My issue with Democrats has always been their predisposition to solve the world’s (and, of course, the state’s) problems with a tax increase. They create new bureaucracy and fund it with new taxes. Indiana Republicans have achieved an unprecedented majority in the General Assembly by promising a fiscally conservative approach to state government.
I believe that the State of Indiana already has more tax “revenue” than it needs and, therefore, the General Assembly should be addressing financial issues, such as transportation funding, by cutting unnecessary and wasteful spending and appropriating the savings to address the issue. Certainly, a Republican-controlled legislature would take a fiscally conservative approach to addressing issues related to transportation funding or public health. Not in Indiana. Not our Republican-controlled General Assembly. No, the only ideas to come from the Indiana General Assembly after their sweeping election night success on November 8, 2016, involve raising taxes
In response to the need for a long-term transportation funding solution, the Republican-controlled General Assembly wants to raise the gasoline tax. They not only want to raise the gasoline tax, but they want to index the tax for inflation. What this means is that the gasoline tax will be handed over to the Indiana Department of Revenue, which will be able to raise the tax administratively, based on inflation. No need to vote on a gasoline tax increase in the General Assembly in the future. The gasoline tax will be raised whenever the Indiana Department of Revenue believes that inflation warrants the increase. Will they lower the tax if the economy deflates? Of course not, why would they do that? This way, the gasoline tax can keep rising and it isn’t the fault of future sessions of the General Assembly.
In response to the lobbying of several health-based organizations, the Indiana General Assembly is considering raising the cigarette tax an additional $1. The reasoning is said to be that people will stop smoking if you make cigarettes more expensive. I call this social engineering. I call this government interference in individual choice. Let’s tax people into behaving the way the government wants them to behave. You may not smoke, so you don’t care about this. So, what habit do you have that someone may lobby the government to get you to stop? You might want to care about this practice before they raise a tax on something about which you do care.
The bottom line, in my opinion, is that the Republicans in the Indiana General Assembly are acting like they are Democrats. They are taking the easy road by solving problems through tax increases, instead of doing the difficult work of reducing the waste in our state government. They are not approaching their responsibilities in a fiscally conservative manner. With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats.
What we need in the Indiana General Assembly are state representatives who promise a fiscally-conservative approach to government and deliver on what they promise. What we need in the Indiana General Assembly are Libertarian state representatives who will pledge to vote “No” on all new taxes and tax increases.
We are Libertarian. Be Libertarian with me. Vote Libertarian on November 6, 2018.