Did You Hear the One About the Tax “Study” Committee?

(Chuck Muth) – Nevada legislators on Monday named 19 people to the Nevada Vision Stakeholder Group which will participate in a review of the state’s tax system. And here’s all you need to know about where this group is going:

There’s not a single, readily-identifiable established fiscal conservative among them.

On the other hand, big gaming and the mining industry, both of which have been aggressively lobbying for a new corporate income tax in Nevada, are represented.

The union construction industry is represented, but not the non-union construction industry.

Government-school advocates and the teachers union are represented, but not home-schoolers or private schools or charter schools – except for that some-are-more-equal-than-others charter school which is named after a certain famous meth-head tennis player.

Social workers are represented. Government workers are represented. Government bureaucrats are represented. The left-leaning Brookings Institute is represented. The university system is represented. Hispanics are represented. Even the government-subsidized arts are represented.

But not taxpayers. Not working families. Not small business.

Not only is the Nevada Vision Stakeholder Group one of the more stupidly named government committees in the history of stupidly named government committees, but it’s a joke. A sham. Its sole purpose is to support the notion that Nevada needs higher taxes on the groups not represented to pay for all of the government subsidies to the groups which are.

Any conservative who takes whatever this group recommends seriously ought to have his or her head examined.

(Chuck Muth is President of Citizen Outreach and Citizen Outreach Foundation)