It is the duty of the judicial branch of government to interpret
the written laws governing an institution and any given body of people. It is, however, the prerogative of the governed
people to keep the institutions in check.
Often time’s officials will play on the connotation of a word to their
advantage. In the case of the
Truth-in-Taxation laws (Article VIII, Sec 21 of Texas Constitution),
established in 1978, government expenditures were to be made clear to tax
payers. As time has passed though, the
Truth-in-Taxation laws have been contorted into, in some cases, a 52 step process
to illustrate the dispersion of tax funds.
One possibility for the increased complication is an effort to conceal
funds being misappropriated by government officials. Credit is due to representatives who, at the
82nd legislature, created guidelines to simplify and clarify the
Truth-in-Taxation laws. It is good to
know that there are officials making an effort to bring the original intent of
laws back, but it is also rather disturbing to know that the past 34 years have
been filled with officials looking for ways to contort the “truth” in
Truth-in-Taxation to their advantage.
Original Article - Getting the Whole Truth About Taxation
