FLASHREPORT

WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO HOLD THE LINE ON TAXES? PEOPLE WHO SIGN THE PLEDGE...

Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform

[Publisher's Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, I am pleased to present this column from Grover Norquist.  Norquist is President of Americans for Tax Reform - Flash]

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Every election cycle Americans for Tax Reform asks all candidates for state legislature to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written promise that candidates and incumbents make to voters and constituents to “oppose any and all efforts to raise taxes.” The simplest utility of the Pledge is that it allows all voters to know where candidates stand on two key issues of the day: taxes and spending.

The good news is that Pledge takers tend to keep their commitment and when they fail, punishment has been swift from voters and fellow legislators; the most prominent example being George H.W. Bush’s broken “read my lips” statement and voters’ subsequent denial of a second term in 1992. When Senator Cogdill and Assemblyman Villines broke their Pledges last year by voting for the largest state tax increase in U.S. history, they were appropriately removed from their leadership posts. The Pledge will certainly help those trying to decide on a preferred candidate for Lt. Governor this year. While it was unfortunate that Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado broke his Pledge when he cast the deciding vote for last year’s budget, at least it will be clear to voters that his word is worthless.

Indeed, in Washington D.C. the taxpayer protection pledge stopped any tax hikes from June 1993 (Clinton’s last tax hike) to January 2009 (Obama’s first tax hike). This fifteen year period with no net tax hike from Washington, D.C. represented the longest period in American history without a tax increase at the federal level.

Signing the Pledge is also the necessary first step to reining in out of control spending, which is, without question, the crux of California’s budget crisis. A Reason Foundation report from last year found that state spending in California soared 300% from 1990 to 2009. Had lawmakers prevented spending from growing faster than the average increase in the consumer price index and population during that period, the state would have realized a $15 billion surplus last year. Instead lawmakers now find themselves trying to closea $20 billion deficit. The situation is so bleak that Californians worked 235 whole days last year, well over half the year, just to cover the state’s draconian spending and regulatory burden.

If there is any state where raising taxes should be a non-starter – it’s California. With the highest corporate tax rate in the West, 4th highest state income tax rate, and the highest sales tax in the nation, California taxpayers and employers already contend with one of the most onerous tax burden’s in the country. It is clear that high taxes have not served California well and that higher taxes will not solve the state’s budgetary and economic woes.

The necessary reforms and spending restraint will never come to fruition unless tax hikes are taken off the table as an option. Candidates who have signed the Pledge recognize this. The following is a list of incumbent legislators and state legislative candidates who have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. If your preferred candidate has not yet signed the Pledge, ask them why in the world not?

Challengers - Statewide Office
Chelene Nightingale (Gov)
Steve Poizner (Gov)
Meg Whitman (Gov)
Sam Aanestad (Lt. Gov)
Scott Levitt (Lt. Gov.)
John C. Eastman (Att. Gen.)
Shawn Hoffman (Board of Equalization)

Challengers - State Senate
Joel Anderson (S-36)
Tom Berryhill (S-14)
Tim Campi (S-14)
Earl DeVries (S-32)
Dan Fernandez (S-59)
Heidi Fuller (S-14)
Rick Keene (S-4)
Lucille Kring (S-34)
Doug LaMalfa (S-4)
Tom Marsella (S-14)
Nachum Shifren (S-26)
Tim Thiesen (S-16)
John S. Stammreich (S-28)
Greg Stephens (S-38)
Jeff Stone (S-36)
Marcel C. Weiland (S-6)

Challengers - State Assembly
Jerry Amante (A-70)
David Armstrong (A-17)
Allen Barker (A-39)
Corey Calaycay (A-59)
Paul Chabot (A-63)
Robert Chandler (A-24)
Steven S. Choi, Ph.D (A-70)
Bill Conrad (A-25)
Davis William Crowe (A-63)
Alvaro Day (A-44)
Craig DeLuz (A-5)
Eve Del Castello (A-13)
Dennis DeYoung (A-40)
Tim Donnelly (A-59)
Jack Doyle (A-79)
James “Jim”Faison (A-16)
Dan Fernandes (A-59)
Jeff Gorell (A-37)
Rex Gutierrez (A-63)
Linda Halderman (A-29)
Robert Howell (A-37)
Suzanne Jones (A-5)
Carol Kemmerer (A-79)
Krayton Kerns (A-58)
Jeff Kover (A-77)
Chris Lancaster (A-59)
Allan Mansoor (A-68)
Don McKinney (A-29)
P.J. Mellana (A-50)
Ken Mettler (A-32)
Gladys Miller (A-50)
Jack Mobley (A-17)
Ray Moors (A-61)
Mike Morrell (A-63)
Kristen Olsen (A-25)
Laura Peter (A-39)
Andy Pugno (A-5)
Anthony Riley (A-59)
Christine Rubin (A-77)
Steve Sanchez (A-80)
Jack Sieglock (A-10)
Adnan Shahab (A-20)
Brandon Shoemaker (A-31)
Mike Stokeer (A-35)
Darren Spellman (A-5)
Jeffrey Lemasters Tahir (A-64)
Bill Wells (A-77)
Kurt Vander Weide (A-25)
Don Wagner (A-70)
Alberto Waisman (A-19)
Acquanetta Warren (A-63)
Etta Waterfield (A-33)
Bob Whalen (A-29)

Sitting Incumbents
 
Board of Equalization
Michelle Steel

State Senate
Sam Aanestad (S-4)
Roy Ashburn (S-18) Broke Pledge 2/09*
Dave Cogdill (S-14) Broke Pledge 2/09*
Dave Cox (S-1)
Jeff Denham (S-12)
Bob Dutton (S-31)
Tom Harman (S-35)
Dennis Hollingsworth (S-36)
Bob Huff (S-29)
George Runner (S-17)
Ted Strickland (S-19)
Mimi Walters (S-33)
Mark Wyland (S-38)

Assembly
Anthony Adams (A-59) Broke Pledge 2/09*
Joel Anderson (A-77)
Tom Berryhill (A-25)
Sam Blakeslee (A-33)
Connie Conway (A-34)
Paul Cook (A-65)
Chuck DeVore (A-70)
Bill Emmerson (A-63)
Nathan Fletcher (A-75)
Jean Fuller (A-32)
Ted Gaines (A-4)
Martin W. Garrick (A-74)
Danny Gilmore (A-30)
Curt Hagman (A-60)
Diane Harkey (A-73)
Kevin Jeffries (A-66)
Steven Knight (A-36)
Dan Logue (A-3)
Jeff Miller (A-71)
Brian Nestande (A-64)
Jim Nielsen (A-2)
Chris Norby (AD-72)
Jim Silva (A-67)
Audra Strickland (A-37)
Cameron Smyth (A-38)
Van Tran (A-68)
Mike Villines (A-29) Broke Pledge 2/09*

* - In February, 2009, because legislators who signed the pledge broke their promise, California taxpayers were hit with the largest tax increase in the history of any state -- with massive increases in car, income and sales taxes.  Also breaking the pledge but not listed above was Abel Maldonado, who is now the appointed Lt. Governor.
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Grover Norquist is President of Americans for Tax Reform.