I may venture to Walmart this Saturday now that the tax free weekend is over. It’s worse than the day before Christmas. Not charging tax on certain items for a whole weekend, expanding the list of exempted items to include things like guns and wedding dresses, and acting like it gives taxpayers a break is genius. Whoever thought this up should be revered ike the person who invented unlisted phone numbers.

Many years ago, when phones were connected to a box in the hall rather than to the ear of a driver, AT&T published a directory listing all the names and numbers in the area. If you didn’t want yours in the book, Ma Bell would gladly oblige, for a price. Charge you to not do something, an idea made for politicians.

So now we have much hype about offering a weekend to taxpayers where certain items will not be taxed. The initial idea was to limit this to things that involved going back to school, but as we all know, that didn’t last long. Special interest businesses and things that will be remembered at the voting booth were soon added.

The most amazing thing about all this is how we think we are getting some kind of break. The state budget isn’t reduced so the tax liability remains consistent. The money must be either made up at another place, or the state will go deeper into debt for the following year.

If you’ve ever run up a large balance on a credit card and could only make the minimum payment, the credit card company made a similar proposal. You were offered the opportunity to skip a payment and use that money for anything you want that month.

Your debt doesn’t shrink, and you won’t get lower interest rates, but you can get further behind one time without any hassle from them. You’d be amazed at the number of people who think that is a good idea. Those same people will vote for politicians who offer the tax free weekend.

The folks we vote for swear they are doing this for school kids, but the education budget is the first item cut in any budget crisis. That’s because no one is willing to tax expensive cars and boats a little more, bump up the cigarette tax, or stop spending on legislators’ pet projects.

If the politicians were really concerned about us, they would include some cost saving measures during tax free weekend to actually offset the lost revenue. Large corporations who benefit from an educated work force could chip in, or the legislative body could work free for a month or so.

We all know what really happens. As soon as the school year starts, local TV stations start begging for supplies to offset the loss in funding. Desperate teachers buy stuff the state should provide, that is the teachers who are still working.

Even though most surveys tell us that a strong education is a state’s most important economic indicator, politicians reduce that budget every time. Most of them realize that a smart, informed voting body may help business, but it doesn’t benefit them at all.

They like what currently exists.