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A
study by
the staff at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
concluded that for every tax dollar Northern
Virginia sends to Richmond, the region receives back in state spending only 19
cents.
A more accurate number based on studies at the University
of
Virginia
is probably 46 cents in state spending for every
dollar in taxes.
But whatever the exact number is, it’s going to
get a lot worse if Warner’s tax increase plan is
enacted. His plan would increase taxes on Northern
Virginia, and Fairfax
County
in particular, much more than in the rest of the
state. That new tax money, however, will mostly go
to the rest of the state, not
Northern Virginia.
As a result, Northern Virginia will end up getting
back in state spending an even lower percentage of
the taxes it sends to Richmond.
The unfairness to
Northern Virginia
stems from the two main components of the
Governor’s tax plan. First, the Governor proposes
a 10 percent income tax increase for those earning
over $100,000 per year.
A much greater proportion of families in Northern
Virginia, and in Fairfax
County
in particular, earns over $100,000 per year than in
the rest of the state. The governor’s proposal
might as well be called the McLean-Great
Falls-Reston-Vienna tax hike of 2004.
The governor also proposes a 22 percent increase in
the sales tax. But again, along with the higher
incomes, there’s a lot more in sales per capita in
Northern Virginia
than in the rest of the state.
Voters in
Northern Virginia
already said no to the sales tax increase in the
Governor’s plan. In November, 2002, they rejected
an increase half as large by a margin of 55 percent
to 45 percent, even though foolish business special
interests spent $2.5 million to hoodwink voters into
supporting the idea.
But Warner quite clearly doesn’t care what the
voters think. He deliberately waited until after the
election to release his record tax increase plan
precisely to preclude voters from having a say in
the matter. He even bragged to the Washington
Post about this anti-voter strategy.
This is the same Warner who ran for governor in 2001
with a huge ad campaign saying he would never dream
of raising taxes, and that his opponent Mark Earley
was a scumbag politician for suggesting he would. He
sees no dishonor in now proposing the largest tax
increase in the history of Virginia.
Personally, I would support impeaching him over this
behavior. But maybe no one else cares about the
integrity of the democratic process in the state. On
the tax issue, at present there is no democratic
process in the state.
Warner’s own budget shows that his proposed record
$1 billion tax increase is totally unnecessary. Even
without any tax increase, he would be able to
propose a total spending increase in this new budget
of 8.5 percent.
But that is not enough of a spending leap for this
allegedly moderate Governor. He proposes the tax
increase so he can propose a budget with a spending
increase of 10.4 percent, which he has done.
Do we really need the largest tax increase in the
history of Virginia
so that we can increase spending next year by 10.4
percent instead of 8.5 percent? Do we in
Northern Virginia
really need that when the increased taxes fall on
our region much more than the rest of the state?
Perhaps we deserve that, with local leaders like
Bill Lecos, President of the Fairfax Chamber of
Commerce. Lecos is out vigorously cheerleading
for this tax whacking of our region, and the people
he is paid to represent.
To Lecos, higher taxes and government spending
equals higher quality of life. Even when the higher
taxes are in Northern Virginia and the higher
spending is in Danville. Now we know where Howard Dean got his tax and
fiscal policy ideas.
Then we have elected leaders like Sen. Janet Howell,
D-Reston, who in theory represents McLean and Great Falls. Does she have any interest at all in representing
the interests of her constituents?
Or does she have a sign on her door in Richmond
that says, “Please tax my voters more”.
But the vote on the Governor’s tax package has far
greater significance for Republicans in the
legislature than Democrats. Quite simply, any
Republican who votes for the largest tax increase in
Virginia’s history so the state can increase spending next
year by 10.4 percent instead of 8.5 percent will
have a scarlet T emblazoned on his or her forehead
for the next 10 years.
The taxpayer groups will have a concrete, critical
vote to prove to constituents that their supposedly
Republican representative is actually a Howard Dean
liberal. Rest assured that for every Republican who
votes for the governor’s outrageous record tax and
spending hike, organization for a primary challenge
will begin the very next day.
This is not personal. But grassroots Republicans and
taxpayers are entitled to fight for what they
believe in, and against what they don’t. And what
they believe in is maximizing taxpayer freedom and
overall economic prosperity, not Swedish socialism.
--
January 19, 2004
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