Freshman Sen. Michael Roberson has proved to be a real ray of sunshine for conservatives early on in this legislative session. Not only has he been willing to speak up and speak out…he “gets it.”
When it comes to mining taxation, for example, Roberson understands that whether or not mining is paying its fair share is a separate issue from whether or not the government has enough money.
The fact is, many on both the right and the left think mining, thanks to its super-powerful lobbyists, is getting away with paying less than it should thanks to excessively generous tax exemptions. But unlike the left, Roberson says that perhaps it’s time for mining to pay more WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY reducing what individual Nevada citizens are paying.
In other words, revenue-neutral tax reform.
According to a story by Ben Spillman in Sunday’s Las Vegas Review-Journal, Roberson has suggested that the increase in revenue that would come from eliminating some of mining’s tax deductions “could be used to take the burden off regular Nevadans” by, for example, “cutting the government services tax on car registrations.”
Hey, I’m down with that; sign me up!
In response, Tim Crowley, the mining industry’s chief arm-twister…er, lobbyist…basically said that freshmen legislators such as Sen. Roberson are just too stupid and don’t understand the net proceeds tax. He told Spillman that explaining the nuances to critics such as Roberson “is an issue now of educating.”
Wow, we haven’t seen such insulting, sanctimonious arrogance since…well, since John Ensign. And we all know how THAT turned out. Stay on ‘em, Mike!