Get this: In Delaware (not exactly a hotbed of right-wing extremism) last week, Republicans in the House of Representatives “voted as a bloc to stop proposed tax and fee increases on alcohol, tobacco, and alcohol licenses.” Similar to Nevada, Republicans are in the minority in the Legislature there, but a 3/5 supermajority is needed to pass tax hikes.
State House Minority Leader Richard Cathcart stated that “egregious state spending” had to be reduced “before any tax increases are put on the table,” adding that the budget problems shouldn’t be solved “on the backs of taxpayers and state employees.”
Gee, if only we had fiscally conservative Republican legislative leaders like Rep. Cathcart here in Nevada.
Meanwhile, in Maine (not exactly a hotbed of right-wing extremism) last week, the state GOP chief “submitted a petition to the Maine Secretary of State’s office to initiate a citizen’s veto of LD 1495, legislation which would rewrite Maine’s income tax statute and expand Maine’s sales tax law.”
Charlie Webster, Chairman of Maine Republican Party, wrote to supporters that the bill “should be repealed because its final enactment would be harmful to Maine’s business/job climate, and Maine’s working people,” acknowledging that while “this will be a difficult undertaking, it is a challenge that we must attempt as we seek to represent the views of Maine Republicans and Maine’s working people.”
Hello?!!
For Nevada Republicans trying to figure out what to do to get their groove back, TEA party activists wondering what to do next in Nevada, and the state’s Libertarian and Independent American parties looking for an “in” to the voting population, there is a provision in Nevada’s Constitution – “Referendum for approval or disapproval of statute or resolution enacted by legislature” – which allows citizens to circulate a petition to initiate a citizens’ veto and repeal of SB 429, the $781 million sales & payroll tax hike the Nevada Legislature passed last month.
If the people vote to uphold SB 429, so be it. “The people” will have had an opportunity to vote on this tax hike which affects them directly but which NO LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATE proposed or ran on in the 2008 campaign cycle. This monster tax hike was sprung on the people of Nevada at the last minute and in the closing weeks of the legislative session before strong opposition could organize to stop it.
On the other hand, “If a majority of such voters votes disapproval of such statute or resolution or any part thereof, such statute or resolution or any part thereof shall be void and of no effect.” Which means the tax hikes would cease immediately – even before they “sunset.” Which also means that any legislator who votes to extend those tax hikes during the 2011 legislative session will be doing so against the true will of the people and will be committing political suicide.
A referendum to repeal SB 429 (and other permanent tax hike legislation) cannot be filed before August 1st of this year. Petitioners would then have until July 2010 to collect approximately 100,000 valid signatures. That’s eleven full months. If successful, an up-or-down vote on the tax hike would appear on the November 2010 ballot.
Indeed, we *might* be able to circulate a simultaneous petition to repeal the $232 million room tax hike the Legislature also approved this session, as well. Remember, a number of GOP legislators falsely claimed “the people” voted for this tax hike when in reality it only appeared on the ballot in three of Nevada’s seventeen counties – and even on those, only as a non-binding “advisory question.”
I think it would be highly appropriate to let ALL of the citizens of Nevada have a vote on this tax hike which could adversely affect ALL of the citizens of Nevada, don’t you?
Now let me “ax” you a question: Who would have the political advantage at the ballot box next year – the candidate who says “I voted for the Billion Dollar Tax Hike in 2009,” or the one who says “I opposed the Billion Dollar Tax Hike last year, have signed the petition to repeal it, and if you want to sign the petition as well, I have one right here”?
There would be no better way to separate the wheat from the chaff on this issue – or the RINOs from real Republicans. Either the candidate supports repealing the Billion Dollar Tax Hike and will sign the petition to do so, or they are not to be trusted. They’re either with us or against us. It’s….just….that….simple.
Ideally the true Republicans in the GOP would team up with the Libertarians and the Independent Americans and the politically “homeless” fiscal conservatives who don’t belong to any political party to craft and gather signatures for a repeal of these tax hikes. As the Maine GOP chairman noted, it would be a difficult undertaking. But it would unite the conservative/libertarian movements and be an excellent grassroots organizational tool for all of the parties which would get involved.
If any party or organizational leaders are interested in pursuing this new “Ax the Tax” project, let me know via return email. If there’s interest, I’d be happy to host and convene a summit to discuss it further and explore the possibility of moving forward.
If not, however, stop bitching and pay your higher taxes and keep losing elections. I have no time for people who do nothing but talk and complain. I want to work with people who are fed up with this crud and are finally willing to actually DO SOMETHING about it.
Anyone else with me?
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
(Hat Tip to “The Quote Garden”)
“Well done is better than well said.”
– Benjamin Franklin
“After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done.”
– Author Unknown
“An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied.”
“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.”
– Peter Marshall
“A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion.”
– Washington Irving, adapted from a verse in the Bible
“Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold – but so does a hard-boiled egg.”
– Author Unknown
“Talk doesn’t cook rice.”
– Chinese Proverb
“A nod, a bow, and a tip of the lid to the person who coulda and shoulda and did.”
– Robert Brault, “A Poem Missing the Word Woulda”
“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps – we must step up the stairs.”
– Vance Havner
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
– James Baldwin
“As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.”
– Andrew Carnegie
“People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.”
– Lewis Cass
“We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.”
– Calvin Coolidge
