|
Here
we go again. Another election cycle and another game
of hide-the-pea by politicians.
In
2001, gubernatorial candidate Mark Warner repeatedly
pledged on television spots that he would not raise
taxes. He now has the audacity to claim as his
signature achievement the $1.4 billion tax increase
he arm-twisted the House of Delegates to accept in
2004 despite his no-tax pledge.
To
make matters worse, Warner and pro-tax legislators
were plotting even before the 2003 elections to
raise state taxes, but withheld their plans until
after Election Day. A number of legislators who
clearly announced during their 2003 campaigns that
they opposed a tax increase reversed themselves
after the election and voted for the 2004 tax
increase.
Now,
some state senators (who aren’t up for election
this year) are suggesting that there is broad
agreement on raising taxes for transportation but
candidates for election to the House of Delegates
aren’t likely to proclaim their support for a tax
hike before the 2005 elections are held. Is there
any wonder that voters distrust politicians?
Perhaps,
the voters should be insisting on more definitive
answers from candidates about tax increases. They
should demand to know from candidates who claim to
oppose raising taxes if there is any circumstance
that would cause them to reverse themselves and
support a tax increase.
The
practice of saying one thing during a campaign and
doing the opposite once elected is not a new
practice among Virginia politicians. Twenty years
ago, candidate Jerry Baliles declared that he would
not support a tax increase, but did just that less
than a year after the 1985 gubernatorial election.
This
game of deception that some politicians have played
on taxes for several election cycles will have
profound consequences if it continues. Citizens
might begin to clamor for a constitutional amendment
to allow for recall of elected officials or for
voter-initiated referendums to invalidate actions of
the General Assembly.
The
contempt that some politicians have for their
constituents is patently obvious. Voters are viewed
as too stupid to be trusted with their own
governance. The electoral process has become little
more than an annoying obstacle course for the
cynical politicians who are prepared to promise
anything that might assure their election.
Liberal
commentators are quick to criticize politicians who
promise tax cuts and new government programs without
showing how we can afford both. I happen to agree
that this kind of campaigning is unacceptable.
Yet,
these same commentators decline to condemn the far
worse practice of telling flat lies to voters or
violating a campaign pledge. Voters are not so
foolish that they can’t see for themselves that a
promise to cut taxes while expanding government
programs is an empty one. That is a far cry from
being lied to.
The
two major party candidates for governor this year
have emphatically declared their opposition to any
tax increase for transportation, at least during the
next General Assembly. This would appear to make the
issue academic. Why then do some legislators
continue to propose a tax increase? Have they
received a signal that one or both of these
candidates won’t actually veto a tax increase
despite their pledges?
Every
one of the candidates running in 2005 should be
pressed on the issue of raising taxes for
transportation.
If
a permanent tax hike to raise billions a year for
transportation, as some propose, is enacted by the
next General Assembly, it should happen only if the
voters provide a clear expression of approval. That
can’t happen if politicians play hide-the-pea.
--
October 3, 2005
|
