Of the six GOP state legislators who voted for the tax hike yesterday, four have consistently refused to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge: Sens. Raggio, Rhoads, Nolan, and Townsend.
Assemblyman Carpenter broke his Tax Pledge – but then, when you’re forgiven in advance by The Big Guy, no problemo. And he’s term limited out anyway.
Sen. Warren Hardy also broke his Tax Pledge – but when you’re not planning on running for re-election because you want to cash in on your legislative service and become a high-priced lobbyist, voting for tax hikes which potential future clients desperately want is a career-builder.
Which reminds me: We need a bill or initiative next year which establishes a FIVE YEAR cooling off period between the time a person serves in the Legislature and the time when that person sells out and starts lobbying the Legislature.
As for Sen. Raggio – who is aching to be given credit for insisting on a “hard sunset” clause on the tax hike even though he had the ability to stop it altogether – he never signed the Tax Pledge. But he DID give an unmistakable verbal promise to the voters who voted for him in the GOP primary last summer. Remember this Norquist-esque statement from last August: “Well, I’m not going to raise taxes, I can guarantee you that.”
As someone who contributed to Sen. Raggio’s re-election campaign last summer based on that promise, I can only ask: Was that a money-back guarantee? If so, please send me my refund.
