The office phone of State Sen. Bob Coffin (D-Las Vegas) was ringing off the hook yesterday as the result of a Nevada Republican Party lobbying effort to head off tax increases by the Legislature this session.
Nevada GOP Chairman Sue Lowden recorded an automated phone message which was delivered to thousands of voters in Clark County urging them to contact the senator’s office in response to comments the Senate Taxation Committee chairman made last week.
“On Tuesday, Democrat Sen. Bob Coffin warned the public that ‘any tax that can be raised to balance the budget will be raised or considered,’” explains Lowden in the recorded call. “That means that if Sen. Coffin gets his way, we could soon see higher sales taxes, higher property taxes, higher gas taxes and even new taxes on your dry cleaning and haircuts!
“Tell Sen. Coffin that Nevada’s families can’t afford higher taxes,” Lowden continues. “Press 1 now to be connected directly to Sen. Coffin’s office and tell him that you oppose any plans to raise taxes in the middle of this recession.”
According to the company which delivered the calls and is able to track results, more than 500 voters were connected to Sen. Coffin’s office between 8:00 am and 2:00 pm. The company reports that 150 voters talked to someone in Coffin’s office for 30-60 seconds, 208 talked for 1-2 minutes, 45 talked for 2-3 minutes and the rest were split between short messages of 15-30 seconds and long conversations of 5-10 minutes.
Sources inside the legislative building report that Sen. Coffin’s office was so overwhelmed with calls that his secretary had to ask for help in fielding all the calls.
Gee, you’d think people didn’t want their taxes raised, wouldn’t you?
