I have commented during my campaign that a primary motivation for seeking the RPI chairmanship is: one, I’m tired of Republicans losing elections; and two, the results of those electoral losses are policies increasingly hostile to my business and my family.
And now, as if I needed additional motivation, this little nugget was splashed on the front page of my morning newspaper, “Plan would give Iowa cities the power to tax income.”
The practical and political impact of this plan should raise a red flag with every Iowa taxpayer and Republican.
The Practical. I would be the first to agree that Iowa needs fundamental and comprehensive tax reform, but the notion that this reform can be initiated by a tax increase - during a recession no less - borders on delusional.
As a business owner who interacts on a daily basis with both Iowa’s largest corporations and many small business owners, I am witness to the difficult decisions being made regarding reduced budgets for 2009. Every company, regardless of size, is not only trimming the fat but in many instances, cutting to the bone due to economic uncertainty. Why Iowa’s municipalities fail to acknowledge this reality is beyond me. Simply put, House Leader Kraig Paulsen nailed it by saying this is “an outrageous proposal.”
The Political. This proposal is political cover for Democrat legislators and Governor Culver. Numerous Democrat legislators campaigned, and won, on an anti-tax platform, while Culver himself is now saying tax increases have no place in the 2009 legislative session.
This policy is designed as a legislative slight-of-hand to allow those legislators and Culver to support higher taxes without having to vote for, or sign into law, a direct tax increase. Pretty clever, huh? Just watch, these legislators will attempt to claim with a straight face that a vote for this proposal is a vote that merely provides local municipalities the power to tax, not mandate that they do so.
Our Republican leaders must call them on this and drive this debate in the eyes of the voting public. Republican leaders at all levels must aggressively define this vote as a vote for higher taxes and hold those tax-increasing legislators accountable at the ballot box. A vote for this plan is a vote for higher taxes. Period. End of discussion.
I look forward to an honest and vigorous debate over tax and spending policy in Iowa, but first things first, at a minimum the debate must be honest.
