Carlos Guerra: Before approving tax bill, let's consider other, better alternatives

MySA.com: Metro | State: "Over the years, economists have developed models that predict, with amazing accuracy, who pays how much of a particular tax.

For those who don't like paying taxes, that is important. But it isn't information legislators always welcome. Too often, they approach changes to the tax code with the notion best expressed in the rhyme, 'Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax the man behind the tree; tax the man that we can't see.'

And in the pay-to-play world of Texas politics, those who don't make $1,000 political contributions are, well, men behind trees.

Last week, when the Texas Senate considered its version of a tax bill, Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, refused to ask the Legislative Budget Board to conduct a tax equity analysis of the measure. And since only he, as Senate Finance Committee chairman, can request such a study, the bill was approved without it."