[ OUR OPINION ]
UNSOLICITED assistance to Democratic gubernatorial candidates by the Cayetano administration has raised the ire of GOP candidate Linda Lingle, as well it should. The governor's assignment of state tax officials to analyze Lingle's campaign proposals was unorthodox and improper if not illegal, as Lingle claims. Cayetano should refrain from using state resources to bolster his two bits as an interested bystander in this campaign. Don’t use state workers
in political campaign
THE ISSUE Governor Cayetano says state tax analysts have determined that GOP gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle's platform would result in drastic state revenue shortages.
Lingle last week released her platform, which includes proposals to eliminate taxes on medical care and products, restore the food tax credit and provide other tax credits and incentives. Cayetano responded by e-mailing his Cabinet and asking for detailed reaction to Lingle's "Agenda for a New Beginning." State Tax Director Marie Okamura's staff researched the proposals and reported back to the governor in about a day, according to Cayetano.
The assessment was about as objective as an audit of a corporation conducted by a company that has a consulting contract with the same corporation. It was intended to please the client, in this case the governor, and it did.
Differences between the Lingle and Cayetano budgeting approaches probably are more philosophical than mathematical. Okamura reported to her boss that Lingle's plan would cost the state $428 million in revenue over four years and force all state departments to cut spending by 28 percent if education expenditures were to be left intact.
Cayetano did not mention the benefits that tax reductions and incentives would provide to the state's economy and thus to state tax revenues because Democratic economists are skeptical about the effectiveness of such an approach. Okamura's analysis included no revenue "enhancements" resulting from the tax cuts and incentives, according to a Cayetano spokesman. That omission makes the analysis more political than economic.
Democratic candidates Mazie Hirono, Ed Case and D.G. "Andy" Anderson have criticized Lingle's economic plan, doubting that it would result in a balanced budget. Adopting the Democratic economic philosophy, former Republican Anderson called the Lingle platform "all promises and nothing else." Such criticism properly belongs in the political arena, but the governor's use of taxpayer-financed research to attack the Lingle platform was inappropriate.
When state legislators or other public officials make financial proposals in the course of their duties, state tax officials are justified and in some cases have a responsibility to assess them. State employees should not be called upon to analyze proposals arising from a political campaign. Cayetano should have sought the advice of Lieutenant Governor Hirono, who says she would have had the analysis conducted by a private organization, not government officials.
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