Republican Legislators: Read our lips, no new taxes

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by David Safier

It seems the Republican legislators have shot down Brewer's trial balloon about letting the voters decide if they want to tax themselves.

Here are some of their comments.

"Government is bloated. The bureaucracy is bloated." Senate President Pro Tempore Thayer Verschoor

 You don't get out of debt by more spending." Sen. Russell Pearce, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee

[Because a sales tax increase will mean people will go out of state to make major purchases], "My merchants won't be able to make a living because a bad decision by the Legislature would have driven their business into other states." Sen. Ron Gould, Lake Havasu

[I would] "feel terrible if someone lost their home because I raised their taxes in an effort to make the government solvent." Sen. Chuck Gray, Senate majority leader

My personal favorite is Verschoor's comment about all the government and bureaucratic bloat,though I'm rather fond of hearing the compassion expressed by Gould and Gray, worrying about the people who would be driven out of their homes and businesses by a tax hike. What about the kids whose education is shorted or the people without health care? "Nothing to see here folks. Move along."

1 thought on “Republican Legislators: Read our lips, no new taxes”

  1. “Government is bloated”. OK, Sen. Verschoor please define “bloated”, and tell us where and how much we would save if we cut those programs?

    “You don’t get out of debt by more spending”. OK, Sen. Pearce, what about if you borrow money to improve your skills (like many of us do with student loans) in order to increase our future earning potential? Wouldn’t the same thing work for Arizona?

    [I would] “feel terrible if someone lost their home because I raised their taxes in an effort to make government solvent.” OK, Sen. Gray, how many people will lose their home because of an increase in taxes as compared to how many will lose their homes because the universities, counties, cities and towns will lay off people due to our state’s current budget shortfall? Do you care less about them because they were governmental employees?

    We are experiencing in Arizona a state in deep economic distress being lead by GOP hardline ideologues. I fear what will happen, but I hope it will finally discredit them in the eyes of the public. We shall see.

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