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Commanding
the High Ground
Proponents
of higher taxes were too scared to take their case to the
voters this fall. House Speaker Howell, who has declared his opposition
forthrightly, occupies the high terrain.
The
political stakes could hardly be higher. Gov. Mark
R. Warner and state Sen. John Chichester,
R-Stafford, are wagering that Virginia voters will
reward them for raising taxes. Speaker of the House
William Howell, R-Stafford, has risked his prestige
on a bet that the voters are in no mood for a major
tax hike.
Only
one of these leaders — Howell — has been
consistently forthright with Virginians. Warner
campaigned in 2001 solemnly promising Virginians he
would not raise their taxes. He then played a coy
but dangerous game during the 2003 General Assembly
campaign by refusing to tell Virginians whether he
would propose a tax hike.
Chichester
waited until after a primary challenge was behind
him to make his “courageous” proclamation that
the only responsible course was to raise taxes.
Before the primary election, he scoffed at his
opponent’s claim that he intended to push for a
tax increase.
Warner
and Chichester will insist that the case for raising
taxes is overwhelming, but both had the opportunity
and an obligation to make that case to the voters.
Neither was confident enough to do so. Howell,
on the other hand, has never hidden his position.
Even if a majority of Virginians disagree with him,
they will credit him for his candor and consistency.
Warner
and Chichester are politically constrained because
they didn’t go to the voters with a
straightforward proposal. No matter how they spin
the election returns, they can’t claim a mandate
for a tax increase or for a sweeping reform of the
tax laws.
A
majority of Virginians continue to distrust their
elected officials. More and more feel that they have
no effective means of controlling their government.
Low turnout at elections has become a chronic
condition.
Where
are the expressions of concern from political
scientists, editorial writers and commentators?
Instead, many of them praise Warner and Chichester
for providing leadership, while faulting Howell for
his stubborn conservatism.
What
an irony that just a year ago, these same experts
were complimenting Warner and the General Assembly
for putting tax measures on the ballot in Northern
Virginia and Hampton Roads so that voters could
decide for themselves whether taxes should increase!
In 2003, the experts gave tacit support for the
Warner strategy to prevent the voters from
registering their support or opposition to a
statewide tax increase.
Howell
now commands the high ground. He can effectively
galvanize legislative opposition to any tax proposal
that Warner might announce less than two months
before the 2004 session begins. Because Warner
waited so long and had so little confidence in the
voters that he refused to make his case to them, his
tax plan will be launched from a position of
political weakness.
In
2002, voters didn’t buy the insufferably smug
position of proponents of the sales tax ballot
measures in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads that
a tax increase was good for them. They are even less
likely to reward politicians who approve a major tax
proposal that was deliberately withheld from them
before the election on the theory that voters are
too simpleminded to understand it.
The
same elites are certain to lecture us that a tax
increase is the only responsible course. After all,
we haven’t had a tax hike in 15 years, we can’t
control state spending, and we have a moral duty to
abandon our low tax tradition.
Mr.
Speaker, stick to your good instincts.
--
November 17, 2003
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