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Rebuttal to Stevens' letter to 'set the record straight'
Phillip Keuter/Commentary
In his Feb. 17 editorial "Voters Should Decide Sales Tax Referral," Rep. David Stevens created some revisionist history regarding the new sales tax proposal we'll be voting on, and made some highly questionable assertions about the economy and legislative actions.
The record needs to be set straight because the image he created is simply not accurate.
First, he bemoans the wasted time spent trying to get Governor Brewer's sales tax measure on the ballot. Rep. Stevens lays blame on the Democrats, saying twice they failed to vote for it, and even calling Senator Alvarez and Rep. Fleming out by name. This is intellectually dishonest. The legislative bills to get the sales tax on the ballot did not fail last May and last August because the Democrats refused to vote for them. The Republicans have full control of legislature, both House and Senate, with large majorities, and the bills failed because many Republicans would not support a possible tax increase. History is clear on this point. Blaming the Democrats for the wasted time and for the failure pass a bill to get the sales tax increase on the ballot is revisionist history and patently inaccurate. That's like saying Bill Clinton had character an angel would envy. Citizens in Arizona are very discouraged by our government's inability to deal effectively with the state budget deficit, and it does not serve any politician well to shirk responsibility and try to blame somebody else.
Rep. Stevens also makes three highly questionable assertions on the economy and budget that need to be set straight. First he said the bill voted down last August was bundled with a "very pro-business and pro-growth package." Anybody who has been alive the last 10 years seriously questions if more corporate tax cuts will really lead to more jobs and more revenue as advertised.
These policies have been tried over and over again and haven't produced the promised results, so it is highly spurious to assert once again that they will. He also says the sales tax increase would mean 15,000 job losses and maybe 60,000 more people on public assistance. Another unsupported proposition that history and the facts do not support. Same specious logic that said if the minimum wage was increased, fast food restaurants wouldn't hire any more teenagers. But we just saw McDonald's advertise 500 new jobs up in Tucson, so we know that logic is false.
Last, he asserts that the legislature was unable to balance the budget because of the uncertainty around the sales tax issue. This is patently false because the projected $926 million the sales tax will bring in is only one third of the budget shortfall, and there is obviously a lot more to do. The last session saw them borrow $750 million, push another $450 million into next year's budget, talk about another $250 in cuts, and there is still a huge deficit! Pretending that the Democrats' refusal to vote for sales tax bill prevented the legislators like Stevens himself from balancing the budget is just pure fantasy island. Serious problems need serious analysis of the facts, and pretending the truth is something other than what it is will not lead to solutions.
(Phillip Keuter is a Benson resident.)
In his Feb. 17 editorial "Voters Should Decide Sales Tax Referral," Rep. David Stevens created some revisionist history regarding the new sales tax proposal we'll be voting on, and made some highly questionable assertions about the economy and legislative actions.
The record needs to be set straight because the image he created is simply not accurate.
First, he bemoans the wasted time spent trying to get Governor Brewer's sales tax measure on the ballot. Rep. Stevens lays blame on the Democrats, saying twice they failed to vote for it, and even calling Senator Alvarez and Rep. Fleming out by name. This is intellectually dishonest. The legislative bills to get the sales tax on the ballot did not fail last May and last August because the Democrats refused to vote for them. The Republicans have full control of legislature, both House and Senate, with large majorities, and the bills failed because many Republicans would not support a possible tax increase. History is clear on this point. Blaming the Democrats for the wasted time and for the failure pass a bill to get the sales tax increase on the ballot is revisionist history and patently inaccurate. That's like saying Bill Clinton had character an angel would envy. Citizens in Arizona are very discouraged by our government's inability to deal effectively with the state budget deficit, and it does not serve any politician well to shirk responsibility and try to blame somebody else.
Rep. Stevens also makes three highly questionable assertions on the economy and budget that need to be set straight. First he said the bill voted down last August was bundled with a "very pro-business and pro-growth package." Anybody who has been alive the last 10 years seriously questions if more corporate tax cuts will really lead to more jobs and more revenue as advertised.
These policies have been tried over and over again and haven't produced the promised results, so it is highly spurious to assert once again that they will. He also says the sales tax increase would mean 15,000 job losses and maybe 60,000 more people on public assistance. Another unsupported proposition that history and the facts do not support. Same specious logic that said if the minimum wage was increased, fast food restaurants wouldn't hire any more teenagers. But we just saw McDonald's advertise 500 new jobs up in Tucson, so we know that logic is false.
Last, he asserts that the legislature was unable to balance the budget because of the uncertainty around the sales tax issue. This is patently false because the projected $926 million the sales tax will bring in is only one third of the budget shortfall, and there is obviously a lot more to do. The last session saw them borrow $750 million, push another $450 million into next year's budget, talk about another $250 in cuts, and there is still a huge deficit! Pretending that the Democrats' refusal to vote for sales tax bill prevented the legislators like Stevens himself from balancing the budget is just pure fantasy island. Serious problems need serious analysis of the facts, and pretending the truth is something other than what it is will not lead to solutions.
(Phillip Keuter is a Benson resident.)
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Luanne Posegate wrote on Mar 3, 2010 12:04 AM: