State budgets are stretched very tight. Many states are having trouble paying their debts and end up with huge deficits. California has been in the news over the years, but now the state of Washington is having very similar difficulties running in the black. They will need to make changes to keep up.

The main function of government is law enforcement and to keep services available for those that need them. The poor and elderly should be taken care of in their communities, so the fact that they have to cut such programs is a shame. Some of the problems they are experiencing now are a result of past measures that simply don’t work now.

More than 15 years ago, fledgling business startups wanted to set up shop in the area, so the state promised them certain tax exemptions to help them get on their feet and support local communities. That tax break for Microsoft, a billion-dollar company, and others has resulted in some of the issues Washington is facing. This uncollected tax money could have been used to create more jobs as well as support some of the programs in the state. Yes, the spending needs to be cut, but shouldn’t companies have to pay their share?

This high-tech sales tax exemption program cost the government about $109 million in 2009. That was amongst a handful of companies, but this year, Microsoft alone was able to cut $132 million of their own taxes due to some employee hiring as well as tax cuts on projects that just were implemented over a few years. $132 million is not much for a company that has over $50 billion in cash, but it could mean a lot to the poor residents in Washington as well as the schoolchildren who need it desperately.

We need to look at who really needs these tax breaks. Is it the multi-billion dollar company or is it the average citizen who is having trouble making ends meet? For some, the answer is obvious. While we do not want to stifle the free market economy, why are we also supplementing it with tax breaks? It doesn’t seem to make sense as we need to provide these incentives to average citizens who often have no money to pay their bills.