(Chuck Muth) – This column is intended to address questions some conservatives have raised about the upcoming general election in Nevada State Assembly District 21 between Republican-in-Name-Only (RINO) incumbent Assemblyman Derek Armstrong and his Democrat challenger, Ozzie Fumo.
When running for this seat in 2014, Armstrong declared that he opposed tax hikes…
“The way to increase revenues is by increasing economic growth and making all of our citizens wealthier,” Armstrong told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “not by raising taxes.”
Armstrong won his election – and then proceeded to propose a massive new tax hike early in the session!
After that hike was rejected, Armstrong used his position as Chairman of the Taxation Committee – a job he weaseled his way into by sabotaging a far more qualified and experienced fiscal conservative – to bend taxpayers over and grease the largest tax hike in Nevada history up our collective wazoos.
That $1.4 BILLION tax hike included a mutant version of a new business tax similar to the one that was overwhelmingly rejected by 80% of District 21 voters on the 2014 ballot!
It also created a new “Nevada IRS” that requires a mountain of new paperwork compliance for small businesses that aren’t even covered by the tax.
Now, had Armstrong run on a platform of, “Elect me and I’ll raise taxes to dump more money into our failing public schools even though it won’t do any good,” that’d be one thing.
But he didn’t. He ran as a fiscal conservative who was opposed to tax hikes.
He lied to get elected, plain and simple.
In the movie classic The Cowboys, John Wayne told the character played by Bruce Dern that he didn’t hold having been in jail against him, “but I hate a liar.”
I agree.
Because if a man’s word is no good, the man is no good.
And if little Derek would so blatantly lie about taxes, he can’t be trusted on any other issue, including protecting our gun rights, parental rights, education choice, etc.
As such, there’s no way on God’s green earth I could ever support him for re-election.
Which brings us to Mr. Fumo…
I’ve met with Ozzie twice…once in his office and again for lunch. He’s Italian, a longtime Nevadan, a small businessman, a good family man, and an accomplished lawyer (nobody’s perfect!).
We disagree on a number of issues, but he’s no goofy, knee-jerk, left-wing radical like some Democrats (hello, Dina Titus!). He seems reasonable and at least someone you can have a substantive discussion with, and often find some common ground.
However, he – like the incumbent – won’t sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. And that’s a litmus test for me for any possible formal endorsement. That said…
Sneaky Derek Armstrong lied to get into office. And if he’s rewarded for his betrayal of the trust he was given by voters in the last election, that would set a dangerous precedent likely to be followed by others who will come behind him.
Integrity means more to me as a conservative than ideology.
If we want better government, we need to elect better, more honorable representatives.
So if the election were held today…
And I walked into the privacy of the voting booth…
And was presented with the choice between Derek Armstrong and Ozzie Fumo for Assembly District 21…
Personally, I’d vote for Fumo.
That’s just me.
You might disagree.
And I respect that.
But if bad actions don’t come with bad consequences, we’re just going to keep getting bad RINO candidates pulling the wool over our eyes one election after another.
For me, I defer to the immortal wisdom of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott who famously said…
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Or as The Who put it, “We Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
(Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and publisher of Nevada News & Views. His opinions are his own)
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