The conference committee deal: higher sales tax, higher local taxes, higher other taxes… (UPDATED AND BUMPED)
The conference committee, remarkably, came up with a “deal” that is worse for the taxpayer than the two versions that were supposed to be the bookends of the negotiation. According to Grover Norquist at ATR:
Governor Bob McDonnell’s proposed transportation fix started as a $2.4 billion tax increase. As the House and Senate conferees debates the final language, the size of the tax hike has evidently increased by 250 percent, to nearly $6.1 billion in new and higher taxes once fully implemented over five years.
That’s over $1.2 billion fleeced annually from the taxpayer. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has the details. The plan is so bad that its foul scent even reached National Review.
I can’t tell if Pete Snyder or E.W. Jackson was the first statewide candidate to publicly oppose this fiasco; both deserve credit for taking that stand, however. Unless I seriously miss my guess, Stimpson, Stewart, Lingamfelter, Obenshain, and Bell – all of whom opposed smaller tax hikes – will likely oppose this one. That said, some words to that effect wouldn’t hurt. UPDATE: Stimpson just declared her opposition to this fiasco in my Inbox.
Meanwhile, Ken Cuccinelli is maddeningly silent – his only statement on this battle so far is his support for Steve Newman’s tax increase. There are whispers he’ll be presenting something in “a few weeks.” Let me say it plainly: that’s not good enough. For Ken to have any hope of making voters forget his mistake with Newman, he needs to oppose this now.
Cross-posted to the right-wing liberal
