Alexander McClure is blogging the Rendell – Swann gubernatorial debate at Wizbang Politics.
Update: Click here if you would like to contribute to Lynn Swann’s campaign.
Alexander McClure is blogging the Rendell – Swann gubernatorial debate at Wizbang Politics.
Update: Click here if you would like to contribute to Lynn Swann’s campaign.
There is one topic that really makes me angry and nobody is talking about it. When elected as Pennsylvania’s governor, Ed Rendell’s first priority was raising the state income tax. The tax rate was 2.8% when Rendell entered the governor’s mansion in January of 2003. By 2004, the state income tax rate was 3.07%.
Rendell promised property tax relief but he has never delivered. Meanwhile, property taxes have gone up, up, up. These higher rates combined with the surge in housing prices are taking a doubly big bite out of taxpayers’ wallets — triple when you count the higher state income tax.
All of Rendell’s plans to alledgedly lower property taxes require monkeying with other taxes. They all appear to be classic examples of actually raising the overall tax level while being able to claim some folks got a break. The state income tax fiasco makes it crystal clear where Rendell wants to take Pennsylvanian’s tax rates. He is a classic tax and spend Democrat. I don’t want any of his tax initiatives. He needs to keep his grubby hands off of our tax rates and learn that there is way to balance a budget without raising taxes — spend less!
Getting control of spending isn’t easy anywhere. It’s a two-step program.
FIRST, you have to beat the Democrats. All of them, all the time.
THEN, once the Republicans are assured of winning, you have to oppose them in the primaries with more conservative candidates until you gradually replace them all.
They say that first step is the hardest . . .