Sometimes, it really is about the money

At first glance, it might appear these two stories - one involving the more than 500,000 taxpayers still waiting on their state income tax refund and one detailing the state's public health system - are unrelated.

However, both stories are intertwined with the inability of the state's leaders to effectively prioritize the most basic needs and match those needs with the necessary funding to meet them.

The state has lopped off more than $12 million for Georgia's Revenue Commission, which has resulted in 280 job cuts. As Bart Graham, the state's revenue commissioner, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, those cuts have directly impacted how his staff executes its job. Quite simply, his department lacks the existing personnel to effectively and efficiently do their job and, as a result, their provision of service has diminished.

Given that, according to estimates from Graham's office, the state leaves roughly $1.6 billion in uncollected taxes - sales and income - on the table, the need for additional staff is apparent.

Mind you, a majority of these taxes aren't being skirted by the consumer or taxpayer, but rather merely lost in the system. So they're being paid by the citizen - coming directly out of your pocket - but are being needlessly lost between the business, state government, etc. More personnel and more resources could dramatically alleviate that problem, turning a $15 million investment into a $1.6 billion boost for our state's revenues (of, again, already paid money).

And, judging by our public health system, Georgia needs the additional cash.

The national median for per resident spending on public health is roughly twice as much as what Georgia spends on its citizens, and that's a figure that has lagged considerably for many years but has been exacerbated by the state's fiscal crisis. As a result, the state is underfunded and woefully ill-equipped to handle a epidemic or pandemic, let alone, it seems, the most basic of health care provision.

The logical argument we hear over and over again from individuals within both political parties, is that the more spending we cut and the lower our taxes go, the better we'll be. However, almost eight years of that thesis being put to the test in Georgia - and, in some instances, it's been going on even longer - have produced verifiable statistical evidence which suggests otherwise.

In fact, the irony the state faces now is that the spending cuts ushered in to accomodate the litany of tax cuts and refunds have directly impacted the ability of those tax refunds to be returned to the citizens.