Thursday, March 12th, 2009...11:59 am
Trust Me, I Know What I’m Doing
Jan Brewer may have a problem selling her proposed sales tax increase to voters. Yes, voters have approved tax increases, even sales tax increases, in the past both locally and state wide. But, tax propositions that have passed also came with specific proposals about what the money raised will be spent on. This one, nope.
It is pretty obvious that not much thought went into this. She wants to raise a tax that hits working families pretty hard while the legislature insists on gutting the property tax. Both of these policies not only increase regressivity, but make the state further dependent on the sales tax at precisely the time that people don’t have the money to spend on things that generate sales taxes. All this while giving us little inkling on where the money will go. Is there an overarching philosophy here that I’m not getting or is her staff just throwing things against the wall to see what sticks?
Notice that we aren’t talking much about her own job creation and stimulus plans that she once said were in the works? I guess that’s up to Governor Goddard.
9 Comments
March 12th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
What you’re missing is that the Republican anti-government zealots believe this is their last best hope of ‘drowning it in the bathtub’.
I don’t believe that this is a serious proposal, it’ a CYA maneuver: “See the votors rejected raising taxes!”
(if it isn’t, Jan Brewer is so hopelessly incompetent it’s a wonder she hasn’t blinded herself eating with a knife and fork.)
We’re trying to have a civil debate with people whose idea of ‘governance’ is burning down the house, killing the livestock, and salting the fields.
March 12th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I am also of the opinion that they purposely are not saying what they will spend it on so that the increase will fail.
March 12th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I like the Sledge Hammer reference. Great tv show back in the day, and very appropriate here.
March 12th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
The voters are angry, and they know which party has controlled the legislature for over a decade.
They can also see that things are worse here than they are in New Mexico and some other nearby states, so blaming it on the national recession will only get them so far.
March 12th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
let her raise taxes!!! in fact, lets all silently support it – NOTHING sinks a republican faster than a tax hike., NOTHING. 2010 – Exeunt Brewer….
March 13th, 2009 at 5:25 am
I hope you are right, Eli, and that legislators like Pearce and Huppenthal start to feel pressure in districts where they have never before experienced it. The only way I am going to believe that there is true widespread anger out there is when we see “safe” seats no longer, especially given the absence of many actual “swing” districts. These guys will only change their stripes if they sense the possibility of electoral retribution. So far, they have had a free ride and it is fair to say that they have represented the views of their constituents because they keep getting re-elected.
March 13th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
I heard on the radio today that Ron Gould and Pam Gorman were incenced that the Governor threatened to send a letter to 10,000 Arizona families that would be impacted by budget cuts letting them know whether their legislators supported the extension bill passed yesterday.
Way to go, folks. That’s really standing on principle, being afraid for your consituents to know how you voted.
March 14th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I don’t quite comprehend why a supporter of government as a solution should have any complaint of any sort about non-directed sales tax increases. If every single part of government isn’t worth more taxes then more taxes just aren’t worth it. What’s the beef here?
March 15th, 2009 at 12:49 am
Depends on the taxes Thane and the fact that if the only reason to raise the sales tax is to pay for a tax cut for another group, it really is doing nothing to address government spending.