Massive Tax Increase Defeated – For Now

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Word just in at this late hour from Sacramento that the budget which would have included $14 billion in tax increases has been defeated. Republicans held the line and refused to saddle you with the State’s debt. You should be grateful. Depending on your circumstances, this massive tax increase could have cost you upwards of $1000 per year over the next two to five years. Plus, it would have worsened an already painful recession by causing a further retraction of our economy. We’ve dodged a bullet, for the time being. Who knows what other tricks the majority party has up their sleeves in order to stick you with the bill for the last ten years of overspending? Therefore, we can’t let up. Keep calling your representatives and tell them no new taxes. And then forward them my previous post below so they understand that there is a way out of this without raising your taxes and crippling our economy.

In related news, Dave Cogdill has been ousted as the leader of the Republican Caucus in the Senate. He helped negotiate this terrible tax plan and the majority of his Republican colleagues were not happy. He has been replaced with Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, who yesterday in response to the pressure tactics and outright distortions being used by Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg in order to pressure Republicans to go along with the tax increase, shouted out on the Senate Floor, “You’re not going to go back to the people’s pocketbooks to fuel that spending”. We’ll see what happens now that Hollingsworth is negotiating for the Republicans in the Senate.

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February 18th, 2009 Posted by freedomminute | State Government | no comments

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The Freedom Minute is dedicated to a discussion of all things having to do with personal freedom and what I see as the steady encroachment by government on our personal rights. I take a decidedly libertarian point of view in my analysis of economics and personal freedoms. Note that I intentionally spell libertarian with a small "l" since I identify more with the overall philosophy than with any political party. If you're not familiar with libertarian philosophy or you think you know what it is, it might be useful to read the short primer which appears in the Philosophy section. In addition, you might want to grab a copy of Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz or Libertarianism in One Lesson by David Bergland, both excellent books on libertarian thought.

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