This is directed at the local Las Vegas, however, the problem is being addressed across the nation.
Rich Martin MUTH'S TRUTHS The Proper Role of Government Posted: 23 Nov 2008 12:55 PM CST My friend Steve Sebelius - editor of CityLife newspaper in Las Vegas and fine judge of good wine - responded to my letter yesterday urging Gov. Jim Gibbons to honor his Taxpayer Protection Pledge with the following: "…(W)e think the governor has a big problem. Muth is right: The pledge is clear and unambiguous, and the governor has no room to maneuver in it. He either has to reject taxes or break the pledge, and if he does that, any faint hope he has of re-election is gone." So on that point Steve and I agree. However, he added the following… "See, people, this is why you don't sign stupid pledges like this. Gibbons didn't know the economy on his watch was going to go to hell. He didn't know that sales and gambling taxes would tumble so badly, or that the foreclosure crisis would turn the credit market into pudding. But he chose to take the pledge anyway, as if he knew what the future held. And now, he has no options, save to tell the Legislature to pass a tax increase over his veto, which just might happen. But if it does, he's still lost, because he's essentially removed himself from the governing process." On these points, Steve and I will have to agree to disagree…which always makes for a more entertaining dinner when we get together. First, this is EXACTLY why I push candidates to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. It's easy to hold the line on tax hikes when revenue is gushing into the government coffers through a fire hose…as it has for the better part of the last decade of so. It's when the spigot gets turned down that we have a problem. You see, it's always easier to raise taxes than cut spending. Without the Pledge, elected officials who are primarily worried about re-election won't make the tough spending cut decisions which SHOULD be made. It's always easier to "sell" a tax hike which will only be "a few pennies" or on somebody else (like our tourists or small businesses). But those pennies add up. How many "pennies" are enough? Where does it end? Also bear in mind, again, that in 2003 then-Gov. Kenny Guinn faced a similar choice: Raise taxes or cut spending. Guinn proposed a $704 million tax hike. Then-Rep. Jim Gibbons opposed it, telling Guinn publicly to cut $704 million in government spending instead. With inflation, that $704 million is probably worth about $1 billion today…approximately the amount of the current budget shortfall. So there you go. If Gov. Gibbons would simply implement the cuts today that he told Gov. Guinn to implement five years ago, we wouldn't have a budget deficit. Problem solved. As for not knowing that we'd face the specific financial troubles today that we're facing, that's true. However, anyone who understands the cyclical nature of the economy knows full well that what goes up must come down. There will ALWAYS be downturns in the economy. So the key is to not overspend on non-essential "stuff" in times of plenty…as the Nevada Legislature has done for years. Over and over and over again. Like appropriating $250,000 for "cowboy poetry." Yeah, that's a real "essential" program. Sorry, but the governor still has plenty of options other than raising taxes or cutting into "essential" services. For instance, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports today that the Nevada State Museum in Carson City "plans to host a presentation by Sharon K. Schafer on her artistic study of emperor penguins in Antarctica" this Tuesday. Hello? Far from removing himself from the governing process, if Jim Gibbons would present a balanced budget next year by cutting non-essential government programs rather than through tax hikes, that would very much put him in the governing driving seat. If the Legislature decides it wants to keep the penguin lectures and cowboy poetry and raise taxes over the governor's objection…that is their right under our system of government. Have at it. As Ronald Reagan observed: "No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!" Gov. Jim Gibbons has before him perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not just slow down the growth of government, but to actually and measurably shrink it. He actually has an opportunity to make some non-essential government programs disappear. Rather than duck this much-needed debate on exactly what the proper role of government should be, the governor ought to embrace this policy debate and take the fight directly to the other side. Let Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley defend cowboy poetry and penguin lectures while cancer clinics are being closed! As for "essential" government assistance programs, they should be limited to helping those among us who can't help themselves. Can't. Not "won't." As Abraham Lincoln so wisely put it, "The purpose of government is to do for people what they cannot do at all or do so well for themselves." For example, when 3/4 of kids are getting a free or reduced-priced lunch…when the parents of the vast majority of those kids absolutely CAN afford to pack a PBJ or baloney sandwich in Little Johnny's lunchbox…then government is too big and is spending too much. Ditto all manner of government "services." We need to do a much better job of "means testing" such aid. And until we do, there's no reason in the world to raise taxes. It's time to strip the government down to its bare essentials and provide only for those who truly can't provide for themselves. And by the way, why are taxpayers subsidizing Big Labor by forcing contractors on public works projects to pay above-market wages? If union labor is so much superior to non-union labor, then unions should be able to compete in the free market without using the force of government to artificially prop up wages. Why should taxpayers pay inflated costs for schools and roads just to satisfy a whiny, but politically powerful special interest? Until this government welfare program for Big Labor is eliminated, NO NEW TAXES. Now is not the time for Jim Gibbons to "go wobbly" on the tax issue. This is the time to charge forward, stand proudly on the principle of strictly limited government, and make his case to the people and taxpayers of Nevada. Then, in 2010, those same people who elected him on his Tax Pledge in 2006 will again decide who gets to lead the state for the next four years - the spending-cutter or a tax-hiker. And may the best man (or woman) win. Either way, Steve Sebelius and I - like Tip O'Neil and Ronald Reagan before us - will still enjoy a cold beer and rack of ribs together, no matter how wrong he is on the Tax Pledge. And one of us, not the government, will pick up the check. As it should be. FAMOUS LAST WORDS "What should the role of the government be? The founders asked themselves that question and came up with a pretty good answer. They said the role of government should be one thing, to protect liberty. That should be the only purpose of government." - Ron Paul "We don't seek to live anyone's life for him. We only seek to secure his rights, guarantee him opportunity, guarantee him opportunity to strive, with government performing only those needed and constitutionally sanctioned tasks which cannot otherwise be performed." - Barry Goldwater I'M MAD, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With ACORN, La Raza, and Ohio Dem officials sitting on 20,000 suspect voter registrations and other Dept heads releasing Joe the Plumber's confidential information, this has been an incredibly, uncreditable election. Hope you didn't waste your time and gas to stand in line at one of their polling places hoping the electoral system isn't a fraud. Rich Martin --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
