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Why the Largest Tax Hike in Nevada History is Likely to
Pass Despite Last November’s “Red Wave”
By Chuck Muth
April 27, 2015
The Taxpayer Protection Pledge
isn’t omnipotent, but it sure is a reliable gauge on where legislators will be
on tax issues.
AB380 would make it easier for the
government to force you to pay Nevada sales tax on your online purchases made
from out-of-state companies. It passed
in the Assembly 33-9…with all 17 Democrats voting for it. Naturally.
Among the 25 Republicans, only 9
voted against this effort to force you to pay sales taxes on online purchases
made from out-of-state companies. Eight
of those 9 were Pledge signers. The only
GOP non-Pledge signer who voted “no” was Assemblyman John Ellison of Elko. Naturally.
Liberal Republicans – such as
Assemblywoman Chris “Let’s Make a Deal
Edwards, Assemblyman Pat “The
Appeaser” Hickey, Speaker-in-Reality Paul
Anderson and Higher Taxation Chairman Derek
Armstrong-Anderson all voted to sock you with this Internet tax. Naturally.
The two Pledge signers who voted to
force you to pay sales taxes on online purchases made from out-of-state
companies were Speaker-of-the-Weak John
Hambrick and Assemblywoman Robin
Titus – both of whom also voted earlier this session to slap elk hunters
with a new tax.
Many consider Assemblyman Ira Hansen to be a conservative. But his conservatism is generally defined by
social, not fiscal issues. Indeed,
Hansen has refused to sign the Tax Pledge and has voted to extend the
“temporary” tax hikes from 2009 known as the “sunsets.
He also voted in favor of the elk
tax hike this session, in addition to this Internet tax bill.
Freshman Assemblyman David Gardner has widely been
championed as a solid conservative going into this session. But he, too, chose not to sign the Tax Pledge
and, disappointingly, voted for both the elk tax and the Internet tax.
What these votes tell us is that
while Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed
Business License Tax (SB252) as passed by the Senate is D.O.A. in the Assembly,
some mutant version of it is likely to emerge and pass with the votes of some
GOP legislators who claim to be conservatives but will vote like Hickey
Republicans.
Indeed, as liberal blogger Jon Ralston (D-UI) twit-tweeted
Thursday morning, it’s the Governor and GOP leaders in the Senate and Assembly –
fueled by special interest money – against conservative think tank Nevada
Policy Research Institute, our own Citizen Outreach, and conservative members
of the Republican Assembly Caucus in the coming tax battle.
The tax hikers have the numbers and
all the advantages: Money, power, influence, rings, pearls.
We’re armed only with being right
on the issue. It’s truly a David vs.
Goliath mismatch.
Odds are, in the end, we’re gonna
lose. Taxes of some kind are likely to
go up. WAY up.
It will end up being the largest
tax hike in Nevada history. Larger even
than the Mother of All Tax Hikes from 2003.
Is this what voters expected last
November when they gave Republicans complete control of the government for the
first time since 1929 and rejected a gross receipts tax on the ballot by almost
80 percent?
But this fight won’t end when this
wasted opportunity of a GOP-majority session ends. In fact, the day the session ends will be the
day the GOP primary season begins.
Indeed, for some it’s already begun.
This wasted opportunity of the 2015
legislative session has taught conservatives an important lesson.
It’s not enough to just elect more
Republicans.
We need to elect better ones, as
well.
You can read this column online, as well as access archives
of past Muth's Truths columns by clicking here... www.MuthsTruths.com
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