MUTH'S TRUTHS 03/28/2015

The GOP Mutant Tax Hikers By Chuck Muth March 28, 2015 As you already know, what passes for “leadership” in the Republican Assembly Caucus – Speaker-of-the-Weak John Hambrick, Speaker-in-Reality Paul Anderson and Assembly Higher Taxation Committee Chairman Derek Armstrong - announced this week an alternative to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s (RINO) Billion Dollar Tax Hike because…well, because it wasn’t big enough! Indeed, they introduced their own mutated Billion Dollar-PLUS Tax Hike. Reminding us once again that it’s not enough to just elect more Republicans; we need to elect BETTER ones, as well. Anyway, Jack St. Martin, who announced this week that he was stepping down as Nevada Director for Americans for Prosperity, made the following statement a couple of weeks ago before the mutant tax hike was announced… “We will never support a tax increase. That doesn’t just go for the governor’s tax increase, but there have been some alternative tax increases from the treasurer and controller, that are less, but we are not in a position where we are going to choose one tax increase over the other.” That was true then, but maybe not by this coming week. Indeed, as part of the discussion when the Legislature opened for business last month, State Controller Ron Knecht (R) and State Treasurer Dan Schwartz (R) took up SandRINOval’s challenge to offer alternatives to his insane Billion Dollar Budget Hike in combination with his Billion Dollar Tax Hike.  And yes, their proposals at the time included some tax hikes…just not as bad as the governor's.  But having a hemorrhoid the size of a penny really ain’t all that much better than having a hemorrhoid the size of a nickel.  So not only did the proposals bring on the Wrath of Roberson – meaning Senate Majority Leader Tax Hike Mike Roberson (RINO) – but there was no conservative support either.  No new taxes means, well, no new taxes.  And that sent Knecht back to the drawing board.  Aided by his aide, conservative economist and fiscal expert Geoff Lawrence – who the Assembly leadership stupidly jettisoned almost as soon as the session started – a new and improved (but not lemon-scented!) budget alternative is expected to be released in conjunction with conservative members of the Assembly early this coming week. The plan, which is expected to be finalized over the weekend, would reportedly fund most of Sandoval’s proposed education initiatives and spending increases but WITHOUT the mutated version of the gross receipts tax that voters rejected overwhelmingly just last November, and WITHOUT extending the “sunsets.” The “sunsets” are a package of “temporary” tax hikes passed in 2009 over the veto of then-Gov. Jim Gibbons which were promised to expire in 2011 but have been extended twice by SandRINOval, who proposes to now make them permanent. The plan, I’m told, will also eliminate the state furloughs for government employees.  So who could object to such a proposal, especially among Republicans? We will soon find out.  Why do I think that when SandRINOval said that if anyone had a better idea to bring it forward and he’d consider it, he didn’t really mean it? You can read this column online, as well as access archives of past Muth's Truths columns by clicking here... www.MuthsTruths.com Did someone forward you this copy of Muth's Truths? Get your own FREE subscription...