(Michael Roberson) – Yesterday, on Tax Day, I pledged to the taxpayers of Senate District 5, and to all Nevadans, that if elected, I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase your taxes.
For too long in this state, politicians have told us one thing – and then done another. They have made us promises – and then broken our trust. The result of which is that we don’t believe any of them.
That is why I put my promise to you in writing that I will stand with you as a consistently clear voice for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
We are constantly hearing from many incumbent politicians, and the special interests they serve, that we must raise taxes to pay for a looming $3 billion plus budget gap.
Do not believe them.
These folks create a pie-in-the-sky budget number, which includes their wish list of special interest goodies that they would like to have. Then, when the revenue isn’t there to support their wish list – and it rarely is – they cry out for more of your hard-earned dollars.
I think it’s high time to throw a few facts into the equation, to wit:
-The state’s 2009-2011 budget increased spending to $6.95 billion (adjusted down to 6.6 billion dollars in the special session), which was an increase, on an inflation-adjusted, per-person basis of 31 percent over 2003-2005 levels.
-As a result, taxes went up last session by roughly 20 percent, or $1 Billion!
-Now, these same politicians want to spend $8.9 billion in the 2011-2013 biennium. To spend this kind of money, Nevadans would be faced with roughly a 60 percent tax increase!
Do these politicians and public sector-special interests not understand what is happening in Nevada?
Unemployment in Clark County is about 14 percent. There are close to 200,000 Nevadans currently out of work.
Who will pay for these massive new tax increases? Do they really believe that higher taxes will create more private sector jobs for Nevadans or bring more businesses into our state? How can they justify continued reckless spending policies in the midst of a recession?
These are questions that the tax-and-spend politicians do not want you to ask—because they don’t have an answer.
Well, I do have answers. The government must tighten its belt, just as we Nevadans in the private sector have had to do during this recession. The government can only spend the revenue that it brings in–and not a penny more. Finally, the real answer to increasing revenue is to put Nevadans back to work.
I pledge to stand with you to create a Nevada we can all be proud of and to put Nevada back in business.
(Mr. Roberson is a Republican candidate for state Senate District 5 in Clark County)
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