop any lower. Kentuckys tax is adjusted every three months based on the average wholesale price of gas. On Jan. 1, the tax dropped from 31.9 cents a gallon to 27.6 cents a gallon. The continuing decline in gas prices means the tax is likely to drop to 22.5 cents in April. A bill has been proposed to freeze the tax at 27.6 cents, which makes sense given the states fast-growing shortfall in road and bridge construction funds. But opponents are calling the freeze a tax hike and standing in the way. On the federal level, the debate is about an increase, and the need for one is even more pressing. The federal tax of 18.4 cents a gallon has not gone up since 1993. If it had just kept pace with inflation, it would now be 30 cents. As a result, the Highway Trust Fund has been severely shortchanged and the list of unfunded repair projects has grown long. Poor road conditions play a part in a significant number of all U.S. traffic deaths (one-third by some estimates or as many as 10,000 a year). Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee has proposed a bill to raise the tax 12 cents over two years. Thats reasonable and in the public interest. --- Speaking of taxes, its well-documented that the richest 1 percent of Americans pay a heck of a lot more in federal taxes than everyone else. But a study released last week shows the burden flips at the state and local level where tax policies are much more regressive. The analysis was done by the non-profit, non-partisan, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington, D.C. It shows that the poorest 20 percent of Americans pay 10.9 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes - double the rate of 5.4 percent paid by the wealthiest 1 percent (incomes over $419,000). The study ranked Kentucky as slightly better than average with the 33rd most unfair state and local tax system in the country. Illinois was listed as having the fifth most unfair tax rates. In Kentucky, the study found the top 1 percent paid 6 percent of their income in state and local taxes, compared to 9 percent for the lowest 20 percent and about 10 percent for the lowest 80 percent (incomes below $88,000). The disparity was greater in Illinois, according to the study, where the top 1 percent paid only 4.6 percent in state and local taxes, compared to 13.2 percent for the lowest 20 percent and about 11 percent for the lowest 80 percent. I hope state and local officials take notice. The detailed study can be found online at itep.org/whopays/. --- Many readers were no doubt scratching their heads Wednesday when they saw the caption on our front page photo of one of the climbers hanging on by his fingernails near the top of El Capitan: Say your prayers, varmint. You needed a good memory for cartoons to grasp that line. It was a favorite of Yosemite Sam, a goofy, aggressive gunslinger whose archenemy was Bugs Bunny. He was a Warner Brothers creation who came along more than 60 years ago and played in TV reruns for decades. Since El Capitan is on Sams turf (Yosemite National Park), we imagined him looking up at the perilous climb and gruffly shouting out that advice. Going forward, well try to be a little less cryptic. Reach Steve Wilson at swilson@paducahsun
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:15:00 +0000