Most of Nevada’s beleaguered taxpayers focus on the fact that Gov. Brian Sandoval (R&R-Partners) broke his word not to raise taxes by not once, but twice, raising the “temporary” tax hikes approved in 2009 over then-Gov. Jim Gibbons’ (R-Taxpayers) veto; taxes that were supposed to expire/”sunset” in 2011.
But as the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Ed Vogel reminded us in a recent column, Sandoval is also responsible for another tax hike coming to Nevada e-shoppers everywhere on New Year’s Day.
Indeed, beginning on January 1, 2014, your purchases which are currently made tax-free at Amazon.com will now be taxed, in addition to any shipping charges, thanks to some arm-twisting by Sandoval to force the company to collect the tax even though Nevada’s voters overwhelmingly rejected such a tax, not once, but twice at the ballot in 2008 and 2010.
So much for listening to the people.
The tax hike is being pushed super-aggressively by Nevada’s whiny brick-and-mortar stores that charge sales taxes on purchases to pay for local police, fire, roads, education etc. – services out-of-state online retailers don’t use.
“It’s not fair (whahhh!!!) that local businesses pay the tax and the Internet companies don’t,” declared State Taxation Director Chris Nielsen in the story.
Except…
Local businesses don’t pay the tax.
And neither will the online companies.
YOU will pay the tax!
The simple, unmistakable truth about this is that Amazon.com customers are about to get screwed and the State of Nevada is about to enjoy an additional $16 million windfall of new tax revenue to spend on bigger government.
Thanks a lot, Governor.
In other news, this short blurb from a recent Politico story pretty much says it all…
“In a Republican party that’s gone all out against Obamacare, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval went all in. Sandoval is the only Republican governor whose state is both running its own health insurance exchange this year and expanding its Medicaid program under the health law. He’s arguably doing more to put the Democrats’ signature law into place than any other Republican. … States were supposed to run their own insurance exchanges but most GOP governors refused, forcing the feds to take on the job. Nevada is the only GOP-governed state running an exchange.”
Can a liberal Democrat defeat moderate Sandoval head-to-head next year? Not likely.
Can a moderate Democrat defeat Sandoval if conservatives who are ticked off at Sandoval for raising taxes, giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and leading the way on ObamaCare implementation decide to vote for the Independent American Party or Libertarian Party candidate or vote “None of the Above”?
Maybe.
Recall that in Virginia’s gubernatorial race last month, Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli lost by just 50,000 votes…while the Libertarian candidate received 150,000 votes.
And don’t forget the 2012 U.S. Senate race right here in Nevada.
Recall that Republican Dean Heller only won by some 12,000 votes…while the Independent American candidate hauled in almost 50,000 protest votes. And Heller had nowhere near the liberal record Sandoval has, especially on fiscal issues.
And just as a further reminder, the most credible candidate the Democrats could possibly put up is Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak who has stood up to government employee unions and voted against the “More Cops” tax hike. If Sisolak runs, don’t be surprised if a significant number of disaffected conservatives cast a rare vote for a Democrat candidate.
Sandoval is not yet the shoo-in that R&R Partners and liberal blogger Jon Ralston are pretending him to be. Conservageddon could still bite him in the buttocks next year if the stars align.
