That being the actions and words of people who choose not to defend conservative principles.
Mary Katharine Ham at The Weekly Standard calls Vice President Joe Biden the “Single Most Effective Republican Spokesperson on Stimulus.”
Well, it’s a close race with Nancy Pelosi, but Joe Biden is pulling ahead:
“We know some of this money is going to be wasted,” Biden said during a roundtable discussion in New York with business leaders aimed at promoting the two-year stimulus plan…
“There are going to be mistakes made,” said Biden. “Some people are being scammed already.”
And this press release was published today by the Club for Growth on Gov. Crist’s breaking his “No Tax Increases” promise for the second time in the past week:
Charlie Crist: Another Day, Another Tax Hike
Florida Governor Raises Taxes Twice in One WeekWashington – Charlie Crist would fit in well with Washington’s tax-and-spend crowd. This week, he increased the amount of unemployment taxes paid by Florida businesses by over 20 percent.
It is the second tax increase signed by Crist in one week, with the first being a cigarette tax hike of $1 per pack. The new law hits businesses on an additional $1,500 of an employee’s wages. Currently, employers pay unemployment taxes on $7,000 of each worker’s wages – now, that goes up to $8,500. (“Crist Signs Bill,” Jacksonville Observer, 6/3/09).
Crist had firmly committed to oppose new taxes as Governor, but he broke that pledge. He has made a similar promise on federal taxes (ATR Taxpayer Protection Pledge).
“Governor Crist should be upfront with Florida residents when it comes to his tax-and-spend agenda,” said Club President Chris Chocola. “Like Arlen Specter, he’s a flip-flopper. Senate Republicans ought to make sure he doesn’t intend to join the Democratic Caucus if elected.”
To be forthright, I don’t know any more details about this tax increase than those published above. But it seems that fiscal irresponsibility is a bipartisan effort these days.
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Benjamin Hodge co-owns the Web site KansasProgress.com, based in Johnson County, KS, in the Greater Kansas City area. You can contact Hodge on Facebook, through his Web site, and on Twitter.
June 4th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
What the hell is Crist thinking?
Regressive cigarette taxes are a GOOD thing during a recession? Heavy taxes on EMPLOYMENT is a good thing during a recession?
Is this guy an idiot?
June 4th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I guarantee that Crist’s employment tax (because yes, it is a tax on EMPLOYMENT) is going to cost jobs in Florida. It makes layoffs even more cost effective for large employers, since unemployment tax is assessed on the amount of payroll.
Good thinking, Charlie. Make it more expensive to hire people.
June 4th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Brevity…brevity…these titles…they need brevity…
June 4th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
For once I’m not going to bash Crist for this. Florida’s budget deficit was horrible this year and on top of that, we had to cut spending by over 5 billion. The legislature simply couldn’t cut anything else… there is nothing left to cut. The Club for Growth and a lot of other Republicans need to get over the idea that absolutely every fiscal problem can be solved by a tax cut. We actually do need taxes to keep state services going. Republicans start sounding like a broken record when every other word out of their mouth is “tax cut” “tax cut” “tax cut”, and eventually the voters stop believeing it.
June 4th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Actually although i am quite fiscally and economically conservative, i agree with jonathan that sometimes republicans sound like a broken record of tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts…while at the same time not cutting spending lol…I’m not familiar enough with florida to judge the fiscal sanity there but i can say this is a bad move economically and politically.
June 4th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
#4 and #5 are right. After all, look at Mitt Romney who raised fees in Mass. by a huge amount to balance his liberal budget. And who was privately very critical of the Bush tax cuts when they were first proposed. If you think the GOP’s anti-tax position is a liability, vote for the Mitten!
June 4th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Jonathan,
“The Club for Growth and a lot of other Republicans need to get over the idea that absolutely every fiscal problem can be solved by a tax cut”
I totally agree, and have written FPPs to that effect, but if you have to raise taxes in the middle of a recession what you don’t raise taxes on is employment. An income tax increase would make more sense than that.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
#7:
That is the problem, Florida has no statewide income tax. Most of our tax revenue comes from property taxes and new building of structures. Of course, with the housing market particularly bad down here, our money sources have gone down the toilet. What we really need is a more stable form of taxation, but Crist certainly doesn’t have the testicular fortitude to propose anything bold or unpopular.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Frog in the boiling water, guys, with government growth. Don’t be too easily satisfied.
There is always government waste, and it doesn’t get us anywhere long-term if we grow gov’t 25% one year, and then cut it 15% the following year.