politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles. Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to US politics and contain quality and original content. Social Media adjacent hosts like Substack are allowed, but ONLY if they tie back to a company/subsidiary. No personal or friend group blogs and no self-promotion. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and re-hosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing other users of being bots or paid actors.
- No memes, trolling, misinformation, or low-effort posts/comments (including reposts). If you see posts like this that anger you, do not engage. Report, block, and live a happier life than they do. Any slap-fight is subject to comment removals. Fights full of rule violations will result in temporary bans to cool off.
- No manipulating votes via bots or alt accounts; this will result in permanent bans. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in an account ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be permanently banned.
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules and use critical thinking when reading, posting, and commenting. Users that repeatedly have comments or posts removed, weaponize reports, or violate the code of conduct, will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users. The reason(s) behind moderator action(s) are publicly available through the Modlog.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
Texas already adopted something like this!
You see, when school districts ~~purpose~~ propose a bond, they are talking about selling bonds in exchange for money. The bond measures ask that you approve them selling x dollars worth of bonds which will be used for very specific purchases, such as computer equipment, roof repairs, and HVAC maintenance. In general bond measures don't raise your taxes because the district already purchased the bonds; this is a request to use what's already been paid for.
On the other hand, districts all across Texas are also trying to pass VATREs, which is a measure asking voters to approve a tax increase to fund the school district. This raises the money that's used to pay salaries, fuel buses, buy teaching supplies, and literally keeps the lights on. Most of the time, if not always, VATREs are a property tax increase. There are considerable exemptions available, including a standard exemption provided by the state that's paid for already by the school districts.
The wording for these proposals are very confusing, including the wording for VATREs, which presents the rate increase as x cents on every dollar per $100. What this really means is that when a district requests a 5¢ increase over, let's say, a 3¢ existing property tax, they're proposing a tax rate increase from 1.03% to 1.08%. These rates typically only affect homeowners whose houses are valued somewhere over $165k, and cost most homeowners a couple dozen dollars per year. But, in return, the school district stays open, teachers stay employed, and schools are less likely to shut down (although Texas is always working on new ways to shut down public schools).
So, VATREs increase taxes, minimally, and are at a flat rate which means that more expensive homes contribute more, thus leveraging high-income earners to help low-income learners. Bond proposals don't increase taxes, and make sure that the learning happens in safe environments. Bond funds CANNOT pay salaries, and VATREs CANNOT repair roofs. But of course, the ballot measures use very confusing language, as all ballot measures tend to. So the state uses very simple language to inform voters. On every school district website, a message must be posted that literally includes these words, verbatim, bolded and in all caps, notifying that the school district
And every ballot measure, regardless of tax rate changes, is prefaced with these words
The bonds that are not tax increases? Every single one is prefaced with THIS IS A TAX INCREASE.
Because in Texas, we'll make sure that our education system fails our voters, and then try to ensure that our voters fail themselves. Because it's not enough for school districts to fight hunger and ignorance, we also have to fight the state.