Kentucky's Tax Code: Too Stupid to Fix?

Short answer: Probably.

Long answer: This superb package from Tom Loftus at the Courier:

But the state’s tax code is so outdated and filled with loopholes that experts say it has little chance of generating the billions of dollars of revenue that state government needs in the years ahead to continue providing the services Kentuckians have come to expect — even after the economy recovers.

A three-month Courier-Journal review also found that the tax code is riddled with tax breaks, many for special interests, while, according to one study, placing too high a burden on the working poor.

Reforming - or deforming - Kentucky's tax code is going to be the issue in Kentucky for the foreseeable future. I expect a blizzard of stupid bills to be filed for the 2013 legislative session offering all kinds of snake-oil nostrums that not only would make everything worse, but have no chance of even being considered in an off-year session at which budget-affecting bills are disallowed.

But those morons are just the entertainment for the rubes. The real abominations will be going on behind the scenes between special-interest lobbyists and legislative power brokers for the next 12 months in preparation for the 2014 General Assembly. If you want to play on that field, you better know what you're talkiing about.

Loftus' work is a great place to start.

And get out to elect Democratic candidates to the General Assembly on November 6. If the repugs take the state House - which they could very easily do - We. Are. Completely. Fucked.